New in town

By Oana Vasiliu

With festivals allowed to take place with up to 75,000 people, as long as they are vaccinated or show a negative PCR test, the last month of summer is looking unusually busy.

MUSIC

Summer Well Festival is going to happen at the Stirbey Domain in Buftea between August 12-15, with a line-up that includes Woodkid, Balthazar, Golan, L'Imperatrice, and many others. Tickets are still available.

As previously announced, the Enescu Festival will take place between August 28 - September 26, bringing some of the world’s greatest orchestras to the Bucharest stage.

Expirat Halele Carol, Quantic, Gradina Urbana, and Teatrul de Vara Mihai Eminescu will continue to stage weekly live performances, with a special focus on Romanian alternative artists.

ROMANIAN CINEMA

"Unidentified", directed by Bogdan Apetri, professor of directing at Columbia University in New York, will be released on August 6. The film premiered at the Warsaw Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize in the international competition. The story takes place in a small town in Romania and talks about the private balance existing in each one of us, a balance that is much less stable than we might imagine. Emanuel Parvu, Bogdan Farcas, Dragos Dumitru, Vasile Muraru, Ana Popescu, Olimpia Malai, Kira Hagi, Ion Bechet, Ioana Bugarin, Cezar Antal, and Andrei Aradits play the main characters. "Intregalde" directed by Radu Muntean will also be released on August 6, having had its official premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section. The film tells the story of three friends who are on a year-end humanitarian trip. Traveling in a jeep on the unpaved mountain roads of the Intregalde village, they meet a lonely old man who needs to go to a sawmill where he claims to work. When their car gets stuck in the woods, the sawmill turns out to be abandoned and they are forced to spend the night with the old man, and their ideas of empathy and generosity begin to be questioned. "No Rest for the Old Lady” (“Dupa 40 de zile”), the fourth feature film by director Andrei Gruzsniczki, will be released on August 20. It focuses on the friendship between Emil Daravat, an old man who does not believe in spirits (played by Mircea Andreescu), and Titi (played by Valer Dellakeza). The action takes place in a village in the Oltenia region and the story begins at the 40-day memorial service of Emil's wife, Smaranda. ARTS

Discover how design meets nature and explore the way the four primordial elements (fire, water, earth, and air) communicate with the four essential elements of design (point, plan, line, and form). On August 11, at 8 PM, One Night Gallery will be presenting this year’s first outdoor art show.

The experience and the exhibition’s journey are created by RIZI, the artist duo who will merge the two worlds by showcasing architectural installations throughout the gardens on Molière Street (entrance located on Amiral Constantin Balescu street). The exhibition is hosted by Gradina TVR Moliere with an important historical background and a story spanning across 65 years, which began with the very first professional TV broadcast in Romania.

FOOD

Chef Marius Tudosiei has opened another Bacania Veche restaurant - Delicatese & Gradina - this time in the Romana Square. Check it out when you want to indulge yourself with some Romanian delicacies.

Gelato seems to be a keyword of this summer, with another great place recently added to the best-in-town list: Saint Gelato (26 Regina Elisabeta Boulevard).

Get a taste of a new interpretation of Romanian cuisine at Soro Lume (the former Blid restaurant - 33 Fluierului Street) with Chef Mihai Toader in charge.

Finally, enjoy some decadent cheese experiments at Forager (16 Nerva Traian).