After studying English literature at the University of Iaşi, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist.

[4] The film was also selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards,[5] making the January shortlist.

[7] In April 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

[8] In 2016, he directed the tragedy Graduation, which premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where Mungiu won the award for Best Director.

[9] Mungiu was the Jury President of the Semaine de la Critique non-competitive section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.