AFF 2023, the 30th edition

The longest running film festival in Romania, now in its 30th edition, will take place in Sibiu from 15-22 October 2023

The 30th edition of Romania's longest-running film festival will take place from 15-22 October 2023. The films selected in the official AFF2023 programme will compete in four competitive sections (Emerging Voices of Documentary, Central and Eastern Europe, Romania and DocSchool). In addition to the competitive sections, the official programme also includes non-competitive sections, curatorial selections, thematic sections and special programmes.

"Here we are, 30 years after Astra Film Festival started offering quality documentary film to the public. From 1993 until today we have managed to find a way to keep a continuous connection with the audience, regardless of the times and trials we have gone through. We aim to be, for the next 30 years, the place where filmmakers from Romania and all over the world choose to premiere their documentaries. We have a loyal, educated, knowledgeable audience, which we respect in this way and to which we add new friends of quality documentary cinema every year", said Dumitru Budrala, founding director of Astra Film Festival.

Founded in 1993 as an innovative project, Astra Film Festival has become one of the main platforms for documentary film in Romania and Europe. It is under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and is organised by Astra Film, CNM Astra and Astra Film Foundation, with the support of the Sibiu County Council, the Ministry of Culture, the National Cinematography Centre, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sibiu and the Union of Filmmakers, and is co-financed by the Sibiu City Council through Sibiu City Hall and the European Union through the Creative Europe Programme.

FESTIVAL CATALOGUE 2022