Beyond the Hills

Composed of six unconventional vignettes, each one dealing with the late communist period in Romania, a narrative is told through its urban myths from the perspective of ordinary people. The title refers to the alluded "Golden Age" of the last 15 years of Ceauşescu's regime.

A wealthy, possessive husband's investigation reignites his young wife's past love, leading them to plot against him. As obstacles fall away, their passion faces a new test.

In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Two college roommates have 24 hours to make the ultimate choice as they finalize arrangements for a black market abortion.

Amalia is an adolescent girl who is caught in the throes of her emerging sexuality and her deeply held passion for her Catholic faith. These two drives mingle when the visiting Dr. Jano takes advantage of a crowd to get inappropriately close to the girl. Repulsed by him but inspired by an inner burning, Amalia decides it is her God-given mission to save the doctor from his behavior, and she begins to stalk Dr. Jano, becoming a most unusual voyeur.

In 21st century Bucharest, to go out in the city on Saturday evening on the arm of a beautiful woman is a risky financial investment. Ovidiu, an unassuming high school teacher, never could afford it. Looking for a source of income more substantial than a teacher's salary, Ovidiu plunges into a fabulous world – the beggar mob.

Shuhei Horikawa, a poor schoolteacher, struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, despite neither money nor prospects.

A taciturn Romanian divorcee acquires a hunting rifle and initiates a killing spree.

A college professor abandons his family and his career in order to champion his mistress, a student radical accused of killing a policeman.

Ruby, a Chinese American toy designer from LA, visits Hong Kong for the first time on business. Finding herself stranded, she meets Josh, an American expat who shows her the city.

When a child steals candles from the cemetery, in order to provide some light means for his family sheltered into a damp basement of a block of flats, this circumstance can say a lot about the sufferance imposed by transition period of time in Romania. This child is one of the seven that Maria has got. She is a 33 years old ordinary woman, whose husband (Ion) is unemployed and has become a drunkard and violently acting, maybe because of his despairing and lack of prospective.

The '60s, Romania. Serafim, a young doctor, is sent to the Hospital in Palilula, a small town lost somewhere on the country map, after the death of the previous pediatrician, Mr. Pantelică.