Starting tomorrow, April 3rd, and running until Sunday, April 6th, the Film O’Clock International Festival returns for its fifth edition, continuing its unique mission: connecting audiences from different countries simultaneously and celebrating global cinema. Through synchronized screenings and meaningful discussions, the festival becomes a meeting point for filmmakers, critics, and the general public, fostering solidarity and promoting a vibrant intercultural dialogue. At a time when differences seem to dominate global discourse, Film O’Clock reaffirms the power of cinema to bring people together and transform shared stories into a space of genuine connection. This year’s edition expands its reach, bringing film enthusiasts from 11 countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, Greece, Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania, Poland, Egypt, and South Africa.
The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 3rd, at 12:00 PM (Romanian time) with an exclusive online debate titled “Poets or Engineers in Filmmaking?” This session is dedicated to film students, young professionals, educators, and cinema enthusiasts. Special guests include award-winning Polish director Rafael Kapelinski and representatives of the prestigious Polish Film Schools, who will explore the fundamental question: What defines a filmmaker? Is it an imaginative poet, driven by emotion and creativity, or a cinematic craftsman, guided by precision and structure? The event is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
The official festival opening will take place on Thursday, April 3rd, at 6:45 PM at Cinemateca Eforie with the screening of “Romanian Classic Shortfilms – Together Across Time Zones – Celebrating 75 Years of Stories at UNATC.” This event marks the 75th anniversary of UNATC Bucharest. The selection includes iconic short films made by the first generation of UNATC Directing and Cinematography students between 1967 and 1970, after a decade-long hiatus. Some of the creators and protagonists of these films will also attend the event.
The classic film section features a lineup of timeless masterpieces: The Undesirable (Hungary, dir. Michael Curtiz, 1914, 63 min), Cheerful Nightmare (Greece, dir. Sissy Vafea, 1983, 55 min), A Woman and Her Four Men (Lithuania, dir. Algimantas Puipa, 1983, 90 min), Earth (Ukraine, dir. Oleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930, 76 min), Camera Buff (Poland, dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1979, 112 min), Guguta (Moldova, dir. Constantin Bălan, 1980-1990, 61 min), Mapantsula (South Africa, dir. Oliver Schmitz, 1988, 103 min), Ghazal al-banat (Egypt, dir. Anwar Wagdi, 1949, 120 min), Three (Serbia, dir. Aleksandar Petrović, 1965, 80 min), and The Last Word (Bulgaria, dir. Binka Zhelyazkova, 1973, 118 min). These films will be screened daily at Cinemateca Eforie according to the festival schedule.
On April 4th, at 9:30 AM (local time), the festival will host the academic conference Archives, Cinema, and Collective Healing: Preserving Memory Through Film, in partnership with the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” (UNATC), supported by UCIN. The event will take place both in person at UNATC and online. The conference explores the role of films in valuing visual archives and cultural heritage to represent and understand historical and social traumas, contributing to reconciliation and collective healing. PhD students, researchers, practitioners, and artists will present their works on how cinema preserves and processes collective memory, focusing on trauma and healing.
Special guests include Maria Komninos, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Greek Film Archive, Professor Emerita at the Department of Communication and Media at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, author, and documentary filmmaker, and Kuba Mikurda, filmmaker and professor at the Łódź Film School, whose essay-documentary Solaris Mon Amour will be screened at 4:45 PM after the conference.
On Saturday, April 5th, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, an exclusive online event, Masterclass for Educators on Teaching Film to Children, will be led by director Sissy Vafea. Conducted in English, the masterclass is designed for both educators new to teaching film to children and those looking to enhance their skills in this area.
The international short film competition, curated by Mirona Radu (Romania), Andrew Mohsen (Egypt), and Zhana Kalinova (Bulgaria), will begin on Saturday, April 5th, at 1:15 PM at Cinemateca Eforie. The 16 selected films present powerful stories that explore human relationships, moral fragility, the search for justice and identity, as well as existential dilemmas related to loss, friendship, and social tensions. The films are divided into three sections, each followed by a short Q&A session.
These short films will compete for two cash prizes, each worth 1,000 EUR. One prize will be awarded by the jury of the fifth edition, while the other will be decided by the audience from the 11 participating countries. This year’s jury includes notable figures: Romanian director and screenwriter Bogdan Mureșanu, known for The Christmas Gift, which won the Best Short Film award at the European Film Awards, Hungarian cinematographer Eszter Csepeli, the first female Director of Photography to work on a Hungarian feature film (later nominated at Cannes), and Egyptian film producer and video artist Muhammad Taymour, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes for his short film I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face.
The closing ceremony, where the winners will be announced, will take place on Sunday, April 6th, at 7:00 PM at Cinemateca Eforie. The event concluding the fifth edition of Film O’Clock International Festival is Intercultura Exchange Night, an online gathering at 10:00 PM (Romanian time), featuring organizers, representatives from all 11 participating countries, and enthusiastic spectators eager to join. Participation is free, but prior registration is required to receive the access link.
Film O’Clock International Festival #5 is a cultural project produced by Creatrix Fama and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN). The fifth edition is organized under the umbrella of Solidarity on Screen – Polish Presidency Film Review, with support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the international cultural program of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025.
Romania Journal supports the festival as media partner.