Cristi Puiu's debut as a director was in 2001 with the low-budget road movie Stuff and Dough (Marfa și banii), starring Alexandru Papadopol and Dragoș Bucur.

In 2006 this film gained 47 prizes, several nominations in the American Critics' Top 10 lists[1] and in French magazines such as Telerama and Les Inrockuptibles.

Cristi Puiu co-wrote the screenplays of both his feature films, Stuff and Dough (2001) and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), with Romanian writer Răzvan Rădulescu.

In collaboration with Răzvan Rădulescu, Puiu wrote the screenplay for Niki and Flo, commissioned by Lucian Pintilie, one of the most important Romanian directors.

In part he has envisioned them in response to the French director Éric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales series, which influenced filmmaking in the late 20th century.