Romanian Mental Health Film Festival, Romania’s first film festival dedicated to mental health, has reached its fifth edition. The festival will take place between 6–10 May 2026, in Iași. Entry is free, with access by reservation on the Eventbrite platform.

This year’s programme includes over 25 carefully curated events: recent Romanian and international productions, some of them in Romanian premiere, which have stood out at other prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, or the Toronto International Film Festival; a fresh and provocative selection of short films; 2 art exhibitions; dialogues; classes; a new section for families; parties; and a Film Criticism Workshop led by Victor Morozov, an intensive course for enrolled young participants, taking place across all four festival days, giving them the tools to analyse and decode the language of cinema.

We begin the festival a little earlier, on Friday, 24 April 2026, at 18:30, at Palatul Braunstein, with the opening of the exhibition PLECAT by Cosmin Bumbuț and Elena Stancu, with their participation. The PLECAT exhibition is the most extensive documentary project about the Romanian diaspora. It includes installations, photographs, and reportage fragments made in 12 European countries, in the communities where Romanians living and working abroad reside. The PLECAT project was nominated in 2025 for the True Story Award, in 2023 for the European PressPrize, received a Pulitzer Center fellowship in 2021, and several Romanian photography and journalism awards.

Wednesday, 6 May 2026, from 18:30, at Studio7/9, we open the STRUGGLE exhibition, a project curated by Maria Bîrsan, director of Galeria Sandwich in Bucharest. STRUGGLE brings together artistic projects from the last twenty years — unfinished, abandoned, materialising for the first time at this edition of #rmhffest, or simply ones that have left traces for their recipients. The exhibition brings together artists Dan Basu, Dumitru Gorzo, Daniela Pălimariu, Cristian Răduță, Dumitrița Răzlog, Nadina Stoica, and Luminița Apostu Toma.

Thursday, 7 May 2026, we open the film screenings with the documentary LOVE HURTS (RO, 2025, directed by Alexandru Mavrodineanu). The event will take place from 19:00 at the Main Hall of Teatrul Luceafărul in Iași, offering an intimate journey into the fragility and strength of love. The film gives access to the real stories of two couples followed over two years of pain, separations, and reconciliations, exploring the complex dynamics of relationships and the difficult process of emotional healing. After the screening there will be a Q&A session with director Alexandru Mavrodineanu. The first festival evening will close at Oddity Centru, from 21:00, with a dance party with Donisan and Cel Visător.

Friday, 8 May 2026, from 16:30, we invite you to a necessary conversation about migration at Sala Studio J of the Vasile Pogor Museum. The dialogue between journalist Cristian Lupșa and the Teleleu team, Elena Stancu and Cosmin Bumbuț, will address the emotional costs of migration.

Also on Friday, the festival programme includes screenings of INK WASH (RO/DK/GR, 2024, directed by Sarra Tsorakidis), YOUNG MOTHERS (FR, BE, 2025, directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne), and GREEN LIGHT (AT, 2025, directed by Pavel Cuzuioc). The educational programme begins with two classes: one dedicated to the story of adoption with Anca Gheorghică at CUIB, and one on the psychotherapist’s self with Ovidiu Gavrilovici at the Faculty of Psychology. The day ends at Acaju with a party hosted by Sofro She, Alex Bittman, and Chlorys.

Saturday, 9 May 2026, from 12:00, at the French Institute of Romania in Iași, director Gianina Cărbunariu will lead a class proposing an honest reflection on mistakes, difficult decisions, and things that don’t work but shape us. A dialogue about learning, accountability, and meaning — for those at the beginning of their journey, but also for those who feel they are rethinking their direction.

Also on Saturday, the film screenings STILL NIA (RO, FR, 2025, directed by Paula Oneț) and DIAGNONSENSE (NO, 2024, directed by Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård) at the Casa de Cultură Mihai Ursachi Iași are very personal journeys into the lives of their protagonists.

Saturday is also the day when the public can join the guided tours of the PLECAT exhibition (13:00, Palatul Braunstein, with Cosmin Bumbuț and Elena Stancu) and the STRUGGLE exhibition (15:00, at Studio 7/9, with curator Maria Bîrsan). The evening moves back to Acaju, with Maria Antoaneta, DJ Vasile, and Matze.

The final festival day brings to the forefront mothers’ wellbeing in a special dialogue at Palas Campus, a class on the biography of artist couples with Ioana Marinescu, and an activity for the little ones: Teatrul de Joacă by the Punctart Association, at the Zora Play space at Palas Iași. The closing dialogue on solidarity with Ștefan Baghiu and Costi Rogozanu and the screening of THE LOVE THAT REMAINS (IS, 2025, directed by Hlynur Pálmason) will close the official programme. Then, we meet one last time at this edition’s closing party at Oddity Centru, with Les Animaux and Judeaux.

For all those looking for a space of dialogue, art, and understanding, this edition of the festival is, without doubt, the place to be.

---

Romanian Mental Health Film Festival is an independent project, supported annually by partners, sponsors, public institutions, and individuals who resonate with the festival’s mission and vision. If you would like to support this festival and give access to the widest possible audience, enabling free entry for as many editions as possible, you can find all the details here: https://www.rmhffest.ro/en/support

Romanian Mental Health Film Festival is an endeavour in which we build the most accessible contexts possible for discussing the importance of mental health for individuals and communities, and we believe that films can spark such conversations.

Our goal is for the festival to offer a framework in which people can reflect on emotional aspects, gain a broader perspective on the complexity of interpersonal dynamics, and develop a higher level of tolerance towards sensitive subjects.

Romanian Mental Health Film Festival is a project initiated by Raluca Bejenariu and Teodora Popescu (co-founders of Asociația În Dialog) and visual artist Dan Basu.

---

To discover the full programme of this edition and details about each event, visit www.rmhffest.ro/programme. If you have any questions, collaboration proposals, or simply wish to share a thought, you can reach us at any time at contact@rmhffest.ro. We also encourage you to follow our social media accounts to stay up to date with all the latest news.

www.rmhffest.ro · facebook.com/rmhffest · instagram.com/rmhffest