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ASTRA 2017

The 24th edition of the Astra Film Festival is ready to kick off

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- One of Romania’s oldest film festivals, Astra brings the world’s best documentaries to the city of Sibiu

The 24th edition of the Astra Film Festival is ready to kick off

Today, the Astra Film Festival (16-22 October, Sibiu), one of Romania’s oldest film festivals and the country’s biggest documentary gathering, kicks off its 24th edition with a screening of festival founder Dumitru Budrală’s latest documentary short, Sibiu 825, an exploration of the rich history of the hosting city.

Over seven days, the festival will screen more than 100 documentary features from all over the world. Astra boasts as many as five competitions: an International Competition, a Central & Eastern European Competition, a Romanian Competition and two short-film competitions, one of them for student films (read more here). 

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Astra 2017 delves into the most pressing issues of the present day with a rich selection of sidebars and special programmes. Someone Else’s Country explores various personal aspects of exile, and the grey areas of morality and justice, involving refugees who are more often than not seen as intruders – but it also explores how the controversial image of the refugee can be remedied through social activism. Familyscapes brings together several documentaries about the concept of family and how it has changed over the years, from its most dysfunctional to its most stable and accomplished. 

A Quest(ion) of Identity explores race, ethnicity and nationality, social and financial status, and sexual orientation, while The Look of Delusion shows how a certain historical moment can bring hope only to be replaced with despair in several documentaries about the changing of political regimes or the consequences of war. Against the Odds shows how individuals fight adversity out of ambition or a need to make a change in their world. Post-truth is explored in a special programme that mixes screenings with public debates.

Norwegian documentaries are the stars of the Docs From Norway sidebar, while the most recent docs by the world’s most famous filmmakers will be shown in the Voices of Documentary programme. One of the most interesting sidebars is The Future Is Now, which will present the audience with the newest technologies in documentary filmmaking, such as VR and 360-degree footage. For this selection, a dome theatre was built especially in Sibiu’s main square. 

The 24th edition also has an industry platform, Documentary Tank, which offers – besides lectures and debates about financing opportunities, networking and distribution – a pitching session, Romanian Docs in Progress. Phoenixxx, a project presented at the 2016 edition of Documentary Tank, will have its world premiere at this edition of the festival.

Astra 2017 also has a selection of films for younger audiences. Astra Film Junior has reached its ninth edition and now boasts a selection of documentaries that may interest students of various ages. This year, the main topics discussed are children’s issues from various countries around the world, teenagers in competition (with each other and with themselves), online fame, and the courage to fight against absurd interdictions. The festival also offers a learning experience with the My First Documentary programme, where young students will learn how to prepare and shoot a doc. 

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