'Something Familiar' documentary, directed by British-Romanian filmmaker Rachel Taparjan, will have its official premiere in Bucharest on 13 November, with screenings at Cinema Elvire Popesco at 6.30 pm and Cinema Apollo111 at 8.00 pm.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, the screening at Cinema Apollo111 will be followed by a discussion with Rachel Taparjan, producers Monica Lazurean-Gorgan and Elena Martin and members of the film crew.

Further screenings followed by discussions with the film crew are scheduled at Cinema Union in Bucharest on 15 November at 8.00 pm, POINT on 20 November at 7.00 pm and Cinema Muzeul Taranului on 27 November at 8.45 pm.

Two women adopted from the same orphanage in Braila in the early 1990s reconnect with their past in Romania, embarking on a journey that will change the way they see their own families. What begins as an attempt to find their biological families develops into a story about family secrets, mother-daughter relationships and intergenerational trauma, according to the film's synopsis.

Beyond adoption, the film is a story about family and identity.

Rachel grew up in the UK, while Mihaela grew up in Canada, thousands of miles apart. More than three decades after their adoption, Mihaela asks Rachel to help her find her biological mother. Rachel agrees to accompany her to Romania and film her search, unaware that the experience will bring her face to face with her own family history. Braila, the town from which the two protagonists were adopted, becomes a key location in their search. To piece together family histories dating back more than three decades, the team researched adoption records and searched for relatives with the help of local residents and the authorities. Discoveries made over the years also changed the direction of the documentary, the press release reads.

Combining investigative work, personal archives, fictional sequences and improvisation, Rachel Taparjan creates a deeply personal film in which painful truths coexist with humour, imagination and hope.

One of the director's most surprising creative choices is to invite several actresses, including Ozana Oancea, Dana Voicu and Oana Jindiceanu, to portray her biological mother. Rachel meets them for the first time in front of the camera and engages in unscripted conversations with them, having the exchanges she was unable to have with her own mother.

On 14 November at 6.00 pm, the film will have a special free-admission screening at Lyra Palace in Braila, the town where the story of the two protagonists begins. Director and producer Elena Martin will be in attendance.

Filmed over a period of six years, the documentary 'Something Familiar,' produced by Manifest Film, will be released in Romanian cinemas on 13 November, distributed by Filmways.

Further screenings are scheduled in Cluj (Cinema Arta), Mangalia (Mangalia Cultural Centre), Iasi (Cinema Ateneu), Lugoj (Bela Lugosi Cinema), Miercurea Ciuc (Csiki Mozi), Pitesti (Cinema Trivale and Cinema Bucuresti) and Timisoara (Cinema Studio). It will also be screened at Movieplex in Bucharest.

The film had its international premiere at CPH:DOX 2026, one of the leading festivals for contemporary documentary cinema, and has received three nominations at the 2026 British Independent Film Awards. Recently, director Rachel Taparjan received the BFI & CHANEL Filmmaker Award in recognition of her bold cinematic vision. The award was presented to her by actress Gwendoline Christie. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Petronius Craiu; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)