Romanian documentary short Plan Contraplan (Shot Reverse Shot), directed by Radu Jude and historian Adrian Cioflanca, has won the Manoel de Oliveira Award for Best Documentary in the International Competition at the 34th Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival in Portugal, held July 17 – 26, according to a press release issued by Saga Film on July 27.

Between 1985 and 1987, American journalist Edward Serotta travelled across communist Romania, photographing the harsh realities of everyday life. Unbeknown to him, Romania’s communist secret police, the Securitate, followed his movements and photographed him in turn. Four decades later, Radu Jude and historian Adrian Cioflanca bring together the two sets of images – those taken by the photographer and those produced by the state surveillance apparatus – in a documentary exploring memory, paranoia and the absurdity of Romania’s recent history, according to the film’s synopsis.

The 22-minute film is in Romanian and English and combines Edward Serotta’s archive photographs with his narration and contributions from researcher Diana Margarit, who was also responsible for the project’s historical research.

Plan Contraplan had its world premiere in the Berlinale Shorts competition at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2026 and was subsequently screened in competition at the Cinema du Reel festival in Paris. The film marks the third collaboration between Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflanca, following the documentary feature The Exit of the Trains (2020) and the short film Memories from the Eastern Front (2022).

The Manoel de Oliveira Award for Best Documentary is presented annually by the jury of the Curtas Vila do Conde International Competition, one of Portugal’s leading short film festivals and one of the most important in Europe. This year’s 34th edition featured 244 films from 44 countries.