Mr. Pablo Zapata, UNHCR Romania Representative, will inaugurate today, 06 October 2023, the special photo exhibition: “Strength, Resilience, Hope: Refugee Identity”, included in the 8th edition of Bucharest Photofest – IDENTITY, whose launch takes place today. The exhibition opened by Mr Pablo Zapata, UNHCR Romania Representative, will take us through the refugee journey from the first moments of the emergency in Ukraine and arrival in Romania, to the current efforts of inclusion, a journey that many of you have followed with your own eyes. Refugees are a symbol of strength, resilience and hope. While retaining their identity in their country of origin, they strive to integrate and rebuild their lives in their host communities, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge, experience and culture.
The theme of this year’s Bucharest Photofest – Identity / Identitate brings together special guests from Greece, Germany, Iceland, Spain, Lithuania, USA, Denmark, Netherlands, Turkey and more and over 50 events in 10 venues in Bucharest: exhibitions, film screenings, showcases, discussions and debates, hands-on workshops, masterclasses and live concerts. All events are available on the following link: https://bucharestphotofest.ro/program.
Bucharest Photofest brings in 2023 no less than 15 photography exhibitions that will be open to the public throughout the festival, including Facing the forces – Icelandic Perspective, a group exhibition that will open on October 8 at MNȚR and at Amzei Square no. 17, the exhibitions Mystic Echoes (Daimon Xanthopoulos), Soon to be gone (Tadas Kazakevicius), We Are Here: Native Sovereignty across Turtle Island (Kiliii Yuyan), A Year Along the Banks, an exhibition by the DOCKS collective and supported by the Goethe Institut, La NORD de mots (Rareș Beșliu) or Strength, Resilience, Hope: Refugee Identity (UNHCR Romania) can be admired. Last but not least, Gallery 2/3 will host one of the most important exhibitions hosted by Bucharest Photofest at this edition, Sangre Blanca – The Lost War on Cocaine, by Mads Nissen (Denmark).
An important section of the Bucharest Photofest program is the selection of films proposed to the public on October 10, 14 and 15, at the Peasant Museum Cinema: The Sanctity of Space (d. Renan Ozturk, Freddie Wilkinson), Last Transhumance (d. Dragoș Lumpan), Fractures (short), McCurry: The Pursuit of Colour (r. Denis Delestrac), Koudelka Crossing the Same River (r. Coșkun Asar), River – a spectacular cinematic achievement with a narrator to match: Willem Dafoe – and Gods of Mexico (Helmut Dosantos). Film screenings also take place at UNATC on 9 October – Garry Winogrand: all things are photographable, an extraordinary film about the life and career of one of America’s most important photographers – and on 13 October, The World is Out of Focus, a film featuring portraits of four Danish female photographers.