In 2015, tragedy struck Colectiv, a popular nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, when a fire broke out during a concert performance, killing 27 people. Four months after the accident, the death toll had risen to a staggering 64 people, as dozens of victims succumbed to their injuries in hospital burn units across the country. Among the questions raised by the curious—if not suspicious—uptick, one was seemingly unavoidable: how could so many more people with apparently manageable injuries die under the care of the hospital system?
In his shocking, critically acclaimed documentary, COLLECTIVE (Magnolia Pictures and Participant), filmmaker Alexander Nanau endeavors to answer that question, which begins at the same time that protests pinning blame on government corruption gripped Romania, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister and the election of a new government. Nanau weaves these threads together with a story that follows the team of investigative journalists, brave victims and whistleblowers, and young government officials that together unraveled a web of rampant corruption in the Romanian health care system and sent shockwaves of institutional distrust reverberating across Europe and the rest of the world.
Ultimately, COLLECTIVE is a film about a massive violation of trust – and yet it’s also a testament to the idea of trust in institutions meant to serve the people, and the role of a free press in reporting the truth and holding those leaders and institutions accountable.
In this panel, director Alexander Nanau is joined by one of those journalists, Catalin Tolontan of the Gazeta Sporturilor, as well as Skoll Awardee Paul Radu from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, to discuss the experience of reporting the story, its resonance across the globe, and the importance of investigative journalism in a post-truth world. Laura Kim of Participant will moderate.
Note: COLLECTIVE is available to screen for free for a limited number of attendees. Please visit the room in the Community Hub for details on how to view.
This session was curated in partnership with Participant.