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DISMISSED

🔥 A freelance journalist investigates a mysterious AI corporation after a fire claims the life of its star employee. As he races to uncover the truth, he unravels a web of secrets, exposing the AI software's dangerous impact on the world and on the sanity of its employees.
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🏆 "The award goes to a timely, intriguing, expose of urgent development that affects all facets of contemporary life. The film, done in a cinematically restrained, yet powerful fashion, reaches beyond the local, into the universal, probing the depths of technological control over human experience." Vera Mijojlic, founder of SEEfest in Los Angeles, Feature Film Jury at Transilvania IFF when offering the Romanian Days Best Feature Film Award
✍️ "The most pleasant surprise of all Romanian Days is the satisfying WTF proposition of DISMISSED, a low-budget indie assembled as a fake investigative documentary, but with a dense and winding plot."
Mihai Chirilov, Artistic Director, Transilvania IFF
✍️ "The film unfolds in a methodical fashion, shaping a narrative then upending it and building towards a more complex picture. The drama is in the writing and the constant drip of revelations."
Allan Hunter, Screen International
✍️ "Made up mostly of talking heads, this is densely plotted, clever stuff, using its ‘limitations’ to the best effect. Such a fun genre surprise, and what a good choice of a winner."
Ioana Moldovan, Romania Insider
✍️ "Weaponizing the faux-documentary format with surgical precision, Dismissed is a low-key yet deeply unsettling conspiracy thriller built entirely on talking heads—a cold, calculated parade of faces offering carefully manicured lies. The micro budget constraints transform into style: the drama is in the writing and the constant drip-feed of revelations. A freelance journalist investigates a fatal server room fire at tech giant Futura AI after the case is quickly and suspiciously shut down. Dispensing with costly reconstructions, the film relies solely on the methodical accumulation of testimony to expose the rot. The relentless structure—the journalist’s skeptical face juxtaposed against utterly unreliable sources—slowly turns the dead victim from “exemplary employee” to an inconvenient religious outlier. A timely, chilling study in corporate erasure, this indie debut makes themes of workplace toxicity and AI ethics feel immediate, plausible, and terrifyingly real."
Making Waves New York

  • George ve GänĂŚaard
    Director
    Know Thy Partner (2022), Thank You for Your Teeth! (2020), Flunked (2020), America (2019)
  • Horia Cucută
    Director
    Know Thy Partner (2022), Thank You for Your Teeth! (2020), America (2019)
  • Horia Cucută
    Writer
  • George ve GänĂŚaard
    Writer
  • Horia Cucută
    Producer
  • Ayrton P. Bryan
    Producer
  • Daniel Popa
    Key Cast
    "Gabriel Vinatoru"
    Wer (2013), Closer to the Moon (2013)
  • Dana Marineci
    Key Cast
    "Andreea Mitu"
    Cobain (2018), Toni Erdmann (2016)
  • Emilian Oprea
    Key Cast
    "Radu Dumitru"
    Vlad (2019), Dogs (2016), De ce eu? (2015)
  • Sabina Lazar
    Key Cast
    "Maria Ion"
    Casa Noastra (2022), Parfect (2022)
  • Liviu Pintileasa
    Key Cast
    "Adrian Voinea"
    Arest (2019), De ce eu? (2015), Miracolul din Tekir (2015)
  • mc² film
    Production Company
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    CLASAT
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Mistery, Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 31 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 20, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    80,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Romania
  • Country of Filming:
    Romania
  • Language:
    Romanian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF)
    Cluj-Napoca
    Romania
    June 22, 2024
    Best Feature Film - Romanian Days
  • 35th European Film Fest
    Singapore
    Singapore
    May 8, 2026
    Asian Premiere
  • 16th Festival de Cine Rumano
    Madrid
    Spain
    April 22, 2026
  • 19th Making Waves
    New York
    United States
    December 7, 2025
    North American Premiere
  • 18th CinEast Luxembourg
    Luxembourg
    Luxembourg
    October 23, 2025
    European Premiere
  • 10th BUZZ IFF - International Film Festival
    Buzău
    Romania
    September 13, 2025
  • 10th Câmpulung Film Fest
    Câmpulung Moldovenesc
    Romania
    August 17, 2025
  • 16th Serile Filmului Romanesc
    Iasi
    Romania
    August 8, 2025
  • Cinepolitica International Film Festival
    Bucharest
    Romania
    May 17, 2025
  • Noptile Scurt-metrajului Studentesc
    Cluj-Napoca
    Romania
    May 12, 2025
  • 32rd Alter-Native International Film Festival
    Targu Mures
    Romania
    November 10, 2025
  • Noaptea Alba a Filmului Romanesc
    Bucharest & Cluj-Napoca
    Romania
    September 13, 2024
  • Alba Iulia Music & Film Festival
    Alba Iulia
    Romania
    August 25, 2024
Distribution Information
  • mc² film
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - George ve GänÌaard, Horia Cucută

🌿 George and Horia have directed five short films, with 120+ festival selections around the world and 19 awards in the United States, Spain, Romania, Greece, Colombia, Iran and Poland.

🏆 They have just started their festival run with DISMISSED, their debut feature film, and won the Best Feature Film in Romanian Days at the 23rd Transilvania International Film Festival.

🎥 At the moment, they are in production with their second animated film, MANNEQUIN, which will be completed during the fall of 2024.

🔗 George ve Gänæaard: www.imdb.com/name/nm5568925
🔗 Horia Cucută: www.imdb.com/name/nm8364557

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

DISMISSED is a fake documentary, a work of fiction presented in the style of a documentary.
It draws heavily from real events and scenarios, which influenced the story we created. And interestingly, many events depicted in our screenplay subsequently mirrored real-life occurrences.
It's a story we believe is significant for our societies and the times we live in, and we hope it reaches a wide audience.