If you are looking for a filming location to match your budget and high standards in video production, well you better take a look at Romania. We put together some of the best filming locations and tips to know what to film in Romania.
First stop. Rural Life
Romania’s country life is all about the green grass, the haystacks, and the old houses. Romania is lucky enough to have ten historical regions: Dobrogea, Moldova, Bucovina, Maramures, Transilvania, Banat, Crisana, Oltenia, Muntenia, and Basarabia. Each one has its own specific establishments and architectural characteristics adapted to the natural topography, making them unique and versatile in terms of filming locations.
Rural Romania is mostly about wide landscapes, well-preserved old houses, and virgin territories. People living in the countryside of Romania managed to keep alive some ancient traditions and ways of being. In rural Romania, the horse and cart remain the main way of transport for the villagers.
Scything the grass and making hay stacks during summertime is the main activity for many people living in the lowlands of Maramures or Bucovina. Using their ancient tools everything is handmade, automatization is far away from rural Romania.
Romania is that kind of country where you can find yourself filming a Dacian house made of clay, simply decorated in the peasant style of the 1900s, and you can also overnight here, a combination of two needs in one.
We can’t not talk about rural Romania without including the shepherds. The highlands of the mountains keep safe the sheepfolds making life as it was 200 years ago. Romanian shepherds still follow the old ancestral customs remaining connected to the natural elements and managing their life after the seasonal changes.
Transhumance, the movement of the stock folds in search of food is still being practiced by some Romanian shepherds who just refuse to give up to modern times.
Natural environments and country life come hand in hand in Romania’s rural life. In the land of the Danube Delta, the most well-preserved delta in Europe, the fishermen are throwing their nets into the deep waters of the Danube, looking for crucian crab, catfish, or pike. After a long day on the water, Danube’s delta fishermen come together and make that special fish soup using the water of the Danube to give it the real taste.
As you go deeper into the centre of Romania on your way to Transylvania you will discover a whole different country. Border by the Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania land is probably the most famous region in Romania. Some people still believe nowadays that Transylvania is a different country or some sort of an independent state. It’s not. It’s been part of Romania since the Dacian times. Over here our ancient ancestors, the Dacians, built worship temples and citadels that can be still seen today.
Sarmisegetuza Regia, the spiritual center of the Dacian culture is an exclusive place that can be seen today in the region of Transylvania. Up into the Orastie Mountains, among the secular trees you will discover Romania’s deep mysteries and mystical connections. The steamy land of Transylvania is always a good choice when it comes to travel documentaries unfolding spooky mysteries.
And if you are into mystical spooky stories, the Oltenia region is next on the list when it comes to filming destinations in Romania. Over here, people have their own rules and no matter how important the Orthodox Church institution is around there, the villagers still practice some pretty bloody death rituals in order to keep the bad spirits away. Of course, garlic remains the main weapon against vampires in Romania.
Because in Romania good luck is something you need for sure, everyone is doing their best to keep that good karma coming, no matter what. Garlic is of course one of the theme songs of Romania. In the countryside of Moldova region, there is even a garlic village where all the people there grow and sell garlic for a living.
Rural life in Romania is also about, resource exploitation, toxicity, and natural disasters. The toxic lake of Rosia Poieni mountains exploitation that is eating up a whole village remains proof of the forever battle of man vs. nature. Fascinating from a visual point of view, but extremely harsh in terms of eco-environment care.
Winter or spring no matter the weather, rural life in Romania is full of stories ready to unfold. From the water life of the Danube delta to the highlands of the shepherds, Romania offers a full spectrum of filming locations covering a wide range of video production needs. The only thing that is good to have in exotic Romania is a good eye and some local guidance to get you off the beaten path and up to the best frame to set your camera.
