Aboozar Amini’s documentary Kabul, Between Prayers [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Aboozar Amini
scheda film] won the Astra Film Award for Best International Documentary at the 32nd edition of the Astra Film Festival, Romania’s most prominent documentary gathering, which wrapped on 26 October. The jury deemed the film by the Amsterdam-based Dutch-Afghan filmmaker to be “a nuanced portrayal of a world difficult to reach and understand. The director approaches the story with complete openness and no moral judgement. Through strikingly beautiful cinematography, the film provides both a sensorial and sensual experience, while being profoundly moving.” The Best Directing Award went to Spain’s David Bim for To the West, in Zapata [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film].

Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko's My Dear Théo [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] won the only award handed out in the Eastern European Competition. The jurors hailed Kovalenko’s work as "a documentary about courage and personal sacrifice. The love for family and country drives the director to risk her life on the front line. The film is a diary, a testimony and a love letter from a mother to her son, who longs to live in a free and peaceful country.”

The winner of the Romanian Competition was Paula Oneţ’s Still Nia [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]. “The film turns a heavy story into a gentle, sensorial journey, creating a safe space where the viewer can immerse themselves, reflect and heal,” said the jurors in their motivation. The Best Directing Award went to Andra MacMasters’ Bright Future [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film].

Besides its traditional competition focused on movies produced by film schools, DocSchool, this year the festival introduced a new shorts competition, DocShort. French directorial duo Fleury Fontaine, consisting of Galdric Fleury and Antoine Fontaine, won the only award in this competition with Sixty-Seven Milliseconds.

Here is the complete list of award winners:

New Voices Competition

Astra Film Award for Best Documentary
Kabul, Between Prayers [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Aboozar Amini
scheda film] – Aboozar Amini (Netherlands/Belgium)

Best Directing Award
David Bim - To the West, in Zapata [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (Cuba/Spain)

Eastern European Competition

Best Documentary
My Dear Théo [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Alisa Kovalenko (Ukraine/Poland/Czech Republic)

Romanian Competition

Best Documentary
Still Nia [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] – Paula Oneţ (Romania)

Best Directing Award
Andra MacMasters – Bright Future [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] (Romania/South Korea)

DocSchool Competition

Best Documentary
God’s Other Plan – Moritz Mueller-Preisser (Germany)

DocShort Competition

Best Documentary
Sixty-Seven Milliseconds – Fleury Fontaine (France) (short film)