Synopsis

Copşa Mică is a small town in the heart of Romania with a population of 6000. For decades the town has been completely covered in soot, emitted whilst producing carbon black for the European tyre market. Copşa Mică’s location in a valley made it ideal for Nicolae Ceausescu to establish heavy industry. His  motives were as simple as they were cruel; the emission would stay in the valley, and wouldn’t harm the rest of the country.

This little black town has had the questionable honour of claiming to be the most polluted town in Europe.

After the revolution there was a large clean-up but not suffice to make Copşa lose it’s bad reputation. Copşa’s dark past has yet to be cleansed. A few years before Romania would join the EU, the question was how Copşa had endured the post-Ceausescu period and whether the town was ready for the new era to come.

In the documentary ‘Copşa Mică, Dudu’s Dark Town’ a few  citizens are accompanied in 2003 - the year of the local elections-and in 2007 when Romania joined the EU.

The main character is Daniel Tudor Mihalache, in Copşa better known as simply ‘Dudu’. He is a successful retailer with one burning ambition: to be elected as Copşa Mică's next Mayor. He has great plans for the city despite all difficulties and ultimately wants to change its image. How will Dudu bring Copşa back to life in preparation of joining the ‘New Europe’ ?

‘Copşa Mică, Dudu’s Dark Town’ is a profound and passionate story of ordinary people in a very devastating environment. It gives an intimate insight with humour and compassion of how to face the town’s imperative gloomy past, but still look for the brightness of tomorrow’s future.