Thrilled to announce that the short film MIAZEL, a short film by George Dogaru, has been chosen as an Official Selection for the 2026 Victory International Film Festival.

This wonderful festival takes place September 10–12, 2026, in Evansville, Indiana.

And the screening will be at the historic Victory Theatre.

The Victory Theatre is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a part of Evansville’s history for nearly 100 years. Opened in 1921, the theatre was home to vaudeville entertainment before transitioning to a movie theatre. After closing its doors in 1992, the Victory was renovated as a 1,900-seat, multi-purpose venue and reopened in 1999. Learn more about the Victory Theatre at its official website.

MIAZEL is an extraordinary project by George Dogaru, a rising star among producers in the new wave of Romanian cinema.

Synopsis:

The dystopian future depicted in “Miazel” is one in which Romania’s ethnic minorities are sent to labor camps. A common citizen’s life in this new society takes an unexpected turn once he is suspected of descended from impure Romanis.

Director Statement

MIAZEL means “confusion” in some Romani dialects — a word that speaks to the heart of this story.

We live in times where human rights are too often taken for granted, as if they were permanent fixtures of modern life. But history shows us otherwise: freedom is not a given — it is fragile, and must be defended constantly, even in so-called civilized societies.

This film was born out of a growing fear that authoritarianism no longer wears the face of monsters, but of polite bureaucracy, moral panic and cultural silence. I wanted to explore what happens when someone who has everything to lose — social status, comfort, a sense of identity — is suddenly marked as “other.” Not because of what they’ve done, but because of who they supposedly are.

MIAZEL is not a historical film, though its roots are tangled in the past. It’s a warning, not a reenactment. A fictional Romania of the near future, where civil liberties have eroded step by step, until people forget they were ever free. The confusion — miazel — is not just in the streets, but in people’s minds. That, I believe, is the most dangerous form of control.

This is a story about fear, complicity, and the desperate search for clarity when the system turns its gaze on you.

Stay tuned, because in a few days’ time we’ll be announcing further successes on the international film festival circuit.

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