Consisting of recent footage and archive images from 1995 and 1996, The Trial documents the case of Mihai Moldoveanu, a former Romanian army officer sentenced to 25 years in prison for a crime he claims he did not commit.

After three court trials, two that condemned him and one that exonerated him, and a long series of attempts to prove his innocence, in June 2012 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided that in the cause of Mihai Moldoveanu against Romania a violation of the right to a fair trial occurred. The defendant had no lawyer, there were no hearings and no direct evidence was submitted.

The documentary follows Mihai Moldoveanu after his provisional release and focuses on the referral of the case and the consequences of the new sentence, giving the viewer the role of a juror in a complicated and controversial lawsuit.

Questioned about the reason for making this film, Bîrsan and Mitcu told FNE: “After 20 years, the case of Mihai Moldoveanu raises many questions about the evidence and the proceedings that brought his convictions”.

The case was discovered by film critic Ileana Bîrsan, who convinced Claudiu Mitcu to make a film about it. Mitcu also produced through We are basca. The Romanian Film Centre supported it with almost 39,000 EUR / 176,000 RON.

The film was shot from June 2015 to December 2015 and has TV and festival versions. Parada Film will release the film domestically. No TV rights have been sold so far.

Mitcu also directed The Network / Rețeaua (2015, Parada Film), a documentary about a network of volunteers transporting cancer medication from Europe to Romania and whose initiator, the bank employer Vlad Voiculescu, became well-known through the film and was eventually appointed Minister of Health.

Production Information:

We are basca
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Credits:

Directed by Claudiu Mitcu
Scriptwriters: Ileana Bîrsan, Claudiu Mitcu
DoP: Andrei Butică