In Eastern Europe, circa 1835, Constable Constandin and his son cross a barren landscape in the middle of Wallachia. Together they are searching for Carfin, a gypsy slave who has run away from his nobleman master and is suspected of having an affair with the noble’s wife. A harsh history lesson leavened by bawdy humor and classic western elements, Aferim! dramatizes the formerly taboo subject of gypsy slavery that flourished in Romania for centuries, and was only finally abolished in 1856.
Press
"A funny and brutal costume drama with a potent contemporary kick." - New York Times
"An exceptional, deeply intelligent gaze into a key historical period, done with wit as well as anger" - Variety
Director’s Statement
I don’t know which psychologist said that a person is mentally healthy only if they know where they come from, where they are and where they want to go. I believe this applies to societies too, not only individuals. The Romanian society will not be truly healthy until it faces its past with honesty and lucidity – be it the recent or the remote past.
The movie Aferim! is an attempt to gaze into the past, to take a journey inside the mentalities of the beginning of the 19th century – all epistemological imperfections inherent to such an enterprise included. It is obvious that such an effort would be pointless should we not believe that this hazy past holds the explanation for certain present issues.
“We research each period firstly for the promises they contain for the following period” says cultural historian Johan Huizinga. More than anything, I want this film to be a stimulus that makes the audience question in a deeper and more systematic way the issues I was only able to bring up.