If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle(Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier)

Just two weeks from release, a teenage inmate goes apoplectic when he learns his estranged mother is planning to take his younger brother to Italy. Taking a pretty social worker hostage, he escapes and sees the world beyond the prison walls. Building on the gritty visuals and social realism that characterised the Romanian New Wave, Florin Șerban (who goes on to win the Golden Leopard at Locarno with You Don't Belong Here this year) makes his compelling debut feature over misguided youth and juvenile delinquency, taking us into their world of alienation and frustration, while showing the high wall of a system from which there can be no easy escape.

Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Bear Jury Grand Prize and Alfred Bauer Award