Three Kilometers to the End of the World – Movie

Now in its 37th year, the AFI European Union Film Showcase continues its tradition of bringing the best in European cinema to Washington, DC-area audiences. The full lineup includes 54 films from all 27 member states, six U.S. premieres and 12 Best International Feature Film Oscar^® submissions. Romania is represented by two movies including Three Kilometers to the End of the World (Trei kilometri până la capătul lumii) directed by Emanuel Pârvu which will be shown on Friday, December 6 at 9:20 pm on on Tuesday, December 10 at 9:30 pm at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Adi (Ciprian Chiujdea), a 17-year-old growing up in an island village in the picturesque Danube Delta, meets a tourist from Bucharest at a local club, and sparks fly. But later that night, Adi arrives home bloody and beaten. His father, Drăgoi (Bogdan Dumitrache), files a police report, and a tip from an eyewitness soon leads them to a pair of culprits: the sons of local tough guy Zentov (Richard Bovnoczki), to whom Drăgoi owes money. At first righteously indignant that his son was attacked as a shakedown over his unpaid debt, Drăgoi is stunned to learn that the motive was simply homophobia — the youths saw Adi and the tourist kissing. Zentov offers to cancel the debt if Adi and his father will drop the charges, a move encouraged by the local police chief (Valeriu Andriuță), who also suggests it will save the family from embarrassment. Drăgoi is incredulous at this sudden revelation about his son, but Adi’s mother (Laura Vasiliu) is distraught and summons the local priest (Adrian Titieni) to “pray the gay away” with an exorcism ceremony for her son. Actor and director Emanuel Pârvu’s film powerfully explicates how a homophobic assault is not merely an isolated instance but a manifestation of small-town closed-mindedness, reactionary conventional wisdom and a deeper institutional corruption that perpetuates petty frauds and grifts across church, state and family.  Official Selection, 2024 Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR Emanuel Pârvu; SCR Miruna Berescu; PROD Miruna Berescu. Romania, 2024, color, 105 min. In Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED. Run Time: 105 Minutes

Tickets are $15 General Admission. Fore more information and to buy tickets, please visit https://afisilver.afi.com/eushowcase/default.aspx.