Film Therapy Film Club: French Institute in Romania launches program of screenings, talks on mental health, social issues

The French Institute in Romania will launch this fall the Film Therapy Film Club, a program covering a series of film screenings followed by discussions led by experts and therapists that will touch on topics such as mental health, social issues, and the challenges that teenagers and young people encounter.

The idea for the program originates in the need expressed in interactions with the cinema audience, especially the young public, over time. Anxiety, bullying, sexual harassment, problems related to alcohol and drug consumption, domestic violence, parental divorce, illnesses such as depression or panic attacks, but also concern for increasingly acute climate change are some of the topics that have emerged over time, following discussions organized in the cinema.

The program includes ten film screenings, hosted by the Elvire Popesco Cinema in Bucharest, followed by discussions with the audience. The screenings will begin in October 2025 and will run until April 2026.

In August, as part of the same initiative, a selection process will open to young people from Romania who will be able to participate in two European festivals - Alexandre Trauner ART/Film Festival in Hungary and This Human World International Film Festival in Austria. The two festivals are involved in the development of the project at the European level. The selected participants will be part of a student jury, first in October in Budapest, then in December in Vienna.

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