We plan on setting up and coordinating 10 -15 local chapters of a cineclub dedicated to women in film, taking into consideration the power that film has as an educational tool and empowering girls and young women to speak up in their local communities. We will offer them a toolkit and counseling for the duration of the project, with training, monthly calls and special guests (directors, NGO facilitators, activists) that will attend their meetings and talk to them directly.

10-15 small cities in Romania

Smaller towns in Romania have a very limited offer in terms of arts&culture, which in turn help coagulate a civic cohesion and engagement, where citizens gather around a shared belief or goal. With cinemas, festivals and cultural initiatives focused mainly in the 3-4 largest cities of Romania (Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara), the rest of the country is lacking initiatives and opportunities for their youth to engage in public activities and discussions. This is particularly the case around women's issues, where discussions are fragmented, online or away from home. The project proposes to offer them the tools to be the drivers of such events in their community and address a subject that is still opaque in Romanian public discourse, but necessary to build better lives- gender equality.

The project’s target group are young people 14 - 22 in small towns in Romania. We are primarily targeting girls and young women for the role of facilitators, to empower them to speak up in their communities, however the target groups of these meetings span beyond this, looking to engage all young people irrespective of gender, to help create a more inclusive society for tomorrow. We are looking at an estimate of 150 young people involved in the first phase of the project. Each local chapter will have a facilitator that will coordinate the local chapter, thus strengthening their civic involvement in the cultural and social life of their communities. We will make our national digital platforms available for the local chapters to report on their ideas, initiatives, or explorations.

We aim to empower young girls from all corners of the country to initiate and lead these discussions in their hometowns. To enable these local conversations, we want to offer them the tools to bring these ideas to their community and build on what the organisation has started, with local film and debate clubs dedicated to gender equality, and a national platform where they can showcase their thoughts. We will do so by offering young women food for thought, a skills toolkit, and creating an opportunity for them to act on their leadership potential in their communities, and encouraging them to develop a sense of active citizenship.

We will launch the call for coordinators in October - November of 2021, after which the selected teens will undergo training in regards to organisational and debate aspects, with the help of our partners. Starting January 2022 the local chapters will announce their call for members, after which monthly meetings and film clubs will be underway. We will share the films on a secure digital platform, so all members can see them and discuss starting from this, with regular guests attending the local chapter’s meetings to help bring an expert’s view on this. We will have a monthly call with the chapter coordinators to discuss the month’s theme, feedback from the other members and any concerns or difficulties that might arise.

At the end of this project phase, we are expecting to have 10-15 fully coagulated groups in small towns in Romania (12-15 members/group), who meet regularly to discuss the proposed films and their views on gender equality, having an extensive toolkit to build on and educate themselves in all aspects that pertain to gender equality, from creativity to policy making. We will make our digital platforms available for the local chapters to report on ideas, initiatives, or explorations from their meetings that might be of interest to our broader audience and mission. We plan to develop this toolkit and incorporate knowledge from the experience of the first film clubs, so we can further refine it and share the knowledge with our network.

By offering these girls the tools to lead a discussion group with their peers, the project will strengthen their ability to engage on a social and political level with the things they believe in, which might lead in time to their taking a more active stance in their community. The members of the group will develop critical thinking and debating abilities, which will in turn lead to an increased awareness of the local policies and dynamics at work, and draw a more active stance from them. The project helps model a more involved member of society, who is aware of the problems concerning gender equality and is equipped to change them at all levels, from personal to community advancements.

The association has gathered around the project a strong base of professionals with experience in both film and gender issues. Thus, we have a project manager with an experience in both festival management and film production. The co-coordinator is a social scientist with experience on gender equality projects in international development contexts, particularly through her work with UN Women. The team also includes a film programmer who in the past coordinated the Queer Cineclub in Bucharest. The core team is rounded by a fourth member, a journalist with more than 10 years’ experience writing about the cultural scene and women’s issues. The range of our additional collaborators brings a variety of views and allows us to build a platform as diverse and open as the voices that speak to it.

Community Coordinator - 12000 EUR
Promotion - 5000 EUR
Technical Costs - 3000 EUR
Travel & Accomodation - 4000 EUR
Film Licence Rights - 5000 EUR
Supporting Materials - 3000 EUR
Office costs - 3000 EUR