Oana Ghiocel
Oana R. Ghiocel is an award-winning American-Romanian documentary filmmaker, producer, and researcher exploring the intersection of science, myth, and ancient consciousness. Holding an M.F.A. in Documentary Film from Emerson College (Boston), she has directed international productions filmed across the globe. Her acclaimed works include The Mystery of the Carpathian Sphinx (Gaia) and The Riddle of the Carpathian Sphinx (History Channel, 2023). Oana’s lifelong quest began over thirty years ago, when as a child in Socialist Romania she first saw a postcard of the Carpathian Sphinx — the mysterious stone guardian of Romania’s Transylvanian Alps. For over fifteen years, she has traveled across the world — from the Carpathians to the Andes and Egypt — uncovering profound links between ancient landscapes, celestial alignments, and humanity’s forgotten origins.
see her life at the scottsdale quest for ancient civilizations
Quest for Ancient Stones and Skies: Reawakening the Sky of Our Origins:
Was the Lost Ancient World Which We Seek, in Fact, Neanderthal?
Filmmaker Oana R. Ghiocel invites the audience on a breathtaking journey across time and continents — from the Transylvanian Alps of Romania to the Andes of Peru and the pyramids of Egypt — unveiling the celestial knowledge that once connected humanity to the stones and the sky.
Her upcoming international documentary and docuseries, Quest for Ancient Stones and Skies — filmed across more than eight countries on three continents — will be completed in late 2026. The project features Prof. Anthony Aveni (the world’s leading archaeoastronomer), Prof. Giulio Magli, Dr. Robert Schoch, Dr. David Carballo, Dr. Andrés Ruzo, and explorers Andrew Collins and Hugh Newman. Narration is envisioned by Pamela Anderson — The Voice of the Ancient World Reawakened — and the project is being shaped in collaboration with a BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated Consulting Editor.
The keynote offers exclusive world premieres:
• Newly discovered astronomical alignments and never-before-seen photographs from the Bucegi Mountains (Transylvanian Alps) — a possible prehistoric ritual center, observatory, and early calendar, predating Göbekli Tepe and Stonehenge.
• A world premiere of findings from the Carpathian Sphinx Complex, including LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, and rare hierophanies filmed for the first time — a global first.
• A hierophany filmed at the Great Pyramid of Giza during the summer solstice, never before documented in its entirety.
For the first time ever, Oana will present a scientific and cinematic reconstruction of the night sky as it appeared 50,000 years ago — the sky of the Neanderthals — bringing to light how early humans may have observed, aligned, and ritualized their world beneath an entirely different celestial dome.
Oana will also host a Cultural Corner at the event (alongside creative partner Alex Gavan— a visual and intellectual space featuring books, maps, and photographs from her research and production archives, inviting participants to rediscover the deep connection between stone, sky, and spirit.
A cinematic and fascinating journey into the forgotten sky that once guided humankind.