Romania's former communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, fled Bucharest by helicopter on 22 December 1989. In 12:08 East of Bucharest, director Corneliu Poromboiu paints a portrait of small town Romania 16 years after that revolution. Old man Piscosi (Mircea Andreescu) and school teacher Manescu (Ion Sapdaru) appear on a local television station to debate how the revolution played out in Vaslui; soon the town is divided over the truth. This is a funny, gentle film that understands the wearying nature of political upheaval.

12:08 took the Camera D'or for best first film at Cannes in 2006, and it's easy to see why. We get three strong performances from the central actors - Corban excels as the bullying, insecure Jderescu - and a tightly constructed narrative that conjures great interest from small, anecdotal events. Crucially, it's all held together by Porumboiu's wonderful lightness of touch; politics, here, is leavened by a gentle sense of the absurdity of small-town life, and even some great one liners. An unexpected gem.