At the New York Film Festival, Sebastian Stan and director Cristian Mungiu discussed the nuance and complexity behind their latest project, Fjord.
When the lights went down at Alice Tully Hall this past Sunday, the air felt thick with the heavy subject matter of *Fjord*. Sebastian Stan stood before the New York Film Festival audience to introduce a film that forces a hard look at how society weighs judgment against compassion.
In the film. Stan plays a conservative Romanian father who moves his family to his wife’s remote. progressive Norwegian hometown. The situation fractures when Child Protective Services receives a report regarding mild bruising on the couple’s two older children. Authorities respond by removing all five of their children from the home. leaving the parents to navigate a sudden. harrowing descent into systemic scrutiny. The role marks a deeply personal milestone for the actor. who was born in Romania and moved to the United States at age 12.
Standing on stage, Stan reflected on the human tendency to prioritize being correct over understanding others. “We have to have the courage to recognize our own flaws. no matter what our belief systems are as human beings. and how that might affect our judgment of each other. ” Stan told the crowd. “We have to remember that there’s more to it than just simply being right. and that doubt still serves a purpose and nuance is inherent to who we are.”.
The project reunites Stan with director Cristian Mungiu. Their connection is a decade in the making. dating back to a screening of Mungiu’s 2016 film *Graduation*—also held at the New York Film Festival—where Stan attended with his mother. That night, the actor knew he wanted to return to his roots to collaborate with the director. “I turned to her and said, ‘I need to go back. I need to do a film in Romanian. and I want to work with him.’ So. I guess we made that happen. ” Stan said. later adding with a laugh: “I was thinking about my mom out there going. ‘You finally played your grandfather!’”.
For Mungiu, the narrative was pulled from a sobering reality. He studied multiple cases involving families migrating from conservative societies to Scandinavia. noting that these systems are often idealized as the world’s happiest. yet they frequently rely on flawed logic. “Most of these decisions that people need to make involving children are based on assumptions,” Mungiu explained. “And when you base your decisions on assumptions. your own stereotypes about the values of the other can make you unbalanced in one direction.”.
The director hopes the film, which won Neon its seventh consecutive Palme d’Or at Cannes this past May after receiving a 10-minute standing ovation, pushes audiences toward a broader tolerance for minority viewpoints, even when they find those opinions uncomfortable.
*Fjord* arrives in theaters on October 9.
Sebastian Stan Fjord Cristian Mungiu New York Film Festival film drama cinema