The filmmaker made his feature film debut in 1955 alongside Manole Marcus, with La mere, a Chekhov adaptation, and went on to direct 15 films, some of which also adaptations: Marele singuratic (1976), based on Marin Preda, Procesul alb (1966), based on Eugen Barbu, Alexandra şi Infernul (1975), based on Laurențiu Fulga.
The film aficionados will watch one of the most famous adaptations in the Romanian cinema, Felix și Otilia (1972), based on George Călinescu's novel and starring Radu Boruzescu and Julieta Szönyi, Lumina palidă a durerii (1981), the complex portrait of a Romanian community during WWI and winner of a special mention at the Moscow Film Festival, and Comoara (1982), a parody which was mutilated by the communist censorship – as it happened with many of his films -, in which the discovery of Decebalus' legendary treasure triggers a series of crazy chases and schemes.
During the 2009 premiere of his documentary Despre Iulian Mihu, așa cum a fost, filmmaker Laurențiu Damian said: „Some thought he was genius. Others thought he was crazy”.
