Emerging Voices, the OWR program supporting new voices in documentary film, showcases five filmmakers and their films in its second edition. The films will be followed by an extended dialogue with the filmmakers.

Daria Ciocan ("April") (b. 2005, Iași, Romania) is a Film and Television Directing student at the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest. Her projects generally explore themes such as adolescence, generational trauma, and the intimate and fragile bonds between women, with a focus on solidarity and the search for identity. She is also passionate about the aesthetics of slow cinema and documentary. So far, she has directed three short films during her studies – “Our Time”, “Ania” and “April”. Her latest fiction short film, “Ania”, was selected as part of the 2025 CineMAiubit Film Festival, Future Perspectives section.

Flavia Matei ("Here, there was a park") is an animation director and VFX Artist (compositing) from Bucharest. She has a passion for magical realism, mixed media and recently is into mixed media.

Stela Pascal ("Stela") is a transgender woman from Chișinău, Moldova. She is a filmmaker with a background of five feature films made fully on her own (one person crew). She is considered by others a fighter for trans rights and human rights. She has been fighting for human rights way longer than the others know. All started in 2008 and since then it has been a long journey. But she does not want to do that. All she ever wanted was to be herself and to make art. Particularly films. But life sometimes has its own plans and terms for us.

Ioana Țurcan ("my meat cuts your meat and there's no time to eat (work in progress)") experiments with various artistic and community-based processes, organizing exhibitions and local initiatives on themes related to the environment, uncertain loss, grief, anger, and care. When she’s not making films, she tends to an orchard.

Leo Zbancă is a Moldovan film director, screenwriter, and producer with over 18 years of experience in the film industry, working across fiction film, documentary, and promotional content. They have worked in audiovisual production in multiple countries across Europe and Africa. Alongside filmmaking, they have more than 10 years of experience as a trainer and facilitator, leading workshops and learning programs in storytelling, media literacy, advocacy, campaigning, and audiovisual tools for NGOs. In 2025, Leo produced the documentary series “Oameni printre Oameni” for Moldovan TV channel TV8. They currently work in the NGO sector at GENDERDOC-M, Moldova’s largest LGBTQ+ organization, where they focus on fundraising, international representation, and strategic communication. They also lead an initiative group  whose main focus is combating propaganda and disinformation through entertainment content.