BACKGROUND FILMS

To the North

MINORITY CO-PRODUCTION (RU/FR/GR/BG/CZ)
DRAMA

123 MIN. / 2022 / English, Tagalog, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Mandarin

written and directed by Mihai MINCAN
director of photography George CHIPER-LILLEMARK
production & Costume Designer Iulia FULICEA
editing Dragoș APETRI

cast Niko BECKER, Soliman CRUZ, Bart GUINGONA, Olivier HO HIO HEN, Alexandre NGUYEN

producers   Radu STANCU, Ioana LASCĂR, Cyriac AURIOL, Konstantinos VASSILAROS, Poli ANGELOVA, Nikolay TODOROV, Mikuláš NOVOTNÝ

co-production deFilm Production, Remora Films, Studio Bauhaus, Screening Emotions

with the support of Romanian Film Center, Czech Film Fund, Bulgarian National Film Center, Région Île-De-France, Ekome - National Centre Of Audiovisual Media And Communication, Wavemaker Romania, Greek Film Centre, Ert S.A., Creative Europe Programme - Media of The European Union, The Romanian Television, Centre National Du Cinéma Et De L'image Animée, Angoa, Sedica, Sacem

in association with Arte/Cofinova 17, Avanpost Media, Best Friend Forever, Fulgurance Films, Magiclab

Based on a true story. 1996, open sea. During his shift on a transatlantic ship’s deck, Joel, a religious Filipino sailor, discovers Dumitru, a Romanian stowaway hidden between some containers. If he is spotted by the Taiwanese officers running the vessel, Dumitru is at risk to be thrown overboard. Joel decides to hide him, as a sign of his gratitude towards God. Soon, a dangerous cat and mouse game begins. When his crew, his own friends, even God itself start to turn their backs on him, Joel learns that he has to face his cruel destiny alone.