The “Lost and Found” Project, the Winner of the Civil Society Pitch 2019

     The third edition of the Civil Society Pitch ended in March 2019 with the presentation of the 5 finalist teams and the announcing of the winners. The jury made of the filmmakers Mona Nicoară and Alexandru Solomon, decided that the winning project is Lost and Found, developed by Laurențiu Garofeanu and the Centre for Legal Resources.
     Lost and Found tells the story of Jessi Froud – a story about two opposite spaces that a Romanian-born young woman, adopted and raised in Canada, tries to reconcile at 27 years old, setting up on a journey to discover her routes.
     In 1991, in Romania, Afize Mustafa, a 15 year old girl, gave birth to a little girl. Being very poor and married to a violent, drunkard man and having the hope of offering a better life to her baby, she signs the adoption papers. The documentary presents the traces and the burden of this separation.
     The project analyzes the problem of the international adoptions, from more points of view, presenting the situations of some kids that pulled through a protection system that caused them huge traumas and who try to understand their origin and identity.
     Another perspective that the documentary approaches is the side of the Romanian parents who were used to being oppressed during the Communist regime and who had no reaction when facing the corrupt system from the beginning of the `90s – a system that facilitated “the selling” of the children to the orphanage that offered a higher price. The story also reflects the dream of the western people, who saw in Romania a way of embracing those children as their adoptive parents.
     With the help of the 4,000 Euros worth award offered by the Civil Society Pitch with the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund, Laurențiu Garofeanu and the Centre for Legal Resources will keep on developing the project Lost and Found.
     We live in the same region, we face the same dilemmas, we write and speak about the same challenges, but sometimes we forget to communicate directly. Civil Society Pitch places face to face filmmakers (documentary film directors or producers) and activists/organizations that fight for the human rights.
     Details: www.festival-oneworld.ro