Colectiv

Sometimes a documentary can be as thrilling and fascinating as a feature film – and for me, this documentary stood out from the Venice selection of 2019. Who knows, maybe very soon we will see a feature version of this informative and nevertheless captivating film about corruption in the Romanian health care system and in Romanian politics in general? Alexander Nanau’s well-researched film follows the investigations of a team of brave journalists that revealed unbelievable nepotism and unbearable conditions in Romanian hospitals after the devastating fire in the music club COLECTIV. This accident caused many dead and wounded and made the health care system in Romania collapse. Although some politicians had to step back after those revelations, Nanau’s documentary also shows how hard it is to achieve fundamental changes in a system that is rotten to the core – especially if the majority of people continues to vote for the same old oligarchs and populists or even stays away from democratic elections. The film is about a regional topic, but it can easily be seen as a striking and universal example for the destructive power of corruption in general and the alarming indifference of the masses.