The official One World Romania 2022 trailer

Edited by: Delia Oniga

Graphic design by: Maria Drăghici

Concept: Monica Stan

Source „In a Place not too far away'' (directed by Luis Vera Vergas, 1979)

Produced by UNATC I.L. Caragiale, Active Archive

SUSTENABILITATEA LA ONE WORLD ROMANIA 2022

During the last few years, everyone has been talking about sustainability, regardless of the field they work in. Why wouldn’t it be a relevant topic in cinema as well? 

Just like we ask ourselves what kind of impact our daily practices have on the environment, let’s also ask ourselves in what ways can an international documentary film festival impact the environment, or, at least, the various ways this subject can be looked at. 

During this journey, the organizers of the 2022 One World Romania Festival have constantly contributed to a sustainable approach in the programming of this festival for the past 15 years. Beginning this year, these practices are applied even more consciously in many activities – starting from the section programming process and partnership development, ending with an “ecology” of team coordination revolving around self-care and care for the other. 

The first discussion of this year’s edition took place during the 9th episode of the ASAPPERII show, conducted in partnership with Black Rhino Radio, where the central question was “What do ecology and cinema have in common?” Monica Stan, the artistic director of OWR#15, and Mihai Dragolea, a film director and screenwriter, engaged in an open discussion on the environment and the representations of ecology in cinema. 

Monica

“Documentary film is sustainable because its production involves a very small team and therefore respects the principles of sustainability, and it consumes less resources than fiction. It’s one thing to choose local teams, to bring people to the area where the film is being shot, and a whole other thing to pollute the environment with gas and through transportation. What lower consumption actually means, among other things, is to think about ways in which you can reuse what you already have.” 

 “When you work on a documentary you are constantly adapting to the available conditions and certain limits. Having a limited budget, for instance, keeps your productions more sustainable and eco-friendly. If the budget were unlimited, there would be directors who would have entire mountains deforested. You start off with good intentions but you end up going against your initial message.”

Mihai

 “A festival can adopt an ecological theme, but how much kerosene did they use in Samsara to shoot so many beautiful landscapes? Awareness-raising practices end up being expensive as well. We keep watching, but at the same time we keep abusing the planet.”

“In the extreme, we can look at Herzog’s movie, “Fitzcarraldo” (1982) – here we have the white man trying to take the Opera to the Amazon and in order to convey their message, they deforested a hill – so don’t try to impose yourself on the natural environment because you will end up destroying it.” 

“Indeed, documentaries have lower budgets, but limits foster creativity! A natural solution would be to adapt the script so that the project doesn’t involve too much consumption. The story doesn’t necessarily have to be about ecology, but, anyway, it shouldn’t require a grand setup or lots of resources – especially if we find ourselves in a climate crisis.”

In order to learn about the actual steps made by the One World Romania Festival towards sustainability, let’s see what the OWR team has to say in this regard.

Andrei Mocanu, executive director of OWR#15

 “The most important endeavour of this edition is that we eliminated animal products from our menus, because their production has a significant impact on the environment, leading to increased carbon emissions. Moreover, we wish to celebrate the lives of all beings and in this context our aim is not to support the meat and dairy industry.”

Starting from the catering services for the festival, we use recyclable recipients for the events, from paper cups, to biodegradable single-use cutlery. 

Furthermore, the number of the promotional materials, especially the outdoor advertising, has been reduced by 50% during the last few years. The promotional materials surplus, the paper in particular, was and is recycled.

Festival films are generally sent by plane, in safe boxes for fragile objects. Last year only 4 of the 70 films were sent this way, and in 2022 all films were sent in digital form.

The 2022 edition is the first one where we have 100% electric cars, with the support of Spark. “In very crowded cities like Bucharest, electric cars contribute to an improved air quality by reducing pollution,” Andrei tells us. 

In the end, what makes a difference is our desire to produce less and focus on quality instead of quantity: less waste, fewer flights, the use of local products for catering services, the reduction or carbon emissions. “But can one hold a festival solely with local guests? This is a price one has to pay. We organize an international festival, but we work to make it as sustainable as possible.” adds Andrei Mocanu.

Tudorița Șoldănescu, executive director of the One World Romania Association and OWR#15 Partnerships and Financing Coordinator

“Recycling started in 2019, when we made goodie bags from meshes and non-paper prints.”

After all, a documentary film festival consumes less recycled goods than a commercial festival, where larger quantities are produced. According to Tudorița, “no matter how many screenings we have, we are a sustainable festival through the themes we approach and the people we bring. The constant partners of the festivals share our values, whether in regards to ecology, recycling, or diversity.”

In this whole organizational ecosystem, the teams working for the festival are formed over larger periods of time, which encourages the perpetuation of a culture, as well as the reduction of time and resources consumption. 

Alexandru Solomon, president of the One World Romania Association

“For 10 years already we have been recycling paper; we even took some to the Paper Tree. On the other hand, the Festival is a moment which consumes itself – what is important is that we don’t waste resources. The Festival is an event, where one cannot deprive themselves of the joy of meeting people, and people circulate. There are no large budgets for transportation, nor too many plane tickets.”

Film production might pose a threat to ecology because teams come together and resources are consumed – there needs to be a delicate balance in this regard. Even the production of cultural goods increases carbon emissions: “The larger it is, a screening produces all sorts of noxious substances. And if one wishes to organize a sustainable film festival in a professional manner, it then become a luxury and the budget will grow because there is no infrastructure – when it comes to recycling, for instance. One needs to rescale the festival of to reduce the number of films in relation to the audience’s capacity to consume them, a content scaling process proportional to the audience. Generally speaking, documentary cinema is slow food for thought – one comes out of the movie theatre without having digested everything.” says Alexandru. 

Let us not forget about the place where the festival takes place. The city of Bucharest requires more resources and means than a smaller city, where the audience travels to as if on a holiday and doesn’t have to go to the festival straight from school or from work.