Lost and Found Documentary

Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market: A Story of Identity, Betrayal, Family & the Fight for Justice.

“Lost & Found” places Jessi, a young woman adopted from Romania to Canada, at the heart of an extraordinary journey. She embarks on a quest to rediscover her origins, define her identity, and reconnect with unknown members of her biological family.

Filmed over seven years, Jessi’s intensely personal story unravels one of the most painful tragedies of Romania’s post-communist transition in the 1990s: child trafficking masked as international adoptions. She discovers she was a victim of a corrupt system, and on camera, we learn she has a younger sister who was also sold at birth but seemingly on the black market and feared dead.

This is the moment when Jessi’s world changes as she knew it and embarks on a new quest, to find her sister.

The film bravely exposes the deeply corrupt system that facilitated the illicit sale of thousands of children, revealing the profound emotional and physical consequences borne by those involved.

This is not just Jessi’s story; it’s a narrative about truth, justice, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of a powerful system designed to keep secrets buried.

The First Embrace

Jessi embraces her biological mother, Afize, for the first time at Bucharest Airport, a moment of silence, tears, and decades of separation finally closing into a single breath.

Faces Behind the Files

Jessi reunited with her biological family in Obor, Călărași, standing beside her mother Afize, brother Emurah, and extended relatives, bridging a lifetime of distance in one frame.

Home That Raised Her

Jessi with her adoptive parents, Judy and Peter, at their home in Kingston, Canada, the family that raised her, now sitting with the daughter seeking her roots across continents.

Laurentiu Garofeanu presenting during the second session of Docu Rough Cut Boutique 2025 in Cluj, held during the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), refining the edit of “Lost and Found” with guidance from industry mentors.

Laurentiu Garofeanu receiving the Grand Prize, Balkan Watchers 2024 (Sofia Documental) – Awarded for outstanding social impact and journalistic investigation.

Winner, Civil Society Pitch 2019 (One World Romania)

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