The Film O'Clock International Festival begins on Thursday in 12 countries across Europe and Africa, the organisers announced in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

Now in its sixth edition, the festival offers screenings, online events and meetings between film industry professionals and cinema-going audiences, strengthening the international Film O'Clock network as a platform for cultural and curatorial exchange.

The programme includes classic films representative of the 12 participating countries - Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt and South Africa - as well as contemporary short films in competition. The public is invited to vote for their favourite film, with the Audience Award to be granted based on viewers' votes.

A Jury Award will also be presented, with this year's edition bringing together an international jury made up of experienced professionals in cinematography, festival programming and film production: Ahmed Amer - filmmaker and producer, with selections at Cannes, Venice and other major international festivals, active in project development and mentoring in programmes such as Torino Film Lab and EAVE; Taryn Joffe - curator and festival manager (Joburg Film Festival), a specialist in African cinema and industry programmes, with experience in selections and juries at Cannes Docs, IDFA and Berlinale Talents; Paul Negoescu - an award-winning Romanian director, selected at Cannes, Berlinale, Rotterdam and Venice, with a solid track record in both independent and mainstream European cinema.

The festival opens with an online conference dedicated to contemporary curatorial practices, followed by the screening of the film 'Marfa si banii' (Stuff and Dough) (directed by Cristi Puiu), shown simultaneously in all participating countries, marking 25 years since the release of one of the founding titles of the Romanian New Cinema, first presented at Cannes. On the same evening, the programme continues with 'How Long?' (directed by Gibson Kente), a film made in the context of apartheid in South Africa, banned shortly after its production and later rediscovered through international archiving and restoration programmes.

In Romania, screenings take place at the Cinematheque Eforie in Bucharest, where audiences are invited to attend classic film screenings and special curated programmes, some of them with free entry.

This year's edition also includes online events dedicated to the film industry, such as conferences on film heritage, archives and the circulation of film in African and European contexts, as well as sessions on collaboration opportunities in cinematography and festival programming.

An important moment of the edition will be the Multicultural Evening, organised online on Friday at 22:00 (EEST), bringing together participants from all the countries involved in a space for intercultural dialogue. The event also includes the International Cocktail & Cultural Puzzle Game, an interactive experience in which participants are invited to solve a cultural puzzle built around the 12 participating territories under the theme: 'Time is broken. Can you fix it?'.

In this year's edition, Film O'Clock launches the Film O'Clock Industry Hub, a platform dedicated to film industry professionals from the participating countries, aimed at facilitating collaboration, the exchange of practices and the development of new international projects.

The Film O'Clock International Festival is produced by Creatrix Fama with the support of ABI Foundation and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration.

AGERPRES National News Agency is one of the event's media partners. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Florin Marin; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)