Mai Presus de Orice (1978)

"Mai presus de orice" is a Romanian docudrama film, produced by Casa de Filme 3 in 1978 and directed by Dan Pița and Nicolae Mărgineanu. Initially conceived as a documentary about the catastrophic Vrancea earthquake of March 4, 1977, the film also entered the realm of fiction.

On the evening of March 4, 1977, Romania was shaken by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The earthquake occurred at 9:22:22 PM and lasted 56 seconds. 1,570 people died, of which 1,391 in Bucharest alone. Over 11,300 people were injured.

Nationwide, about 11,300 were injured and approximately 35,000 homes collapsed. Most of the material damage was concentrated in Bucharest, where over 33 buildings and large apartment blocks collapsed.

Among the victims of the earthquake were several prominent figures of our country: Doina Badea, Toma Caragiu, Alexandru Bocăneţ, and the writers A. E. Baconski and Alexandru Ivasiuc.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Vrancea area, about 100 kilometers deep, and the shock wave was felt throughout the Balkan area.

Cast:
Corneliu Dan Borcia
Nicolae Manolache
Dionisie Vitcu
Tatiana Iekel
Anny Braesky
Lucia Mara
Elena Bog
Mihai Dinvale
Traian Dragoș
Mircea Constantinescu
Dan Condurache
Emil Riman
Victor Rebengiuc
Ion Besoiu
Ion Caramitru
Aurel Cioranu
Mircea Diaconu
Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan
Mirela Gorea
Dorel Zaharia
Ștefan Mirea
Dumitru Honciuc
Lucreția Mayer
Ion Lemnaru
Luminița Gheorghiu
Dan Apetrei
Vasile Grădinaru
Marin Benea
Radu G. Zaharia
Tănase Cazimir
Ileana Cernat
Gheorghe Crîșmaru
Natalia Arsene
Victoria Medeea
Emil Reisenauer
Mircea Jida
Rodica Radu
Angela Spiridon
Șerban Ionescu
Lia Șahighian
Constantin Melcea
Cristian Irimia
Eugen Racoți
Osvald Gayer
Roland Binder
Hans Huprich
Puiu Lazăr
Ion Grigorescu
Constantin Șelaru
George Constantin
Dan Manoliu
Vasile Giugaru
Andi Ștefănescu
Mircea Ștefan
Ioan Martin
Mihai Alexandru
Ion Mingheraș
Constantin Vîlcu
Radu Cazan
Sorin Caretu
Bogdan Florescu
Teodor Berca
Gheorghe Negoescu
Tudorel Filimon
Emil Mandric
Dragomir Popescu
Claudiu Panaitescu
Stelian Stancu
Gheorghe Buliga
Petre Moraru
Dragomir Bog
Mirela Nicolau
Aurel Dorobanțu
Maricel Laurențiu
Mihai Cibu
Dinu Neagoe
Iarina Demian
Victorița Dobre
Anca Bejenaru
Geo Dobre
Gelu Nițu
Medeea Marinescu
Romulus Rusan