RECURRING INITIATIVE · CULTURE, EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY
You come to lend a hand.
You discover what you can do.
A screening room ready for the audience. A film night you helped organise. A workshop children walk into curious. In the Susțin community, your contribution shows up in things that actually happen.
Here you meet people, learn alongside them and can take on more responsibility over time. From Cinema Europa and BKFF to experience on a film set, our projects grow through the involvement of a community.
WHAT VOLUNTEERS CONTRIBUTE AND LEARN
Someone welcomes people at the door. Someone answers a question, prepares the room or notices what is still missing before the event. Someone else films an interview, writes an invitation or suggests a theme for the next night. Together, all of this makes the audience's experience possible.
Volunteering at Susțin means taking part in a real project, with a team that relies on you. You learn to communicate, manage your time, ask for help and follow through on what you took on.
How an event comes together, from the idea to the last person in the room. How you talk with different people. How you work in a team and react when the plan needs adjusting. You may discover that you enjoy communication, organising, film or working with an audience.
Experience is built through taking part and through feedback. A new role starts with things explained clearly and responsibilities suited to where you are.
Figures reported by Susțin in September 2026. The same people may be involved in several projects; the numbers do not add up.
The community's contribution also shows in the continuity of Cinema Europa, a project that has reached roughly150,000 cumulative attendances, according to Susțin's September 2026 reporting. Every night involves people who prepare, communicate and organise.
Welcoming the audience, checking tickets, preparing the room, communication and support during events are everyday experiences. Volunteers shape the atmosphere of the place and the way the audience is received.
On Volunteers' Thursday, involvement goes as far as choosing the film and promoting the night. You learn what it means to have an idea, explain it and invite people to experience it with you.
Discover Cinema Europa
At Bucharest Kids Film Festival, the team helps welcome groups, guide the audience and run the screenings and workshops. It is a setting where attention, patience and collaboration matter at every step.
The second edition is scheduled for 4–8 November 2026. Opportunities to get involved are set according to the programme and the team's needs.
Discover BKFF
90 Susțin volunteers contributed to the film directed by Igor Cobileanski, a production linking Romania and the Republic of Moldova. They had the chance to work alongside professionals and discover the rhythm of a film crew.
Filming wrapped in the summer of 2026. The experience remains part of the community's story, and any roles in the stages ahead will be announced separately.
Discover the film project
STORIES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Ioana Bondar followed the Cinema Europa programme, then signed up as a volunteer and moved into communications. Maria Panait came back after a first screening and ended up contributing to the life of the place. For David, coming to the cinema also meant meeting people in a new city.
She found the place through its film programme, then signed up as a volunteer and ended up working in communications. She described that path on București FM, in February 2026.
București FM, February 2026 ↗
She came to a screening, came back, and stayed to contribute to the life of the place. She spoke about moving from audience member to participant in the same broadcast.
București FM, February 2026 ↗
For him, the cinema also meant meeting people in a new city. In the Filtru Cultural feature of August 2026 he spoke about relationships and belonging.
Filtru Cultural, August 2026 ↗Cheesy Pizza Party is the volunteers' monthly gathering at Cinema Europa: pizza, a film and time together. A chance to meet the colleagues you never shared a shift with.
We want a place where you can ask questions, propose ideas and earn trust as you take on responsibility. The relationships between people give projects their continuity.
You can start in a supporting role, then come to understand a project better and take on more complex tasks. Coordinating means keeping track of what the team has to do, communicating clearly and helping solve problems. The path depends on consistency, preparation and the project's needs.
Through this experience you can find out whether you enjoy organising an event or working in communications and cultural management.
Fill in the form on voluntar.sustin.org. Then we talk about your interests, your availability and the roles the projects need. Your involvement is agreed together with the team.
That we can rely on what we agree. That you let us know in good time when you can't make it. That you ask when something isn't clear. That you look after your colleagues, the audience and the space we work in. Consistency is what makes a project possible week after week.
There are roles where you can start by learning alongside the team, and roles that require specific skills. Tell us what you enjoy doing and what you'd like to learn; we look for a fit with the project's needs.
It depends on the project and the role. For recurring activities, showing up consistently is what counts. Availability, shifts and responsibilities are discussed before you start, so you know what you're taking on.
You can tell us what draws you. Available places and roles depend on the stage each project is at. Signing up is the start of a conversation with the team.
PARTNERSHIPS AND GROWING THE COMMUNITY
The voluntar.sustin.org platform also takes proposals from organisations and teams preparing a project. Tell us what you want to do, when, where and which roles you have in mind. It helps us know who coordinates the activity and what participants can learn.
If you represent a company, we can discuss support for preparing volunteers, materials and resources the projects need, or a contribution from your team in a clearly defined role.
WHAT THE PROJECT CHANGES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Participants find contexts where their contribution matters and can practise real responsibilities alongside experienced people. For some, the path continues towards coordinating activities or teams.
The community, the activities and the existence of coordinators who grew through involvement in projects.
Continuity of participation, the skills practised, the feedback received and the taking on of new responsibilities.
We want to make starting out simpler and learning more visible: a first shift alongside an experienced colleague, a short sheet where everyone can note their contributions, and a regular space for ideas coming from the community.
These are directions we want to test on a small scale, within existing projects. The aim is for more people to understand where they fit, what they have learned and what responsibility they want to try next.
The materials below mainly document the activity at Cinema Europa.
Școala9 · 3 April 2026
A feature with volunteers about their experience at Cinema Europa.
Read the feature↗București FM · 23 February 2026
A conversation with Ioana Bondar and Maria Panait about moving from audience member to participant.
Listen to the broadcast↗Filtru Cultural · 1 August 2026
A feature about the cinema, how volunteers are organised, and belonging.
Read the feature↗Radio România Cultural · 10 December 2025
The role of the association, its volunteers and the audience in Cinema Europa's revival.
Listen to the broadcast↗You sign up on the volunteering platform. Tell us what interests you and what you'd like to learn, and the team gets back to you with the roles open in our projects.