Eroii de la podul Jiului

October 14th. 1916. Heroes’ Way is a Romanian historical feature film, based entirely on real facts and characters, which tells the story of how a handful of civilians (aged 11-85) led by the Commissioner Popilian managed to defend the bridge over Jiu from the dreaded Bavarian army. The city had been evacuated by the Romanian army that was retreating towards Bucharest, but these civilians refused to leave, not because they planned on being heroes, but because they wanted to be close to their fathers, husbands and brothers who were fighting nearby. Occupying the bridge meant occupying the city’s train station, a powerful railway junction that would have allowed the German army to stop the retreat of the Romanian army.