The Astra Film Festival has announced the official selection for its 2026 edition, which will take place in Sibiu, Romania, from 17 to 25 October. The programme features 70 documentaries and more than 200 film-related events including screenings, discussions, concerts and exhibitions. The festival's four competitive sections (Romania, Central and Eastern Europe, Emerging Voices of Documentary Film and DocSchool) bring together established filmmakers and emerging talents. Many of the selected titles are premieres.

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The Romania Competition consists of nine Romanian productions or co-productions, films from the Republic of Moldova or international works addressing themes relevant to the Romanian context. Among the selected titles are Something Familiar by Rachel Taparjan (Romania/United Kingdom), Lenin’s Pawn by Dragoș Turea (Romania/Moldova), A Forest Once Stood Here! by Valentin Anghel (Romania) and A Train Passes Every Day and It Never Stops by Vlad Petri (Romania). The line-up also features Cabbage, Potatoes and Other Demons. After 10 Years by Șerban Georgescu, So Long Since I’ve Known a Spring by Alexandra Bidian and The Line by Andreea Dumitriu.

Ten documentaries have been selected for the Central and Eastern European Competition, which focuses on issues relating to the former Communist Bloc. The selection includes 80 Angry Journalists by András Földes and Anna Kis, Closure by Michał Marczak, Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev and Last Letters from My Grandma by Olga Lucovnicova. Also competing are To Hold a Mountain by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, Steps in Silence by Fariz Ahmadov and Traces by Ukrainian filmmakers Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk.

In the Emerging Voices of Documentary Film Competition, dedicated to international filmmakers presenting their first, second or third documentary feature, the public of Astra will be able to discover Confessions of a Swedish Man by Hampus Linder, From Dawn to Dawn by Xisi Sofia Ye Chen, If Pigeons Turned to Gold by Pepa Lubojacki, Confessions of a Mole by Mo Tan and Silent Flood by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, as well as Techplomacy by Susanne Kovács, The Golden Swan by Anette Ostrø and Birds of War by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak.

Beyond the competitions, the festival will organise thematic screenings accompanied by DocTalk and InspirăDoc discussions, alongside special events and activities for younger audiences. Astra Film Junior, the festival's documentary film education programme, will return with a selection of films tailored to different age groups. A substantial number of the selected documentaries will also be accessible online throughout Romania via Astra Film Online.