Be My Cat: A Film for Anne

An aspiring filmmaker obsessed with Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway goes to shocking extremes to convince her to star in his film.

Adrian Țofei's cult horror movie | 88% on Rotten Tomatoes

“A hidden gem, a nonstop nightmare and a dazzling debut!” (IndieWire)
"A new intelligent found footage film you need to see!" (Blumhouse)
"Revolutionary and dangerous!" (Dread Central)
"Terrifying!" (Austin Chronicle)
Best Actor (Adrian Țofei) at Nashville Film Festival
Best Film at A Night of Horror in Sydney

  • Adrian Țofei
    Director
  • Adrian Țofei
    Writer
  • Adrian Țofei
    Key Cast
    "Adrian"
  • Sonia Teodoriu
    Key Cast
    "Sonya "
  • Florentina Hariton
    Key Cast
    "Flory"
  • Alexandra Stroe
    Key Cast
    "Alexandra"
  • Adrian Țofei
    Producer
  • John Lepper, Alex Short, Jay Sorensen, Adrian Airinei
    Executive producers
  • GiEmSi, Dorina Țofei
    Associate producers
  • "Nu plecăm acasă" written by Stelian Maria and performed by Cristian Pațurcă
    Soundtrack
  • Adrian Țofei
    Editor
  • Adrian Țofei
    Cinematography
  • Adrian Țofei
    Production Design
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Psychological Horror, Found Footage, Slasher, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, Character Study, Dark Comedy, Dark Romance, Mumblecore, Meta-cinema, Cult film, Psychopath film, Underground, Guerrilla style, Snuff film, Mumblegore
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 27 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 8, 2015
  • Country of Origin:
    Romania
  • Country of Filming:
    Romania
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Nashville Film Festival
    Nashville, Tennessee
    United States
    April 15, 2016
    North American Premiere
    Special Jury Prize for Best Actor
  • A Night of Horror
    Sydney
    Australia
    November 29, 2015
    Australian Premiere
    Best Film Winner
  • Fantasporto
    Porto
    Portugal
    March 1, 2015
    World Premiere (109 min cut)
    Official Selection in Competition for Best Film
  • Transilvania International Film Festival
    Cluj-Napoca
    Romania
    June 5, 2015
    Romanian Premiere (109 min cut)
    Official Selection in Competition for Best Romanian Feature Film
  • Other Worlds Austin
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    December 4, 2016
    Texas Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Hamilton Film Festival
    Hamilton
    Canada
    November 11, 2016
    Canadian Premiere
    Best Actor Winner
  • On Vous Ment! Mockumentary Festival
    Lyon
    France
    May 29, 2016
    French Premiere
    Grand Prize for Best Feature Film
  • Anchorage International Film Festival
    Anchorage, Alaska
    United States
    December 1, 2018
    Alaskan Theatrical Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Nightmares Film Festival
    Columbus, Ohio
    United States
    October 20, 2018
    Midwest Theatrical Premiere
    Official Selection
  • TromaDance
    New York City
    United States
    July 30, 2016
    East Coast Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Fright Nights Vienna
    Vienna
    Austria
    May 10, 2016
    Austrian Premiere
    Best Film Nomination
  • Toronto Indie Horror Fest
    Toronto
    Canada
    November 12, 2016
    Toronto Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Horror-on-Sea Film Festival
    Southend-on-Sea
    United Kingdom
    January 20, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Dracula Film Festival
    Brasov
    Romania
    October 8, 2015
    87 min cut Premiere
    Special Mention Winner
  • Octopus Film Festival
    Gdansk
    Poland
    August 6, 2022
    Curated Program
Distribution Information
  • Terror Films
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
  • Adrian Țofei
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Theatrical, Video / Disc
  • TetroVideo
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Video / Disc
Director Biography - Adrian Țofei

Adrian Țofei (pronounced Tsofei) is an acclaimed filmmaker and actor best known for his debut horror feature Be My Cat: A Film for Anne and his upcoming apocalyptic feature We Put the World to Sleep.

IndieWire called Be My Cat: A Film for Anne “a hidden gem, a nonstop nightmare, a chilling character study and a dazzling debut”, Blumhouse said it’s a “new intelligent found footage film you need to see”, and Dread Central named it “revolutionary and dangerous”. Adrian won Best Actor at Nashville Film Festival for his performance in Be My Cat, as well as Best Film at A Night of Horror in Sydney. He directed, produced, wrote and starred in the movie, which premiered in 2015 at Fantasporto, traveled the festival circuit and received critical acclaim (currently 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), being ultimately released by Terror Films in 2018, and has since attracted a cult following.

Adrian Țofei has been married to actress Duru Yücel since 2017, and they have also become partners onscreen in their upcoming feature We Put the World to Sleep, an international coproduction 7 years in the making and Adrian’s most ambitious project to date.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is my first film and Romania's first found footage horror movie.

My filmmaking method usually consists of working for months on an alternative psychological reality for the actors including myself, partially living in character, so that when we start improvising, I mainly need to record the unfolding events and to make sure the improvisation goes in the right direction. The script mostly consists of plot points. I shoot tens of hours of footage guerrilla style (25 hours for Be My Cat), and then I watch the footage like a documentary filmmaker would and create the details of the story in post-production during the editing process.

I partially improvised Be My Cat in my hometown on a limited budget as director, producer, writer, lead actor, cinematographer, editor and other roles usually done by a film crew, I never used a camera before in my life, had no crew present during shootings other than myself and the actresses, partially lived in character, met the actresses for the first time in character with the camera on, and kept only first takes in the final cut.

I used a language switch during filming to ensure the safety of everyone involved: speaking English meant everyone is interacting in character, and speaking Romanian meant everyone returns to be being themselves (with a few exceptions when the characters had to speak Romanian). Filming was preceded by months of preparation via emails between me and the three actresses.