to Something familiarFor her first film, Rachel Tabarjan chose a subject that is not only very personal to her, but also turns out to be full of trauma. Just read the documentary’s line: “While helping a woman search for her mother, Tabarjan is drawn into her family’s history, uncovering a dark legacy that haunts her women.”
The documentary will have its world premiere in the main competition of the 23rd Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:DOX, on Tuesday 17 March.
“After Mihaela reached out to Tabarjan to help her find her mother, they set off for Romania, returning to the orphanage where they were adopted.” Something familiar. “What Mihaela discovers in the research makes her question her entire identity. It also draws Rachel into her own journey through her family’s past, revealing a painful legacy that looms over her women, who have shared it despite the separation.”
In what seems like an attempt to find some clarity or catharsis, or simply to explore possibilities, the director also enlists actresses to sit in place of her mother in a chair across from her.
Anatomy of family ties, absence and trauma, Something familiar It also explores whether self-authorship can rewrite familiar narratives.
Tabarjan, a British-Romanian, has directed short documentaries. Something familiar It was selected to exhibit at Cannes Docs 2025 as part of the Docs in Progress show and won the Chicken & Egg Vision Award. The Romanian-British co-production, produced by Monika Lozorian-Gorgan and Elena Martin for Manifest Film in Romania and Alexandra Bilić for My Accomplice in the UK, is co-produced by Dermot O’Dempsey in association with Shudder Films. Sales are handled by Stranger Films Sales
“The challenges involved in acting as both director and subject presented a familiar yet unique challenge. How can I be a trusted narrator in a documentary, when I don’t trust reality?” Tabarjan points out in a statement by the director. “How can I be open and authentic in front of the camera when hiding and shape-shifting keep me alive? In other words, how can I achieve the impossible?”
She also highlights: “I want to usurp pre-existing narratives around my chosen topics, whether that be sex work (Pay attention to the gap), poverty tourism (Where are you coming from?), or indeed Romanian orphans (Something familiar“)
Tabarjan concludes: “By making a distinctly personal film, I experienced the alchemical potential of self-authorship in the face of a traumatic past—a way to reimagine adversity as adventure, a way to make something familiar seem entirely new, a way to give yourself a story you can bear to live with! In the words of George Bernard Shaw: ‘If you can’t shake off the skeleton of the family, you might as well make it dance.’” The ultimate triumph over trauma is play!
THR You can now exclusively premiere the trailer for document. And since it’s the story of Rachel and Mihaela, we’ll let them take you on a trip to Romania to explore… Something familiar.
