Belgian filmmaker and multimedia artist Johan Grimonprez, who was nominated last year at the Academy Awards for his documentary “Soundtrack to a Coup d’État,” is the filmmaker in focus at the 19th edition of One World Romania. One of the most politically engaged filmmakers currently working, Grimonprez will attend the festival in Bucharest, where he will talk with the audience after two screenings of his films and will also host a masterclass.
Grimonprez’s works, which push the very limits of what documentary cinema can be, compel us to question not just the socio-political systems that govern us, but our own perception. While his earlier films, from “dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y” (1997) to “Double Take” (2009), brilliantly captured the cultural-political zeitgeist of their time and even foreshadowed the present, his most recent titles are the ones that hone in on the timely urgency and relevance of his artistic practice.
A gripping assemblage of archival footage and documentary material that reveals the hidden influence of the arms industry in shaping international economic policies, “Shadow World” (2016) functions as a cinematic indictment of corporate greed and political power under the aegis of the military-industrial complex. The same intricate web of corruption, deceit, and complicity at the hands of global super-powers is explored even more deeply in “Soundtrack to a Coup d’État” (2024), a fascinating archival collage of the political climate and events that led to the assassination, in the 1960s, of Congo’s independence leader Patrice Lumumba. The two films will be screened at OWR19, with both screenings followed by Q&A sessions with the director.
In addition to the two screenings, the Johan Grimonprez Focus will also include a masterclass, indispensable in exploring the theories and practices that lie at the heart of his films, hosted by the filmmaker on April 27 at the Elvire Popesco Cinema.
The Moldovan film industry, also in focus at OWR19
With an impressive variety of films from the Republic of Moldova increasingly present at international festivals, three documentaries directed by women filmmakers, diverse in form and subject matter but threaded together by the same culturally-specific spirit unique to Moldovan culture, will be screened at OWR19 in the Focus Moldova section.
Awarded the Special Jury Prize in the Doc@PÖFF competition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Raisa Răzmeriță’s “Electing Ms Santa” follows a 42-year-old woman’s fight to free herself from social and family conventions. But when she decides to run for local office, her personal emancipation becomes a political act.
After winning the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 2021 Berlinale with “My Uncle Tudor,” Olga Lucovnicova explores a new family story in her first feature film. Presented in a preview screening at OWR, “Last Letters from My Grandma” follows the filmmaker as she travels with her father to Asha, his hometown deep in the Ural Mountains, just as Russia launches a new war that threatens to bury certain secrets forever.
Angered by the myth that LED-light-grown tomatoes can feed the world and that high-tech agriculture has overcome its dependency on land, Marina Sulima starts to explore in her scrapbook diary film “Consider a Tomato,” through a handwritten recipe notebook, the titular fruit’s role as a cultural, culinary staple and market-controlled agricultural asset.
“Rage Hour” – A live performance about cuts and austerity
With several funders withdrawing and the state budget still frozen, factors that led One World Romania to reduce its number of festival days in the middle of preparations, OWR is putting together a new warm-up ahead of its 19th edition. “Rage Hour” is a live performance in which artists and members of civil society will speak openly about the impact of austerity measures on their fields, the crises they face, and what is weighing them down during these hard times.
Wanting to bring together different perspectives on the current socio-economic and political situation and to assess the impact that changes, cuts, and the status quo have on various fields and communities, 17 guests, including journalists Emilia Șercan and Elena Vlădăreanu, Răzvan Petri and Vlad Adamescu from Politică la minut, Alina Dumitriu from Sens Pozitiv, and Florin Buhuceanu from the ACCEPT Association, will each have five minutes to make their voices heard. The free-entry event will take place on April 1, from 18:30 at the National Center for Dance in Bucharest, and will be livestreamed on the festival’s channels as well as on those of the festival’s partners.
Early Bird passes for the International Documentary & Human Rights Film Festival One World Romania 2026 are now on sale through Eventbook.ro, at the discounted price of 200 lei. In Bucharest, the festival will take place between April 24-29 at the Peasant Museum Cinema, Elvire Popesco Cinema, the Eforie Cinematheque, and Apollo111 Cinema. Afterwards, many of the films will also be available to stream online, from anywhere in Romania, from April 30 through May 31.
ORGANIZER: One World Romania Association
CULTURAL PROJECT CO-FUNDED BY: Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN)
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS: The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant – Peasant Museum Cinema, Embassy of France in Romania, French Institute in Bucharest – Elvire Popesco Cinema, National Film Archive – Eforie Cinematheque, Romanian Cultural Institute, DACIN-SARA, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania, Goethe-Institut Bucharest, UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency Romania, Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Romania, Czech Centre Bucharest, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bucharest, Italian Cultural Institute Bucharest, Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre Bucharest
CORPORATE PARTNER: Groupama
PARTNER VENUES: Apollo111 Cinema, Echoes Haus, Lokal, Seneca Anticafe
YOUTH DAYS PARTNERS: The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant – Peasant Museum Cinema, Peasant Museum Image Archive, Polish Institute Bucharest , “I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theatre and Film, Pe Stop Association, Asociația Techsoup, Incubatorul Civic Digital, Save the Children Romania, VIS - Victimele Infracțiunilor Sexuale Association, Tineri pentru Tineri, Romanian Angel Appeal
FRIENDS OF OWR: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. – Rule of Law Programme Southeast Europe, The National Center for Dance Bucharest (CNDB), Expert Forum (EFOR), F-Sides, Children for Future Association, Greenpeace Romania, Snoop, Faculty of Theatre and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Political Science, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration Bucharest, co/laborator film, microFILM, PRISMA FILM, Mediawise Society, Sahia Vintage, KineDok
TICKETS THROUGH: Eventbook.ro
MONITORING PARTNER: mediaTRUST Romania
MEDIA PARTNERS: RFI România, Radio România Cultural, Scena9, IQads, Revista FILM, Zile și Nopți, Școala9, Cărturești, Films in Frame, Film Menu, LiterNet, Modern Times Review, Like5.ro, Cinepub, Cinefilia, Happ.ro
THE FESTIVAL WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2008 BY: Czech Center Bucharest
Other event partners, both new and traditional, are currently in the process of confirmation.
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project's results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
