Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru Shows How Long Takes Are Made in Jakarta

Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru held a masterclass at Jakarta World Cinema on how he shoots long, uncut scenes. Variety reported that he talked through his work with Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, his main collaborator.

The session was moderated by Benh Zeitlin, the Oscar-nominated director of Beasts of the Southern Wild. The festival's own announcement listed the event at CGV Cinemas Grand Indonesia in Jakarta, for 1 November 2026 at 17:35 Western Indonesia Time.

Panduru trained under Oleg Mutu, Mungiu's longtime cinematographer on 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. He was introduced to Mungiu while still a trainee. Graduation was his second film as a cinematographer, and the two have worked together ever since.

Mungiu usually shoots a plan-séquence, the French term for a long take that covers a whole scene in one shot with no cuts. Panduru said the crew sometimes needs 20, 30 or even 40 takes to get the one they want. The approach asks more of the actors and the planning than of the editing room, because there is nowhere to hide a mistake.

The masterclass screened clips to show the method at work. One was a 20-minute take in R.M.N. featuring more than 100 people gathered in a town hall. Panduru revealed that the town-hall scene, which looks like daytime, was in fact shot at night. Another clip from The President's Cake, directed by Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi, showed a long shot of a sailing boat on the water. The session also included two scenes from Mungiu's latest film, Fjord.

Variety reported on 2 November that Fjord opened Jakarta World Cinema 2026. The film is Romania's entry for the Oscars. It is the third Panduru and Mungiu collaboration after Graduation and R.M.N., and the first of their films shot outside Romania.

For a general viewer, the lesson is that a shot that seems to run without a break is the result of careful rehearsal and repeated takes. The look is built before the camera rolls, and then the crew has to get it right, again and again.