KineDok Online Screening – for the first time at the Night of Museums in Villages

The event will take place on Saturday, September 6, at 8:00 PM, on noapteamuzeelor-la-sate.ro, featuring the screening of the short documentary “The Journals of Hrib” (directed by Slavomir Popovici, Romania, 1974, 14 min.), accompanied by an introduction by researcher Adina Brădeanu. The film will be subtitled in English.

In the early 1970s, when Slavomir Popovici filmed “The Journals of Hrib”, his protagonist, Toader Hrib, was already well-known in Romania for the museum of history and folk art he had established in his house in Arbore village (Suceava). A self-taught peasant and dedicated museographer, Hrib was also a modern chronicler who had been documenting the life of the Arbore community for decades. 

Popovici’s film follows fragments of Hrib's diary, focusing on entries that depict him as a constant “translator” between the traditional culture and a modern, political one that enters the village through television news journals – thus highlighting surprising juxtapositions between “here” and “there”, between rural wisdom and the problems of the modern world.

Hrib’s Museum did not survive its custodian, who passed away shortly after the fall of the Ceaușescu regime – just like the institution that produced the film, the documentary studio “Alexandru Sahia”. A selection of the films and news journals produced by the studio is currently available on the online platform Sahia Vintage, curated by Adina Brădeanu.

For those who wish to watch the film on-site, the following venues have joined the initiative so far:

– Întregalde Cultural House, Alba County

– Ipotești Memorial House - “Mihai Eminescu” National Studies Center, Botoșani County

– Șercaia Museum Collection, Brașov County

– Mărgineni Village Museum, Brașov County

– Tisău Cultural Center, Buzău County

– Aluniș Art Center, Buzău County

– “Ionel Perlea” Memorial House, Ograda, Ialomița County

– Tarnița Museum in Băița, Maramureș County

– Șomartin Culinary Barn, Sibiu County

– Moș Didiță’s House in Frumosu, Suceava County

Between September 2025 and April 2026, “The Journals of Hrib” will be part of a program of short documentaries produced during the socialist period across several Central and Eastern European countries. Conceived to open a film-mediated conversation around the notion of “heritage”, the program “Shadows of History” will be available for screenings in partner venues of the KineDok network.

“The Journals of Hrib” is included in the KineDok 11 catalogue with the support of the Romanian Film Center and DACIN SARA.

The third edition of the Night of Museums in Villages will take place on September 6, 2025, organised by the Da’ De Ce Association. This is a unique event in Europe, dedicated to rural heritage and to the communities that keep it alive. The Night of Museums in Villages brings rural culture into the spotlight – alive, authentic and full of surprises. Come explore museums, manor houses, fortified churches, blacksmith’s workshops and other places steeped in history! The villages welcome their visitors with open hearts, stories and warmth.