Radu Jude's New Film Wins Jury Prize at Locarno

Radu Jude's latest film, 'Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World', won the Jury Prize at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival. The nearly three-hour film follows Angela, a production assistant driving around Bucharest interviewing workplace accident victims for a safety video commissioned by an Austrian company. The film intercuts her story with that of a 1981 character from Lucian Bratu's 'Angela Moves On', creating a dialogue between past and present. Jude uses the film to critique capitalism, media manipulation, the war in Ukraine, and social media's brain-rotting effects. A climactic 40-minute fixed-camera sequence shows a family signing away their rights. The film also references Jude's earlier works, including 'Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn' (2021 Berlin Golden Bear winner) and 'The Happiest Girl in the World'. Jude, born in Bucharest in 1977, is known for his use of archival footage and metacinema.