Located in the north-west part of Romania, at the border with Ukraine, Maramureș is the place where ancestral traditions, folk port and old art are preserved like nowhere else in Romania. The filmmakers also noticed that and they highlighted the values that people of Maramureș presents through different movies that quickly became popular over the borders of Romania. This article is meant to enrich your cinematic culture with the best 7 movies about Maramureș. Text prepared by Adi, during the "Baia Mare is Mine" project, funded by the European Commission through European Solidarity Corps programme, volunteering action.

1. Maramureș in images
Adi Săvoiu
Located in the north-west part of Romania, at the border with Ukraine,
Maramureș is the place where ancestral traditions, folk port and old art are
preserved like nowhere else in Romania.
The filmmakers also noticed that and they highlighted the values that
people of Maramureș presents through different movies that quickly
became popular over the borders of Romania.
This article is meant to enrich your cinematic culture with the best 7 movies
about Maramureș.
1. Maramureș
This film is set in northern Romania at Christmas, 1999. Nelu, a student lives
in Baia Mare, a mining city at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.
Petru, a violinist, lives a few kilometres away, in Văleni, a village situated on
the other side of the mountains. Both accompany us in the trip of
discovering this part of Romania.
This is the land of the Maramureș, an ancient people who have known how
to preserve their identity over the centuries by absorbing only some of the
"external" elements that have been inevitably left by their numerous

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invaders - the Roman and Ottoman Empires, and, lastly, the dictatorship of
Ceaușescu. The Romanian movie was nominated for the prize of the city of
Turin in 2000.
Movie link: Maramureș
2. Ionaș visează că plouă (Ionaș dreams of rain)
Ionaș dreams of rain tells the story of an old man from an isolated village in
Maramureș, who spends his nights single-handedly guarding his corn field
from wild boars that threaten to eat his savings. The biggest danger is
falling asleep.
Ionaș knows that when he sleeps, he is not aware of what is happening
around him, unless he is dreaming. He believes that when he dreams of
people who have died, it is raining, and rain inevitably brings wild boars.

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Although the battle with the sleep and wild boars may seem small, it is
essential for Ionaș' nocturnal existence. Ionaș fights a war with time that he
cannot win, realizing in the end that he is a simple man.
Movie link: Ionaș visează ca plouă
3. Noaptea Sfântă în Maramureș (Holy Night in Maramureș)
Christmas in Maramureș, a documentary film made by TVR, presents the
ancestral customs of Vişeu de Sus, around the time of the birth of Jesus.
Winter would not have the same charm without the wonderful Christmas
celebration, and in Maramureș, this is unique. The tradition, the clothing,
the ancient customs of the Maramureş villages, and especially the people

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here, are part of a special place, a wonderful, authentic place, called
Maramureș.
From the cutting of the pig, the preparation of sausages and the baking of
cakes, to the custom of carolling, singing and dancing, everything is part of
the specific atmosphere of the holidays. The Christmas night is a very
special one in Maramureș county where the traditions of the ancestors have
not yet disappeared.
In this documentary film, the ancestral customs of Vişeu de Sus, around
Nativity are presented. The documentary was produced by TVR 1 and
awarded at the APTR Gala and at the international Eco Etno Folk Film
Festival.
Movie link: Noaptea Sfântă în Maramureș

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4. Seraliștii (The Evening High Scholars)
The Evening High Scholars, a documentary about miners from Maramureş, is
the debut of the film director Moscu Copel. Made in 1982, the documentary
tries to capture the life of a professional category that, at that time, was
considered the keeper of hope for a change in the communist
totalitarianism.
The miners, who were either at work during the day, or at evening high
school classes, had no time to see the sunlight. So they decide to go on a
trip to the sea. Only the beach vacation is scheduled... in winter.
Movie link: Seraliștii

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5. Cei care sfidează moartea (Those who defy death)
In the north of Romania, in a small village of Maramureș, a community
chose to treat death differently than the rest of the people: as a natural
thing, with optimism and humour. They are the ones who defy death.
Unique in the world, the Merry Cemetery from Săpânța includes
approximately 800 graves whose crosses have been decorated with naive
paintings, representing events in the lives of the deceased and inscribed
with verses with a humorous tone.

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The Merry Cemetery is due to the handcraft artist Stan Ioan Pătraș, who in
1935 carved the first such cross. The Merry Cemetery has become a tourist
attraction over the years, with hundreds of thousands of tourists coming
here annually to visit this true open-air museum.
This documentary film makes an incursion into the life of the people of
Săpânța and their unique cemetery in the world.
Movie link: Cei care sfidează moartea
6. Cum trăiau românii din maramureș în anii ’60 (How the Romanians
of Maramureș lived in the 60s)
The daily hardships in the life of a Romanian boy and his family are
presented poetically in this short documentary film, made to be shown in
American schools. It is not clear if this movie was made before or after
Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power (1965).
We are anonymously witnesses the daily life of a family from Maramureș in
the village of Bogdan Vodă. How did the Romanians of Maramureș live in
the 60s? It all starts early in the morning with the chillness of the cold
spring water. The days flow with the precision with which the Moon follows
the Sun.
The family always gathers at dinner in the evening. The food of the
Romanian peasant is simple: bean soup, cheese, pickles, holy polenta. In the
spring, the shepherds go to the fold. The whole village has sheep in the
mountains. Woodcraft is the seal of Maramureș. The plank might already be
sanded with the machines, but that's how things have always been done
around these parts.

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It's a completely different world, even if only 60 years have passed since
then...
Movie link: Cum trăiau românii din Maramureș în anii '60
7. Maramureș - țară veche, țară nouă (maramureș - old land, new land)
The photographer Florin Andreescu, who in recent years has published
numerous best-selling albums, has decided to tackle a different medium,
filming this documentary about the Maramureș region today.

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Maramureș is synonymous with wooden churches whose tapering spires
pierce the sky. It is a land of intricately carved wooden portals and home to
some of the last working watermills.
Maramureș is one of the few places in Europe that still preserves the
vestiges of a simple, traditional way of life not yet overwhelmed by
organised tourism.
Movie link: Maramureș - țară veche, țară nouă