Between 12 October and 7 December 2025, ICR Beijing served as co-organizer of the second edition of the EUNIC China Film Festival, a landmark cinematic event held within the EUNIC-funded project “Ageing Together · Voices across Time.” This year’s edition explored intergenerational relationships and the social implications of an increasingly ageing world, presenting Chinese audiences with a curated selection of 21 films and 30 screenings, hosted across various cultural venues in Beijing.
The event was organized under the patronage of EUNIC China (the Network of National Cultural Institutes of the European Union in China), in partnership with 19 European cultural institutes and embassies (Romania, Italy, Greece, Austria, Wallonia-Brussels, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia), with the support of the EUNIC Cluster Fund.
The festival programme brought together a wide range of genres—drama, documentary, experimental cinema, and comedy—addressing contemporary issues related to ageing and intergenerational dynamics. Among the featured films were Fertility (Katharina Petke, Germany), Remind Me (Greece)—the first Greek feature film dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease, produced with the participation of over 80 volunteers—and It’s Not Over Yet (Denmark), a deeply moving documentary on elderly care.
Other films presented memorable human stories: the journey of three sisters in their seventies across Finland; an artistic portrait of Klaas Gubbels, a 91-year-old Dutch artist; the story of an Irish wife who rekindles the memory of her late husband through a mysterious dog; or the return of an Estonian artist to his homeland. Philippe Garrel and Bille August, Palme d’Or laureate, offered reflections on family memory and generational continuity. The festival concluded with the Dutch documentary Forever Human, a lucid meditation on the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on both the individual and the community.
ICR Beijing’s proposal for the Chinese public was the documentary Constantin and Elena, directed by Andrei Dăscălescu—a profound and contemplative film that explores the intimacy of an elderly couple living in a Romanian village, captured in the simplicity and fullness of everyday life. Through an aesthetic of direct observation and inner rhythm, the film transforms ordinary gestures—prayer, household work, shared silences—into a visual meditation on time, love, and human dignity. Beyond its ethnographic dimension, Constantin and Elena offers a subtle reflection on how love, faith, and loyalty can become forms of spiritual resistance in the face of modernity and the inexorable passage of time, while also standing as an authentic expression of the traditional Romanian ethos.
Constantin and Elena received the “First Appearance” Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), a Special Mention in the documentary section at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and the Debut Award at Romanian Film Days during the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) 2009.
The documentary had two screenings on 29 November 2025 at 7:00 PM at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing (Galaxy SOHO), attended by over 120 spectators, in a fully packed venue. The screening was followed by a round-table discussion moderated by Andreea-Ema Stoian, Principal Officer for External Relations, with the participation of Prof. Wang Yao, lecturer at the Beijing Film Academy and specialist in Romanian cinema, and Wang Zhao, Cannes-awarded director, who offered an academic analysis of the representation of ageing, memory, and human relational dynamics in Romanian cinema.
The second screening of Constantin and Elena (2009, directed by Andrei Dăscălescu) took place on 10 December at 3:50 PM at the Minzu University of China in Beijing, as part of the EUNIC Film Festival • Aging Society programme, followed by a discussion session with Professor Zhou, Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropological Film at Minzu University of China, and Chinese students.
Andrei Dăscălescu is a Romanian director, producer, and professor, widely recognized for his significant contribution to contemporary documentary cinema. A graduate of the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, he has established a distinctive style grounded in poetic observation, introspective reflection, and the exploration of the spiritual dimensions of everyday reality. In 2007, he founded the production company Filmlab, becoming a strong advocate for artistic independence and fully assumed cinematic authorship. He is also the founder and director of the Piatra Film Festival, dedicated to discovering and supporting new generations of filmmakers.
His filmography includes landmark titles such as Constantin and Elena (2008), Planeta Petrila (2016), and Holy Father(2020), all noted for their humanistic depth and formal precision. His films have received awards at major international festivals, including IDFA, Sarajevo Film Festival, and TIFF, confirming his status as a leading author of European documentary cinema. Since 2015, Andrei Dăscălescu has continued his pedagogical and research work, teaching documentary film at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, where he contributes to shaping a new generation of non-fiction filmmakers defined by artistic rigor, ethical commitment, and cultural reflection.
The project “Voices Across Time · Aging Together” brings together artists, institutions, and communities from Europe and China in a shared effort to celebrate the dignity of life at all ages. Its aim is to stimulate intergenerational dialogue, promote social inclusion, and provide elderly people and their families with authentic spaces for artistic expression. At the same time, the project engages specialists from the fields of culture and healthcare, whose expertise contributes to building a more caring, attentive, and cohesive society.
Festival Programme:
19 countries | 21 films | 30 screenings
