Lost and Found: Thirty Years, Not Together
Canadian Jessi’s search for her Romanian birth mother reveals a sister adopted under the same name and a web of lies.
Until 1989, abortion was largely banned in Romania. In the years that followed, around 30,000 children were adopted abroad amid bribery, forged documents and other abuses. Fifteen-year-old Afize gave birth to Ghiulsecen Adim in difficult circumstances. At just two months old, the baby was sold for $1,000 and adopted by a Canadian family, growing up as Jessica Froud.
Raised in a creative environment, Jessi began searching for her birth mother and biological father, hoping to understand her roots and identity. Her journey to Romania would change her life, revealing more than she could ever have imagined.
Over eight years of filming in three countries, first-time director Laurentiu Garofeanu follows Jessi’s search and investigates her painful separation from her younger sister. During production, another adopted woman, Paula, unexpectedly contacts him after coming across the film’s synopsis and recognising her own story. Her account leads him deeper into unregistered births, falsified records and a heartbreaking history.
Edvinas Pukšta
Biography
Laurentiu Garofeanu is a Romanian-British filmmaker with more than twenty years in documentary and factual television. He began in the broadcast hubs of London and New York, making factual content for Discovery, Animal Planet, Channel 4, National Geographic and Amazon Prime, and working as a self-shooting producer and director. He came to film through fine art and photography. He returned to Romania in 2015 and founded Mekanism Media in Bucharest in 2016, moving from commissioned factual work towards author-driven documentary. His projects since then have centred on identity, memory and social justice, and combine the intimacy of observational filming with the structure of an investigation.
Filmography
Lost and Found - Thirty Years, Not Together (2026, doc)
Screenings
