A young psychologist, a recent graduate, is trying to find out why a group of acting students refuses to return to their classes. She finds herself in the middle of a Circus. The story describes, in a nutshell, the current situation of acting students in Romania – abused by their teachers, tired, frustrated and alienated. A short film inspired by ‘The Empire of Cats’, written by Alex Tocilescu.

Director Biography – Ioan Alexandru Sîrbu

Ioan-Alexandru Sîrbu graduated in 2023 from the Film Directing department of the Theatre and Film Faculty at Babeș-Bolyai University. He directed four short films during his time at school. Additionally, he worked on twelve other student short films in various roles within the production, directing, and camera departments. Alexandru collaborated with the theater department on numerous video and photo projects.
During his time in film-school, he also worked on the feature projects of his professors, Radu Jude and Adrian Sitaru, as an extra and camera assistant.
One of the films he directed, titled “Circ,” was selected at the Early-Bird Student Film Festival in Bulgaria and in the Local Competition at TIFF, Cluj Napoca.
Another short film on which he worked as a director of photography, “The Antichamber”, was selected for the Local Competition at TIFF, Cluj Napoca, and CinemaIubit, Bucharest.

Currently, he is working on his next short film, titled “Rattus norvegicus.”