First started as an offspring of the One World Festival in Prague, One World Romania (International human rights documentary festival) was initiated by the Czech Centre in Bucharest. Already running, One World Romania is the only nowadays documentary festival in Bucharest and the only one dedicated to human rights in the country.

The 8th edition of One World Romania has the motto kino-maidan. As renowned filmmaker and festival’s director Alexandru Solomon says: “That’s because the word maidan has changed meaning: it no longer describes a mere feature of urban geography, but, rather, a public space where people gather to discuss their problems and to be together. We want One World Romania to become a meeting place where people come to see great documentary cinema, and where ideas are freed from the strictures of the status quo. On our maidan, we are guided by our empathy for our fellow human beings and the freedom to be ourselves. Our program of films and side events opens our eyes towards maidans on 5 continents”.

Divided into thematic sections that reflect what is happening in the world today, the kino-maidan is presenting a section “about the troublemakers that reclaim democracy wherever it is in peril, one about the new, wild capitalism nestled in countries that are still struggling with tyranny, another one about the battlefields opened up by humans against nature, as well as a ‘trauma ward’ dedicated to the scars left by the recent past” – adds Solomon. 

Below are the Balkan documentaries and co-productions included in the programme:

Vitosha by Lyubomir Mladenov, Bulgaria, 2013 (Humans vs. Nature section)

Toto and His Sisters by Alexander Nanau, Romania, 2014 (Coming of Age)

Naked Island by Tiha K. Gudac, Croatia, 2014 (Traumas)

The Serbian Lawyer by Alexandar Nikolic, Germany/Serbia/Netherlands/UK, 2014 (Special: Justice)

Outside by Andrei Schwartz, Germany/Romania, 2014 (Romanian Premiere)

This year the festival’s industry programs are stronger and more diverse, with the The National Film Board of Canada presenting their renowned work in the field of online and interactive documentaries. “We reinvent our workshop for documentary filmmakers, draw a picture of European co-production, and sit and talk with Romanian authors about their methods to tame reality” Solomon concludes.

The 2015 festival visitors will attend some of the 2015 Oscar nominees, interesting new Romanian documentaries, as well as films with some of the most surprising thematics and approaches. Last year, One World Romania brought to Bucharest 50 films, which were screened in several cinemas and accompanied by many other events and debates.