Outbound (Periferic)

• Director: Bogdan George Apetri
• Writer: Tudor Voican, Bogdan George Apetri
• Cast: Ana Ularu, Andi Vasluianu, Ioana Flora, Mimi Branescu, Timotei Duma
• Theatrical Release Date: August 14, 2010
• On The Web IMDB Entry

Synopsis: Taking to the streets, Matilda (Ana Ularu) has 24 hours to make everything right – or wrong, depending on how you look at it.

Trapped in a five-year prison sentence for a crime she didn’t commit, Matilda’s already spent two years behind bars and has no intention of serving any more. Given a day pass for her mother’s funeral, she’s got a lot to make up for and very little time to do it in. Outbound, she hits her targets one by one; she visits her brother, buries her mother and collects on a debt from a casual lover. Final destination: a cargo ship and the open sea. But first she must contend with the responsibility closest to her heart.

Parenthood appears to be an afterthought in Matilda’s frantic dash for freedom, but first-time feature director Bogdan George Apetri has set this up intentionally. A mother never turns her back on her offspring and it turns out that Matilda had a plan all along.

Working with an all-star writing team – Tudor Voican ("California Dreamin'"), Cristian Mungiu ("4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days") and Ioana Uricaru ("Tales from the Golden Age") – Apetri orchestrates a cataclysmic road race led by an inscrutable heroine, all the more compelling for keeping her thoughts hermetically sealed. Her child-like demeanor is a direct contrast to her criminal record, but there’s still beauty in this fiery gamine.

On a mission to cleanse herself from her past life, she dreams of distant shores but first she has to cross the deep blue sea. The 24-hour deadline keeps the tension taut as Matilda races to close all pending accounts before she boards that fateful ship. [Synopsis courtesy of Dimitri Eipides/Toronto International Film Festival]