The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

For more than twenty years, Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled his people with an iron fist, until “the Great Oak of the Carpathians” met his inglorious end before a firing squad on December 25, 1989. 

Filmmaker Andrei Ujica created a captivating political satire about the Romanian dictator, completely built from footage broadcast on Romanian state television. Without added commentary or music. Judge for yourself. 

The film begins with the well-known, grainy, and shaky images of Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, filmed with a shoulder-mounted camera, just before their execution. What follows is beautiful archival material of speeches in ironclad Marxist-Leninist jargon, factory and state farm tours, travels to China and North Korea, and during regional celebrations. And always, he is cheered on. As the film progresses, more and more signs of megalomania appear. 

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaucescu is a radical masterpiece that shows the viewer an image of the dictator as he wanted the Romanian population to see him.

GOGBOT 2026: Manufactured Minds
This screening is in collaboration with the Gogbot Festival, themed “Manufactured Minds”. Click here for more about Gogbot 2026 and here for the complete film program during the festival. 

Entrance to the entire festival is free, including the films. However, for the feature films it is necessary to obtain a free ticket at one of the Concordia box offices on the day of the screening.