“The hidden history of Romania’s international adoptions is a wound that never healed, for the children sent abroad, the families left behind, and the country that let it happen,” Romanian feature debutant Laurentiu Garofeanu explains to BDE the necessity of his Lost and Found: Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market. “[It] is a personal investigation, a human story unfolding in real time, with emotional stakes that cross borders.”
For Jessi, who was adopted almost 30 years ago, what starts as a search for identity becomes “a confrontation with the post-revolution marketplace, a post-communist system that sold thousands of children for international adoption,” the notes for the film project underline. Back in Romania and filmed over seven years, she uncovers “unbelievable truths, contradictory records, meets evasive officials, and finds the sister she never knew existed.” All the while, Garofeanu accompanies her on “a vérité journey into memory, loss, and resilience.”
“I’ve spent two decades telling stories people thought would never be told, from London and New York to the Black Sea and entire Balkan region,” director/producer Garofeanu further underlines his credentials in telling this vital story. “I know how to win trust in places where trust is rare. In Lost and Found, that means sitting with birth mothers in their living rooms and across from people who swore they’d never speak on camera.”
“The production is small but relentless: experienced researchers, filming across two continents, multiple countries, and a network of trusted collaborators in Romania, Canada, Belgium and Spain. Our editor turns chaos into clarity. Our cinematographers capture intimacy without intrusion,” he adds.
Garofeanu promises to deliver a visceral cinematic experience to reflect the urgency of the subject he depicts. “Imagine the intimacy of a home movie colliding with the raw momentum of a personal investigation,” he says. “The film moves between two visual worlds: the grainy, discreet footage from small cameras that lets us disappear into the moment, and the composed, high-quality images that give the search for truth its cinematic value.”
