Mereni hosts the first Film and Stories Festival on July 3
The village of Mereni, located in the Anenii Noi district, will host the inaugural edition of the Film and Histories Festival, centered around the theme "Memory and Identity." The event is scheduled to take place from July 3 to July 6. Its aim is to promote historical memory, cultural identity, and civic dialogue through a diverse program that includes film screenings, public debates, meetings with filmmakers, artistic performances, and commemorative activities.
The official opening of the festival will take place on July 3 in Mereni, featuring a land handover ceremony for the "Embassies of Memory" initiative. This event will be attended by diplomatic representatives from the three partner countries: Romania, Poland, and Ukraine.
The "Embassies of Memory" will inaugurate symbolic spaces dedicated to preserving the memories of victims of political repression, in collaboration with international partners, as stated by the Ministry of Culture.
The festival program will include film screenings focused on historical memory, political repression, and national identity. It will also feature discussion sessions with directors and producers, as well as international debates and panels involving historians, diplomats, and representatives of civil society.
Key themes will include the culture of memory, democratic values, national identity, and the European integration of the Republic of Moldova. Events will take place in various cultural and memorial spaces, including the Mereni Open Air Museum Complex, the Mereni Memorial Center, and other cultural venues in Chisinau.
In addition to films and public debates, the festival will offer concerts, theater performances, multimedia productions, and commemorative activities honoring the victims of political repression and Stalinist deportations.
The festival will conclude on July 6, coinciding with the day of remembrance for the victims of the 1949 Stalinist deportations—the largest deportation in the Moldovan SSR—during which tens of thousands of people were forcibly relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
A flower will be placed at the Chisinau Railway Station, marking the start of a series of events, including a public debate, a film screening at the “Ion Creangă” State Pedagogical University, and an event in front of the exhibition titled “State Terror in Soviet Moldova: Extent, Victims, and Perpetrators” at the Great National Assembly Square.
Admission to all festival activities is free. The complete program can be found on the Ministry of Culture website.
This festival is organized by the Association of the Film and Everlasting Stories Festival, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, various cultural institutions, civil society organizations, and international partners.
