PLAY Giurgiu, the festival dedicated to films for children and teenagers, returns this summer with a new edition full of color, creativity, and cinematic magic. Between June 27 and 29, 2025, the city of Giurgiu is once again invited in front of the big screen to celebrate film, art, and the local community.

For three days, the “Tudor Vianu” Theatre will host screenings of animated and fiction films – recent Romanian and international productions, captivating short films, animation workshops for children, meetings with young artists from Giurgiu, filmmakers, and special guests.

The project was funded by Giurgiu County through contract no. 103 of 02.06.2025 with a non-reimbursable grant amounting to 25,000 RON.

The project is sponsored by the DANUBE SMALL PROJECT FUND, financed by: the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg, the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, the Working Community of the Danube Regions (ARGE Donauländer) / State of Lower Austria, the Provincial Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Republic of Serbia, the City of Regensburg, the Danube Office Ulm / Neu-Ulm, and Volksbank Ulm-Biberach.

🎬 Schedule:

Friday, June 27

• 11:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: THE BOY AND THE ELEPHANT
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Duration: 48 minutes
  Language: With and without dialogue, Romanian subtitles

  Synopsis:
  Five animated films about bullying, featuring characters and situations we can all relate to. About friendship, diversity, acceptance, identity, loneliness, and kindness.

• 17:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: STARS, CLOUDS AND THE SUNFLOWER
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Duration: 48 minutes
  Language: With and without dialogue, Romanian subtitles

  Synopsis:
  Four animated films about journeys through space, clouds telling legends, and a sunflower that one day decides to take a closer look around.

• 19:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: THE FAMOUS INVASION OF THE BEARS IN SICILY
  

  Recommended age: 8+
  Year: 2019
  Duration: 82 minutes
  Language: French with Romanian subtitles
  Country: France-Italy
  Directed by: Lorenzo Mattotti
  

  Synopsis: To save his son kidnapped by hunters in the Sicilian mountains, Léonce, the king of the bears, decides to invade the land of humans. A touching story about hope, friendship, betrayal, good and evil.

• 21:00 – Esplanade of the “Tudor Vianu” Theatre: CHICKEN FOR LINDA!
  

  Recommended age: 8+
  Year: 2023
  Duration: 73 minutes
  Language: French with Romanian subtitles
  Country: France-Italy
  Directed by: Sébastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta
  

  Synopsis: Paulette feels guilty for unfairly punishing her daughter and would do anything to make it up to her. She would even cook chicken with peppers, but where can she find chicken during a general strike? A family drama told with a lot of humor, in a unique, intimate, and charming style. The film explores the relationship between an overworked mother and her daughter, who seeks understanding in her extended family and later in the community, all in a world where nothing seems to make sense anymore.

Saturday, June 28

• 11:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: BORIS THE BAKER AND FRIENDS
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Year:2021–2024
  Duration: 52 minutes
  Language: No dialogue
  Country: Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Italy
  Directed by: -
  

  Synopsis: Do you like warm bread? Boris, a baker from father to son, is an expert at bringing the whole village together around the table. He arrives with all kinds of friends and an invitation to the seaside for the whole family.

• 17:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Year:2017
  Duration: 75 minutes
  Language: English and Dutch, Romanian subtitles
  Country: USA
  Directed by: Thomas Piper
  

  Synopsis: A film about the works of renowned landscape designer Piet Oudolf, his abstract sketches, theories of beauty, and the ecological implications of his ideas. Intimate conversations unfold throughout the four seasons in Oudolf’s gardens in Hummelo and within his public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as in remote locations such as the deserts of West Texas and the post-industrial forests of Pennsylvania.

• 19:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: FALCON LAKE
  

  Year: 2022
  Duration: 100 minutes
  Language: French with Romanian subtitles
  Country: Canada-France
  Directed by: Charlotte Le Bon
  

  Synopsis: Bastien and Chloé spend their summer vacation together with their families in a cabin by a lake haunted by a ghost legend. Despite the age difference, a special bond develops between the two teenagers.

• 21:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Esplanade: THE KARATE KID
  

  Recommended age: 10+
  Year: 1984
  Duration: 124 minutes
  Language: English with Romanian subtitles
  Country: USA
  Directed by: John G. Avildsen
  

  Synopsis: The sensational story of young Daniel and his spiritual mentor Miyagi, who teaches him how to become stronger and more disciplined, revealing the secrets of martial arts and the brave samurai.

Sunday, June 29

• 12:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: ERNEST AND CÉLESTINE: A TRIP TO GIBBERITIA
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Year: 2022
  Duration: 80 minutes
  Language: With and without dialogue, Romanian subtitles
  Country: France-Luxembourg
  Directed by: Julien Chheng and Jean-Christophe Roger
  

  Synopsis: Ernest the bear and Celestine the mouse travel to Ernest’s homeland, where the world’s greatest musicians live, but where music has been banned by law. Adapted from a popular children’s book series about the friendship between an orphan mouse and a nonconformist bear.

• 17:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: THE LITTLE PRINCE
  

  Recommended age: 8+
  Year: 2015
  Duration: 108 minutes
  Language: English with Romanian subtitles
  Country: France
  Directed by: Mark Osborne
  

  Synopsis: The magical and emotional journey of a little girl into the universe of the Little Prince and her own imagination, helped by her aviator neighbor. She rediscovers childhood and learns that friends are the most important thing.

• 19:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Small Hall: THE CHERRY TREE GANG
  

  Recommended age: 8+
  Year: 1984
  Duration: 90 minutes
  Language: Romanian without subtitles
  Country: Romania
  Directed by: Adrian Petrigenaru
  

  Synopsis: The adventures of a group of young friends who organize a dangerous expedition into a cave where two criminals are hiding. A legendary Romanian film based on the novel by Constantin Chiriță.

• 21:00 – “Tudor Vianu” Theatre, Esplanade: THE BAD GUYS
  

  Recommended age: 6+
  Year: 2022
  Duration: 100 minutes
  Language: English, Romanian subtitles
  Country: USA
  Directed by: Pierre Perifel
  

  Synopsis: A criminal crew of outlaw animals is about to pull off their most challenging con yet: becoming model citizens. An action comedy based on the famous book series The Bad Guys.