Penned by Crișan and based on the Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony, the script follows a father and his son, who, the day before Easter, descend from their small village in the mountains to the next airport where the Holy Light will arrive from Jerusalem.

The main characters are played by Andrei Voicu (a boy chosen from among 200 children), Marius Cordoş, and Ofelia Popii.

Crișan, who returns to the Apuseni Mountains after his WW2 coming-of-age drama Warboy / Sluga, told FNE: “Holy Light explores childhood and the passing to adolescence, a universe that still fascinates me and which will also require working with children. I find it exciting to discover new talents and to build characters with them. The film will also revisit the locations where I shot my 1944 film Warboy, which was focused on a teenager. Now we will shoot that area as it is today, as I continue to be interested in the dramaturgy of geographical locations. Holy Light is about faith, childhood and light, but also about cinematic time. It is a challenging production that will explore again the Apuseni Mountains and West Romania, and the people living there”.

Marian Crișan is producing through Romania’s Rova Film in coproduction with Alternative Cinema (Republic of Moldova) and Nukleon Frame (Slovakia), with support from the Romanian Film Centre, the National Cinematography Centre of the Republic of Moldova, and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund. The budget has not been disclosed at this point.

The premiere is set for the autumn of 2026.

Warboy (2023) was produced by Romania’s Rova Film in coproduction with Moldova’s Parmis Film, and Romania’s Chainsaw Europe, and Forest Film.

Production Information:

Producer:
Rova Film (Romania)
office@rovafilm.ro

Coproducers:
Alternative Cinema (Republic of Moldova)
Nukleon Frame (Slovakia)

Credits:
Director: Marian Crișan
Scriptwriter: Marian Crișan
Dop: John Donicǎ
Main cast: Andrei Voicu, Marius Cordoş, Ofelia Popii