# Tudor Vladimir Panduru Breaks Down Long Takes at Jakarta Masterclass > Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru discussed his extensive work with director Cristian Mungiu during a masterclass at Jakarta World Cinema. - Publisher: Briefzora (https://briefzora.com) - URL: https://briefzora.com/tudor-vladimir-panduru-breaks-down-long-takes-at-jakarta-masterclass - Published: 2026-11-04T10:53:52+05:00 - Author: Briefzora Desk (https://briefzora.com/author/briefzora-desk) - Section: Lifestyle - Topics: fjord, Jakarta World Cinema, Cristian Mungiu, Tudor Vladimir Panduru - Image: https://briefzora.com/uploads/2026/11/cristian-mungius-cinematographer-tudor-vladimir-panduru-breaks-down-l-wooezf.webp ## Key points - Tudor Vladimir Panduru spoke at a masterclass during the Jakarta World Cinema festival. - Benh Zeitlin moderated the session and praised Panduru's cinematography work. - Panduru discussed shooting long takes for Cristian Mungiu films like Graduation, R.M.N., and Fjord. - The cinematographer explained the technical challenges of keeping over 100 people in focus during a single take in R.M.N. ## Why it matters Film students, aspiring cinematographers, and fans of international cinema gain rare technical insights into how complex, unbroken long takes are executed on professional film sets. ## Article Known for his long-time collaboration with Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu, cinematographer **Tudor Vladimir Panduru** shared his experience making Graduation, R.M.N., Fjord and Iraqi director Hasan Hadi's The President's Cake during his masterclass at Jakarta World Cinema. Benh Zeitlin, the Oscar-nominated director of Beasts of the Southern Wild, said he was moderating the session because we hope to work together someday. He praised Panduru as the kind of cinematographer who could bring a dimension to your work that is beyond your personal imagination. The masterclass traced Panduru's career chronologically, starting with the screening of one indoor and one outdoor scene from Graduation. Panduru trained under Oleg Mutu, Mungiu's longtime cinematographer on films including 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and was introduced to the Romanian director while still a trainee. Graduation was Panduru's second film as a cinematographer, but it was also the one that made his name internationally. Panduru said the camera in Mungiu's films is meant to stay low-profile and avoid steering the audience toward certain things, because viewers are smart enough to understand what's going on there. With Cristian Mungiu's work, he usually shoots plan-séquence, one scene per shot. There is no editing, no cuts. From a cinematographer's point of view, things can be quite difficult because we end up shooting a lot of takes, and the performance comes as somehow the most important thing on set, said Panduru. We end up shooting 20, 30, 40 takes sometimes to reach the best outcome. The grueling repetition of long takes, however, was not as dreary as one might imagine, as Mungiu is able to keep everyone fresh throughout. Panduru also pointed out that the responsibility to stay fresh lies with each individual, since shooting is about living the moment with everyone on set. It's also a matter of trust. When you get to work in this kind of style, everybody gives a bit of himself into that process, so there's a moment of synchronicity, he said. We don't shoot 30 takes because the takes are not good. The one that works needs to have all the elements get together so you have the best outcome of everything. Zeitlin said Mungiu's films value directness and truthfulness and criticize hypocrisy and dishonesty. Panduru agreed, saying Romanian cinema has often been rooted in social issues and that what Mungiu addresses is important. I'm just trying to help him tell that, he said. On his choice of projects, Panduru said artists should collaborate based on shared values, and that he has been lucky enough to choose the subjects that drew him. He ruled out making an action film, or maybe only if it's something that has a social drama behind. Everything relates to affinities. During the masterclass, several of Panduru's defining scenes were screened, each followed by a technical breakdown of how it was shot: the 20-minute take of more than 100 people gathered in the town hall in R.M.N., the long shot alongside a sailing boat on the water in The President's Cake, and two scenes from Mungiu's latest film, Fjord. The use of light in R.M.N. led the discussion, with Panduru revealing that the daytime scene was in fact shot at night. You're basically using the focus pulling as a way to edit and also reframe in the same shot without having the camera moving at all, he said of the hardest part, keeping more than 100 people in focus in a single frame. Zeitlin said that when he saw the clip from The President's Cake, he realized the same person had shot the Mungiu film. I was like, I have to talk to the cinematographer, he said, adding that the film's aesthetic was distinctly different from Mungiu's. Panduru said the film was a children's fairytale that naturally called for a different visual language. The natural landscape inspired him to build scenes more creatively, freeing him to use running jib arms and wheels, techniques he went on to use again on Fjord. The first clip from Fjord, a family gathering that appeared to be shot at magic hour, the brief window just before sunset, turned the discussion back to light. Panduru explained how he blocked the natural light from outside to buy more time for the performances. The masterclass ended with another long take from Fjord, in which the camera follows star Renate Reinsve from searching on the ground to jumping into the sea. It was really important to have the entire arc of the scene of the emotional trajectory of the characters, so it was really important for Cristian not to cut in this moment, said Panduru. The cinematographer, who jumped into the freezing sea alongside Reinsve, said he thought that would be the most straightforward way of shooting it, but that the hardest part was synchronizing with the actor mid-jump. And the second, while I was doing it, if I lost the camera in the moment of the jump, he said, as the audience laughed. I had a really great team of grips who were supporting me in the water and also outside the water. ## Background on Romanian Cinema and Long Takes The Romanian New Wave cinema movement has gained international critical acclaim over the past two decades for its stark realism, minimal musical scores, and frequent use of long takes, often referred to in French as plan-séquence. Directors like Cristian Mungiu use these extended unbroken shots to create an immersive, documentary-like environment where actors perform entire scenes without editorial interruption. This cinematic approach demands meticulous choreography from both the cast and the technical crew, as any minor mistake by the camera operator, sound recordist, or performer requires restarting the entire sequence from the very beginning. Cinematographers working within this tradition must balance technical precision with naturalistic lighting to maintain the illusion of unedited reality. ## Understanding the Role of the Cinematographer A cinematographer, also known as a director of photography or DP, is the head of the camera and lighting crews on a film set, responsible for making artistic and technical decisions related to the image. Working closely with the director, the cinematographer determines framing, lens choices, camera movement, filters, and the lighting setup to achieve the desired visual tone of the motion picture. In modern independent and auteur-driven cinema, masters of the craft frequently collaborate across multiple projects with specific directors to develop a cohesive visual language. These enduring creative partnerships allow for an unspoken shorthand on set, enabling complex blocking and intricate camera operations during demanding physical shoots. ## The Jakarta World Cinema Festival Jakarta World Cinema is an international film event held in Indonesia designed to showcase acclaimed global cinema, independent features, and masterclasses featuring prominent international filmmakers and craftspeople. The festival provides local audiences, aspiring directors, and industry professionals with access to screenings of contemporary world cinema alongside educational sessions that highlight behind-the-scenes disciplines such as screenwriting, directing, and cinematography. Events featuring figures like Tudor Vladimir Panduru and Benh Zeitlin offer rare educational insights into the collaborative creative processes required to bring complex international film productions to the screen. --- When citing, please link to https://briefzora.com/tudor-vladimir-panduru-breaks-down-long-takes-at-jakarta-masterclass and name Briefzora as the source.