CIVIL SOCIETY PITCH 5 starts this weekend at the Czech Center in Bucharest

On March 31st, One World Romania will kick off the development program for documentary films on human rights and social themes, Civil Society Pitch 5. In the first weekend of the One World Romania Documentary Film Festival, 16 representatives of civil society and 18 directors from Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, and Romania will meet at the Czech Center in Bucharest to launch new documentary film projects.

Over the course of three workshop days, the mentors of this edition, internationally renowned documentary filmmakers Mona Nicoară, Oliver Sertic, and Radu Ciorniciuc, along with anthropologists and professors at the Visual and Society from Studies Master’s Program at SNSPA, Ileana Szalsz and Bogdan Iancu will lead pitching, matchmaking, and acceleration workshops. During these sessions, participants will learn about shaping a documentary film story, ethical practices in field research, and how to create a strong collaboration between NGOs and filmmakers.

To launch the projects and establish teams, representatives of non-governmental organizations will present a pitch outlining the causes their organizations represent to the directors, who will then choose the subjects they want to develop in a documentary film project.

The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are taking part in this year’s Civil Society Pitch are operating across diverse social sectors. Their areas of focus include advocating for the rights of institutionalized children and individuals with disabilities, protecting the rights of migrants and refugees, combating violence against women and discrimination against the Roma community, and promoting the right to housing or environmental conservation.

Moreover, the filmmakers participating in this event are from the four partner countries and have distinct cinematic styles and interests. For more information on the participants, please visit the Civil Society Pitch Facebook page or oneworld.ro.

The fifth edition of the international Civil Society Pitch program consists of five stages and will take place from March 2023 to April 2024 according to the following schedule:

  • Pitching, matchmaking, and acceleration workshop (March 31-April 2, 2023)
  • Documentary and development (May-October 2023)
  • Follow-up workshop (November 2023)
  • Development and production (October-February 2024)
  • Public pitching session and development award (April 2024)
CIVIL SOCIETY PITCH program is initiated and coordinated by the One World Romania Association, and the program partners are Balkan Documentary Center (Bulgaria), the Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (Hungary) and the MOLDOX Association (Republic of Moldova), National University of Theater and Cinematographic Art “I.L. Caragiale” (Romania), Master of Anthropology SNSPA & Master of Visual and Society Studies SNSPA (România).

The FORUM CIVIL SOCIETY PITCH program is part of a cultural project* co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration.      

*The project does not necessarily reflect the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not liable for the content of the project or for the way in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the beneficiary’s responsibility.