Vanatoare / Prowl

An ordinary day in Romania. Under a highway exit close to Bucharest, Lidia and Denisa are changing their clothes; warm pullovers and sneakers are exchanged for tight tops and heels. The two are then waiting for clients, an icy wind gusting around their ears. Lidia’s children do not know about her daily life under the bridge. Mother of two, she is also a mother figure for Denisa, who lives in equally humble conditions – and whose mind is occupied with nothing but the desire to buy a new pair of sneakers for her boyfriend. When the youthful Vanessa turns up under the bridge to compete with the girls, they try their best to get rid of her. The women’s biggest problem, however, is an encounter with the police, who is not afraid to help themselves to the women’s hard-earned cash. The day ends with a march along the highway – and unexpected ice cream. VANATOARE is the realistic, intense and bleak, but never depressing, debut film by German-Rumanian director Alexandra Balteanu.