Moldova is a landlocked country in the northeast corner of the Balkan region of Europe—bordered by Romania and Ukraine that achieved independence from the Soviet Union after glasnost and perestroika.
It’s the second poorest country in Europe.
A small region east of the Dniester river, along the Moldovian-Ukranian border known as Transnistria is a breakaway state established after a major conflict between Russian-influenced separatist groups there and the Moldovan army in the early 90s. Active mines were left in the fields near the border.
The setting for Ioane Bobeica’s stirring film Thunders is a poor village very near the border where a friendship develops between two children. Zinca (Tincuța Josan) is a poverty-stricken young girl who toils in the fields with her too-proud, unschooled widower father Iacob (Anatol Mîrzenco). Victor (Nicolae Cernomaz) resides next door with his well-off parents. The kids immediately hit it off, despite their class differences. Alas, Victor’s father does not like his son’s choice of company.
When Zinca’s precious and pregnant cow Lana wanders into the minded area, Zinca and Victor follow, and the race is on to save the kids…and the cow.
Thunders’ non-linear narrative aides in making this nail-biting, arresting cinema that is at once a survival thriller, character study and social commentary. The film examines the prejudices and hatred percolating in today’s insanely divisive world in a non-polemic manner.
This is the kind of gem, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Bobeica that should catapult him to more opportunities. But the director is from a country that most people have never heard of. And the team behind the film have little resources to promote this impressive work.
Barely 30, Bobeica made his first short, ZIDUL, based on a short story by Jean-Paul Satre, in 2014. He’s been developing Thunders since 2018.
Awards Daily spoke with the dashing director along with one of the film’s producers, Sergiu Cumatrenco Jr. (who also acted as interpreter).
