Closer to the Moon (Romanian: Mai aproape de lună) is a 2013 Romanian-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Nae Caranfil, and starring Vera Farmiga, Mark Strong, Harry Lloyd, Joe Armstrong, Tim Plester, Christian McKay, and Anton Lesser. Based on the true story of the Ioanid Gang, it is one of the most expensive productions in Romanian cinema.
It had its world premiere at the Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival at the Lincoln Center on November 29, 2013. The film was released in Romania on March 7, 2014, and was given a limited release in the United States on April 17, 2015 by Sundance Selects.Synopsis
Post-war Communist Romania: In 1959 Bucharest, members of Romania's high society Max Rosenthal (Mark Strong), Alice Bercovich (Vera Farmiga), Dumi Dorneanu (Tim Plester), Răzvan Orodel (Joe Armstrong) and Iorgu Ristea (Christian McKay), known collectively as Ioanid Gang, announce to a crowd that they are shooting a film. A young café worker, Virgil (Harry Lloyd), is among the witnesses. Under the guise of making this film, the Ioanid Gang perform a heist of the National Bank of Romania. The following day, Virgil loiters around a film set and encounters the director, Flaviu (Allan Corduner), who requests him to buy vodka and give it to him whenever he asks.
Actors