Infinite Football

When he learns that Laurentiu Ginghina, a childhood friend of his brother’s, is trying to reinvent the rules of football—to both reduce fouls and make the game faster and more spectacular—Porumboiu decides to film him. Placing himself in the frame, he listens attentively to Laurentiu’s story. A leg fracture on the football pitch in his youth, followed by another injury at the factory, are recounted as formative experiences, in the very places where they occurred. He speaks of dashed dreams of emigrating to the United States, of disillusioning stints in Europe, all from his desk at city hall—until he is interrupted by a 91-year-old woman demanding the return of her family’s land, seized under the communist regime. Laurentiu then presents his vision of a reinvented football in meticulous detail, drawing diagrams on a whiteboard. As a bond forms between the two men, they delve into questions that seem absurd on the surface, but are explored with complete sincerity. A deceptively simple film, laced with caustic humour, that slowly morphs into a kind of modern fable—one that keeps us asking: what lies behind this obsession?

Mourad-Anis Moussa

The Whistlers, 2019
Infinite Football, 2018
The Treasure, 2015
The Second Game, 2014
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism, 2013
Police, Adjective, 2009
12:08 East of Bucharest, 2006
Liviu’s Dream, 2004
A Trip to the City, 2003
Telephone Number Temporarily Suspended, 2002
Gone with the Wine, 2002
Love … Story, 2001
Graffiti, 2000