email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

ASTRA 2022

The 29th edition of the Astra Film Festival is poised to kick off

by 

- Romania’s longest-running film gathering brings more than 100 documentaries to its Sibiu audience this year

The 29th edition of the Astra Film Festival is poised to kick off
No Place for You in Our Town by Nikolay Stefanov

After two pandemic-ridden editions, the Sibiu-based Astra Film Festival is getting back to its former self for its 29th iteration (9-16 October), in terms of both its scope and its varied range of sidebars. Approximately 100 films will be screened for the audience across several venues, including a full-dome theatre, while many of the selected movies will be available online (for viewers in Romania) for two weeks after the physical edition ends.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Ten films, brought together in the New Voices of Documentary Cinema Competition, will be in the running for the Astra Trophy: Erec Brehmer’s Who We Will Have Been (Germany), Laure Portier’s Soy Libre [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(France/Belgium), Moriya Ben Avot’s Empty Handed (Israel), Zofia Kowaleska’s Only the Wind (Poland), Luka Papic’s Without (Serbia), Botond Püsök’s Too Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Romania/Hungary), András Visky’s Performing Juliet (USA), Diem Ha Le’s Children of the Mist (Vietnam), Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love (USA) and Jacquelyn MillsGeographies of Solitude (Canada).

Another ten features are competing for the main award in the Central & Eastern European Competition: Ana Gurdiş’s Our Eve (Moldova), Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop’s Ostrov – Lost Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Switzerland), Lukasz Kowalski’s The Pawnshop [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Poland), Francesco Montagner’s Brotherhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Montagner
film profile
]
(Czech Republic/Italy), Marija Zidar’s Reconciliation [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Slovenia/Serbia/Montenegro/Kosovo), Julianna Ugrin and Marton Vizkelety’s Holy Dilemma [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Hungary), Renato Borrayo Serrano’s Life of Ivanna [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Estonia/Finland/Norway/Russia), Nikolay Stefanov’s No Place for You in Our Town [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Bulgaria), Peter Triest’s A Parked Life (Netherlands/Belgium) and Alexandra Gulea’s Flying Sheep (Germany/Romania).

In the Romanian Competition, which welcomes documentaries depicting Romanian issues, even if the directors and the production companies are of a different nationality, the festival has selected 11 titles: Attila Szabó and Anikó Nagy Mára’s My Home, My Home (Hungary), Iulian Manuel Ghervas and Adina Popescu’s Eagles from Ţaga [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Romania/Slovakia), Raluca David’s Waves on Dry Soil (Romania), Dragoş Zămosteanu’s In Search of the Engineer Dragomirescu (Romania), Armine Vosganian’s Memories from the Community – Gheorgheni and Frumoasa (Romania), Clara Kleininger’s No Elephant in the Room (Romania/Poland), Dragoş Hanciu’s The Man and His Shadow (Romania), Csibi László’s Rear Entrance to Socialism (Romania), Cătălina Tesar and Dana Bunescu’s The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Romania), Mircea Gherase’s The Road Ahead: Terra Banatica (Romania) and Róbert Lakatos’s Whose Dog Am I? [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Hungary/Romania).

Finally, the Docschool Competition proposes a documentary feature, Eric Esser’s Family Love – My Grandpa, National Socialism and Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Germany), along with 12 short films.

For the 29th edition, the festival is launching a special programme dedicated to investigative journalism, dubbed Focus/Investigation, with several extensive news reports in the selection. There couldn’t be a better moment for this, as the European Union has recently started investigating a dubious practice undertaken by several traditional political parties that pay, through various intermediaries and questionable methods, popular Romanian TV channels to turn a blind eye to corruption issues and to sing the praises of those parties’ successes.

The selection also offers several thematic sidebars – for example, Faces of War or Decided Death – which will be accompanied by lectures and talks. Renowned British filmmaker Nick Broomfield will be celebrated in a retrospective, and after a two-year break, Astra Film Junior will be back to screen dozens of documentaries targeted at children of various ages.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy