Eight Postcards from Utopia

Radu Jude’s feature films such as Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023) explore the relations between image and reality. In this new found-footage documentary, the director turns his eye to commercials. He and philosopher Christian Ferencz-Flatz look at changing perceptions in Romania from 1989 onward, when the country was transitioning from a socialist single party state to a capitalist democracy.

The documentary consists entirely of dozens of Romanian commercials made in this post-socialist period. As well as promoting all sorts of products, they extol the virtues of the new ideology, presenting Romanians with a dream version of capitalism, one that consumerism will put within everyone’s reach.

This is a utopia of fresh-smelling laundry, floods of Pepsi and beer, and the chance to use money to make more money. The editing highlights the absurdity and vulgarity of the commercials in this satirical comedy about human desires and fears.