Like street lights turning on in sequence, one after the other, moving outwards from the town centre: this is how Piscoci (Andreescu) – an elderly widower famous locally for dressing as Santa at Christmas – describes the spread of revolution in Romania in 1989. But debt-ridden, drink-sodden Manescu (Sapduru) imagines things differently. The street lights don't come on in sequence, he says, but all at once. In 12.08 East of Bucharest (renamed from A Fost N-A Fost? meaning 'was there or wasn't there?') first-time feature director Corneliu Porumboiu introduces a beat-up town – and its run-down residents – sixteen years to the day since Nicolai Ceauºescu fled Bucharest.

Piscoci and Manescu are two unlikely guests on a local television station run by former textile merchant Jderescu (Corban). The bleak setting and bloody subject matter aside, 12.08 is a witty comedy with a deft handle on character-based humour. Piscoci may have an enlightened understanding of his nation's history, but it doesn't stop him making paper boats on live television to settle his nerves. And as caller after caller attests to the truth of Manescu's role in the town's 'revolution', his refusal to change his story becomes increasingly amusing – particularly in the face of Jderescu's obvious frustration.

Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr Lazarescu sparked international recognition of Romanian cinema after it won the Prix un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2005. 12.08 followed suit last year, winning Le Caméra d'Or for best first film. All Eastern European cinema comes with a certain degree of baggage, usually compounded by Cannes success. But this isn't a film about the Romanian revolution and the country's subsequent degradation. In fact, this is only the backdrop to a neatly crafted dark comedy. The film has its flaws – the unusual structure interrupts the flow and, although short, the film almost begins to drag towards the end – but as a window onto a foreign sense of humour 12.08 is worthy of its awards.