Dialogue is in the spotlight at the 18th edition of One World Romania, which calls for communication and understanding in an increasingly polarized society. Six documentary features that try to get to the root of what really divides us will be screened in the main section of the edition, “Dialogues”. In addition, in an attempt to propose a new festival experience, OWR will provide this year a much-needed platform for debates on urgent topics, from social inequalities to rising extremism, in the “Extended Dialogues” section. 

The titles included in the “Dialogues” section invite the audience to come into contact with nonmainstream perspectives that challenge and promise to broaden our critical empathy. “In a world where the intrinsic values of human nature are increasingly abstracted and reduced to monetary worth, what is left to hold onto for hope? For the 18th edition of OWR, we remain steadfast in our idealistic stubbornness that refuses to give in — we keep questioning, revolting, listening, and maybe understanding.” (Anca Păunescu and Andrei Tănăsescu, OWR18 co-curators)

In “23 Mile”, director Mitch McCabe offers a rare glimpse in today’s fractured America:  genuine dialogue with political opponents, on the eve of an election, that goes beyond the simple “us versus them”. “Trans Memoria” (dir. Victoria Verseau) and “The Stimming Pool” (dir. Steven Eastwood and the Neurocultures Collective) both highlight the vital need for self-expression in a world that often marginalizes or misunderstands differences. 

Two films share the expressive intimacy of poetry in both form and content. In “Park” (“Taman Taman”, dir. So Yo-Hen), two foreign students from Indonesia give voice to their fellow countrymen, exploited in the labor market of Taiwan. In “We Are Inside”, which finds director Farah Kassem returning to her hometown after more than a decade, poetry becomes the bridge between father and daughter, between the trauma of the past and the chaos of present day Lebanon. 

Also dealing with intergenerational dialogue, “A Want in Her” navigates a mother’s addiction through the difficult balancing act of unconditional love and self-protection of her daughter, director and artist Myrid Carten. 

Tackling several important topics of our times, OWR also puts forward a series of screenings followed by extended debates in dialogue with the films, set to take place in the presence of special guests every evening, Monday to Friday, at the Peasant Museum Cinema. On Monday, April 7, the perspective offered by „The Blockade” (dir. Igor Bezinović) on the 2009 student strikes in Croatia provides an important starting point for a broad discussion about the student protests that are shaking Serbia at the moment. 

Tuesday, April 8, is reserved for directors selected in the “Emerging Voices” program, the film screening being followed by an open talk on how to grow as a filmmaker interested in human rights in an increasingly precarious industry. Wednesday will prove to be a vital history lesson: after the Iron Guard became one of the most Googled terms late last year, the program Vintage Fascism, organised in collaboration with the National Film Archive, will present several news journals from 1940-1945 about the Romanian Legionary Movement. 

What begins as a simple recording of some locals’ struggle to expose Romania’s timber mafia gradually turns into a direct confrontation with absurd and violent consequences in “Tooth and Nail” (dir. Mihai Gavril Dragolea and Radu Mocanu), which will be screened on Thursday, April 10. Through a personal approach and direct engagement with the subject, the film captures the price paid by those who try to defend nature in a hostile system. 

The selection is rounded off on Friday, April 11, by two documentaries from the 70s that highlight the need for a free and democratic Palestine: “Resistance, Why?” (dir. Christian Ghazi) and “Arab-Israeli Dialogue” (dir. Lionel Rogosin). Apart from this last screening, which will take place from 18:00, all the other screenings in the “Extended Dialogues” section will start at 19:00. 

Passes for the International Documentary & Human Rights Film Festival One World Romania, available through Eventbook.ro, are on sale at the discounted price of 200 lei through March 16. The full schedule will be announced soon. 

In Bucharest, the festival will take place from April 4-13 at the Peasant Museum Cinema, Elvire Popesco Cinema and Union Cinema. Afterwards, many of the films will also be available to stream online, from anywhere in Romania, from April 14-30. 

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ORGANISER: One World Romania Association

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS: The Administration of the National Cultural Fund, UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. – Rule of Law Programme Southeast Europe, Romanian Cultural Institute, Czech Centre Bucharest, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bucharest, Goethe-Institut Bucharest, National Council for Combating Discrimination, Embassy of Belgium in Romania, Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, Polish Institute Bucharest, Embassy of Switzerland in Romania, Swiss Sponsors’ Fund, Embassy of Ireland in Romania, Italian Cultural Institute Bucharest, The Royal Danish Embassy in Romania, Swedish Embassy in Romania, EUNIC Romania, Balkan Documentary Center, KineDok 

CORPORATE PARTNERS: Kaufland Romania, Valvis Group, Groupama, BMW Romania, BlackCab 

PARTNER VENUES: The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant – Peasant Museum Cinema, French Institute in Bucharest – Elvire Popesco Cinema, National Film Archive – Union Cinema, Czech Centre Bucharest, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. – Rule of Law Programme Southeast Europe 

YOUTH DAYS PARTNERS: Supported by Kaufland Romania

The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Peasant Museum Cinema, UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency, Polish Institute Bucharest, Expert Forum, Funky Citizens, Limite de Cadru, Teach for Romania 

TICKETS THROUGH: Eventbook.ro 

MONITORING PARTNER: mediaTRUST Romania

MEDIA PARTNERS: RFI România, Radio România Cultural, Scena9, IQads, Revista Matca, Revista ARTA, Revista FILM, Zile și Nopți, Școala9, Mindcraft Stories, Cărturești, Films in Frame, Film Menu, LiterNet, Cinepub, Like5.ro, Cinefilia, The Institute, Happ.ro 

THE FESTIVAL WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2008 BY: Czech Centre 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. 

Established in 2009, the One World Romania Association organizes the only documentary film and human rights festival in the country, One World Romania, which takes place annually in Bucharest. The association works with documentary film as a vehicle for social and political dialogue, as a window to the world and an environment that prompts reflection. Through its activities, the association supports the development of the demand for documentaries in Romania, leading in recent years to an increased interest in this genre, both among the general public and within educational programs.