Alexandra Gulea
Director
2026
Motivation
Kinoatelje is awarding the 2026 Darko Bratina Award to Alexandra Gulea for her original body of work, in which a personal search for roots becomes a universal story about the deeper meaning of community, identity, and belonging. In her work, she weaves together performance art and anthropological research, personal inquiry and theatre of the absurd.
Her highly original reworking of an individual quest becomes a communal narrative and a collective touchstone against the chaos of nation-states that fail to give dignity to the communities that form them. In her delicate yet irreverent way, Gulea couldn’t care less about the homeland, patriarchy, nation-states or generally accepted truths of convenience; instead, her work takes us deep, getting to the heart of her personal quest for origins (familial and popular).
She hails from Romania, a country that has emerged as one of Europe’s most dynamic centres of cinema over the last twenty years, and has won numerous awards at major festivals. Gulea has dedicated much of her research to the culture of her country, exploring themes such as cultural hybridisation, mental distress, and music.
As the daughter and editor of one of Romania’s leading directors, Stere Gulea she has absorbed cinema as a natural language, one that has accompanied her throughout her life. Her cinematic language is that of the Lumière brothers, but also that of Méliès. The beauty she pursues through her films is rare — wild and sophisticated all at once.
Biography
Alexandra Gulea (1970, Bucharest, Romania) graduated cum laude in 1997 from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After participating in several painting exhibitions, she studied documentary filmmaking at the Munich Film School and since 1999 has directed documentary films, shorts, video installations, and feature fiction films. She has also worked as an editor on several movies.
Awardee's statement
Kinoatelje is awarding the 2026 Darko Bratina Award to Alexandra Gulea for her original body of work, in which a personal search for roots becomes a universal story about the deeper meaning of community, identity, and belonging. In her work, she weaves together performance art and anthropological research, personal inquiry and theatre of the absurd.
Her highly original reworking of an individual quest becomes a communal narrative and a collective touchstone against the chaos of nation-states that fail to give dignity to the communities that form them. In her delicate yet irreverent way, Gulea couldn’t care less about the homeland, patriarchy, nation-states or generally accepted truths of convenience; instead, her work takes us deep, getting to the heart of her personal quest for origins (familial and popular).
She hails from Romania, a country that has emerged as one of Europe’s most dynamic centres of cinema over the last twenty years, and has won numerous awards at major festivals. Gulea has dedicated much of her research to the culture of her country, exploring themes such as cultural hybridisation, mental distress, and music.
As the daughter and editor of one of Romania’s leading directors, Stere Gulea she has absorbed cinema as a natural language, one that has accompanied her throughout her life. Her cinematic language is that of the Lumière brothers, but also that of Méliès. The beauty she pursues through her films is rare — wild and sophisticated all at once.
Selected filmography
Maia – Portret cu mâini (r. Alexandra Gulea, 2024, 90’)
Marei copil miner (r. Alexandra Gulea, 2013, 80’)
Dumnezeu la saxofon, dracu la vioara (r. Alexandra Gulea, 2004, 43’)
Moromeții 3 (r. Stere Gulea, 2024, 112’)