A defining name and face of Romanian cinema of the ’80s, actress Anda Onesa is set to receive the Excellence Award at the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026, Cluj-Napoca). The actress will take the stage at the TIFF.25 Closing Gala, and audiences will also have the chance to meet her at the special screening of Septembrie (dir. Timotei Ursu, 1978), in which she starred when she was only 17.
Anda Onesa made her screen debut at a very young age, appearing as an extra in E atât de aproape fericirea (dir. Andrei Cătălin Băleanu, 1978), and quickly stood out for her sensitivity and natural ease. Her role as Anișoara in Septembrie, a modest, dreamy young waitress who accompanies the rebellious leather-jacketed hero played by Geo Costiniu, thrust her into the public eye. The film itself stands apart in the ideologically saturated landscape of the era, breathing freedom and an almost anti-establishment spirit through every frame. The dialogue feels natural, the love story — intense and fleeting — carries a disarming sincerity, and the chemistry between the leads lights up the screen.
Shortly after appearing alongside Mircea Diaconu in Vacanță tragică (dir. Constantin Vaeni, 1979), the actress earned international recognition for her performance in Duios Anastasia trecea (dir. Alexandru Tatos, 1980), opposite Amza Pellea. For this role, Anda Onesa received the Best Actress Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film is set in 1944 in a village on the border with Yugoslavia, against the backdrop of the struggle by Romanian and Yugoslav partisans against the Nazi armies. Anastasia’s character is swept up in the turbulent history of those years. Of the film, director Alexandru Tatos said: “What interested me above all was the question of Power — of totalitarian power, which takes hold partly due to the cowardice and complicity of those who will ultimately suffer under it.”
Over the years, Anda Onesa worked with some of the most important directors in Romanian cinema, delivering memorable performances in landmark films of the ’80s and ’90s. In Paso Doble (dir. Dan Pița, 1985), she starred alongside Claudiu Bleonț in a drama about ambition and compromise, and in Noi, cei din linia întâi (1986), one of Sergiu Nicolaescu’s celebrated war films, she was part of the cast of a sweeping historical production.
In the early 1990s, after a brief career in television, Anda Onesa emigrated to America, settling in New York — but not before appearing in The Oak (1992), playing the Securitate-agent sister of the heroine portrayed by Maia Morgenstern. Lucian Pintilie’s film became one of the defining works of post-communist Romanian cinema and was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
In presenting the Excellence Award at TIFF.25, the festival celebrates the grace, talent, and remarkable contribution to cinema of the actress whom critic Alex. Leo Șerban once called “a female Dan Nuțu.”
The Excellence Award at TIFF.25 is offered by Nova Power & Gas.
More details about the TIFF.25 programme will be announced soon. Festival passes are now on sale online — https://tiff.ro/abonamente
Some faces seem custom-drawn to carry the sheer weight and drama of an entire era. In the Romanian cinema of the 1980s, no screen could remain indifferent to the sharp fragility and magnetic naturalness displayed by Anda Onesa. Discovered while still at school, the blonde actress with melancholy eyes fast became the symbol of a generation yearning for freedom, establishing herself as a cornerstone of the domestic silver screen before choosing the liberating anonymity of life across the Atlantic.
A meteoric debut: how a 17-year-old schoolgirl changed the rules of the game
Born in Pucioasa, Dâmbovița County, Anda Onesa did not follow the traditional route through the Institute of Theatre and Cinematic Arts (IATC). She actually graduated in philosophy in Bucharest, but her destiny had been sealed much earlier. When she was just 17 and in her final year of secondary school, the director Timotei Ursu spotted her and offered her the role of Anișoara in the film Septembrie (September, 1978).
Starring alongside the late Geo Costiniu, Anda Onesa brought to life an intense, fleeting love story that breathed an almost anti-establishment air. In a cinema landscape dominated by communist clichés, the raw realism and sheer chemistry between the two protagonists captivated audiences instantly.
Milestones in Anda Onesa’s filmography
| Release year | Film title | Director | Role / Significance |
| 1978 | Septembrie | Timotei Ursu | Anișoara — the debut that propelled her into a generation’s idol. |
| 1979 | Vacanță tragică | Constantin Vaeni | Zamfinta — a deeply poignant historical drama. |
| 1980 | Duios Anastasia trecea | Alexandru Tatos | Anastasia — the definitive role that brought her European acclaim. |
| 1985 | Pas în doi | Dan Pița | A prestigious collaboration with one of the great directors of the era. |
| 1986 | Noi, cei din linia întâi | Sergiu Nicolaescu | Silvia Marinescu — a massive box-office hit in Romanian cinemas. |
| 1992 | Balanța | Lucian Pintilie | Nela’s sister — her final major Romanian film before emigrating. |
Behind the on-screen success, however, lay a grim reality. Her independent character and outspoken views soon caught the attention of the Securitate (the communist secret police). Harassed, subjected to hours of interrogation, and put under constant pressure during her time as a schoolteacher in the provinces, the actress felt that the atmosphere in Ceaușescu’s Romania had become entirely suffocating.
Total reinvention across the Atlantic
Following the 1989 Revolution, and despite appearing in Lucian Pintilie’s masterpiece Balanța (The Oak, 1992), Anda Onesa made the radical decision to leave her homeland for good in 1991. Her destination: the United States of America.
In New York, far from the red carpets and the fame she enjoyed back home, the actress restarted her life from scratch with astonishing determination, proving an incredible capacity for professional adaptation.
Phases of her transformation in the United States
| Field of activity | Role and achievements on the American continent |
| Fashion and modelling | She worked as a photographic model, drawing on her striking, classic features. |
| Education | She put her university degree to use, teaching history for a period. |
| The arts | She managed an art gallery, the very place where she met her husband, Arnold Lieberman. |
| Real estate | She successfully retrained as a real estate agent in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. |
A symbolic return home
Although she has lived in the United States for over three decades, raising a family and two children there, Anda Onesa’s bond with the cinema of her native country has never truly broken.
The recognition of her invaluable contribution to the arts culminated at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), where she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her return to the stage to accept this trophy represents not only a bow to her pure, unadulterated talent, but also a long-overdue moral restitution for an artist whom history tried, and failed, to relegate to oblivion.
AROBS appoints Adina Suciu as Group Chief Transformation and Integration Officer
