biography

He studied first Literature and Languages and graduated in 1994 from the University of Bucharest. Then he studied Opera Directing at the Music Academy of Bucharest.

During this time he wrote short prose and a novel. His 1997 novel "The Life and Deeds of Elijah Cazane" won the Best Debut Prize by the Romanian Writers Guild.

His second novel, Theodosius the Small (2006) won the EU Prize for Litterature.

As a screenwriter, he has collaborated with numerous directors such as Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Radu Muntean, Calin Netzer. His filmography includes: STUFF AND DOUGH (2001) and THE DEATH OF MR LĂZĂRESCU (2005) directed by Cristi Puiu; THE PAPER WILL BE BLUE (2005), BOOGIE (2008) and TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS (2009) directed by Radu Muntean; SHELTER, directed by Dragomir Scholev (2009) and CHILD'S POSE, directed by Calin Netzer. He was the script consultant for 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS by Cristian Mungiu (2007) and for THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU (2011) by Andrei Ujica.

As a director, he co-directed FIRST OF ALL FELICIA together with Melissa de Raaf and he is now working on his second feature.