Immigrants Under Earth

Genre: feature Documentary
Target audience: General audience
Produced by Oana R. Ghiocel
Directed by Oana R. Ghiocel & Cristian Lascu

As the Communist regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu imposed heavily its dogmatic ideology during the “Golden Epoch” and Romania’s borders were closed, a new generation of young enthusiasts and adventurers arose and defied the political dictatorship by escaping into a virgin world of freedom unsuspected by the regime. During “The Golden Decade”: 1979-1989 they made incredible discoveries in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. They found and mapped more than twelve thousand new caves, some of them tens of kilometers long, more caves than most of the countries in Europe. The first time cave divers confronted death and pushed to the very limits of physical endurance with inadequate, old, improvised equipment. Some of them perished while practicing this dangerous passionate activity. In their deep desire to enter an unknown geography and space, an unknown land of submerged galleries, traversing deep mortal gorges, facing ice -cold waters with zero visibility they tested their humanity to its very core. But what they really discovered made an impact beyond their wildest dreams.  Little did they know, their achievements, after the 1989 Revolution, once revealed to the international community pushed the frontiers of science and made headlines across the globe. This is the dramatic story of these courageous and daring explorers, their discoveries and their legacy to the world and the special context in which it formed.