The Tube with a Hat

One of the most awarded short films of all time.

On a wet morning in a rural Romanian town, a young boy wakes his father up, early. He has promised to have their broken television repaired and so the pair embark on a journey into town in a slow-paced race against time.

Curator's note

It's well documented that the Romanian New Wave started with a short film: Cristi Puiu's Cigarettes and Coffee (2004). But two years later, Radu Jude's The Tube with a Hat premiered at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival and went on to be one of the most awarded short films of all time, collecting accolades at festivals all over the world.

As a debut film, The Tube with a Hat is an intimidatingly strong start for a new director. It balances gritty realism with an endearing sense of humour, and it builds enormous tension from something that in another director's hands would be low stakes.

One of the most interesting things about this film is how it maps out the staggering trajectory of Radu Jude's filmic output and narrative style. From this staring point, those of us following his career will eventually end up in a strange land almost unrecognisable from the one we left.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)