Several thousand people of different ages filled the theaters of Astra Film Chisinau, which ended this weekend in the capital of Moldova. It brought together the appetite for culture, freedom and truth, i.e. the values found in the documentary film. Most of the screenings were sold-out, and the most emotional meeting was the one with the poet Ana Blandiana, who entered into a dialogue with the audience. Other emotional moments were generated by the more than 3,000 children from Chisinau and the surrounding area, who came with their teachers to the screenings of Astra Film Junior. The third Astra Film Chisinau edition took place between November 14-16, organized by Astra Film/CNM Astra, with the support of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova within the Government of Romania.
" The documentary film spoke again, in Chisinau, about real life and about the landmarks that keep us afloat and carry us forward. I was extremely happy to see how enthusiastically the children left the cinema at the end of the screenings. Education through documentary film is a real and necessary need in times when the need to have educational alternatives that resonate with the younger generations is felt more and more," said Dumitru Budrala, founding director of Astra Film Festival.
" There is a cultural effervescence in Chisinau and in the Republic of Moldova, and I am very happy that we managed to finance dozens of projects this year. We always wanted to bring here the best of Romania, and the Astra Film Festival is a quality cultural project, established in Romania, and I am happy that we managed to become an important event on the cultural map of the Republic of Moldova. " , stated the state secretary of DRRM, Adrian Dupu.
Ana Blandiana: " We must have a different history from now on"
One of the most anticipated moments was the meeting with the poet Ana Blandiana. At the end of a screening-event of the biographical documentary "Between Silence and Sin", by Diana Nicolae, in which the Minister of Culture, Sergiu Prodan, also participated, the audience applauded with tears in their eyes and listened with an open heart to the discussion between Ana Blandiana and the journalist and the writer Val Butnaru.
" I was afraid, while we were watching the film, that you would get bored, because the subject of the film is not about Moldova. But the silence in the room showed me that you care. That you also love us as much as we love you" , said Ana Blandiana. The winner of the prestigious Princess of Asturias Prize for Letters 2024 also told the audience, dominated by young people, that " freedom means to constantly judge things, every minute, with your own head, not to accept that someone else says for you what is right ".
" In Romanian fairy tales there is the expression "the country where the mountains collide". We were together "the country where empires fought". Under these conditions, I believe that no one can judge us but ourselves. But we don't have to judge ourselves, we have to have a different history from now on ", said Ana Blandiana, who added that it is " a true miracle " that the people of Moldova have started the road to the European Union.
Astra Film Junior, sold-out in Chisinau
Almost all Astra Film Junior screenings were sold-out. More than 3,000 children from schools and high schools in Chisinau, Nisporeni, Ialoveni, Călărași, Leaova or Străseni filled the cinema halls and enthusiastically participated in imaginary trips around the world and real life lessons with the help of the documentary film. " Whatever and however we do in life, we must not back down, we must not give up our childhood dreams ," said a little girl excited by what she saw on the screen.
The afternoons of the days of Astra Film Chisinau were dedicated to documentary films that were also very well received by the public in Sibiu, in October. These are productions such as "In the Name of the Earth" (Poland's bid for the Oscar Award last year), "Leo Records: Strictly for our friends" (about a man forced by the KGB to leave the USSR in the 70s, who transmitted jazz music, from London, to tens of millions of people beyond the Iron Curtain), "The Martyr of the Union" (about Protoiereul Alexandru Baltaga, one of the artisans of the union of Bessarabia with Romania, in 1918).
The evenings meant meetings with other highly appreciated films at AFF2024 and discussions about the themes addressed in these productions, attended by important guests of AF Chisinau. The public who came to learn the story of Alice from "Alice On & Off" (the best Romanian documentary of the year), had the chance of a discussion about the challenges of adolescence between journalist and director Ioana Vatamanu-Mărgineanu and psychologist Aurelia Bălan. Both expressed their emotion at the fact that they were, a few years ago, among the spectators in Sibiu of some editions of the Astra Film Festival.
Another meeting full of ideas was the one between Ioana Avădani, Paula Erizanu and Arcadie Botnaru, which followed the screening of a dense film, "Umberto Eco-Library of the World", a foray into the impressive library of one of the most beautiful minds of the last century of mankind. The panelists challenged the audience to think and talk about a topic currently under global debate: what humanity should do to improve its knowledge, culture and pass it on to future generations, in the context in which we seem still unprepared for the impact with digital technology and artificial intelligence.
Astra Film Chisinau also offered a closed-door concert by the always surprising Ada Milea and two Masterclasses held by the director and teacher Ana Vlad, in a beautiful collaboration between the National University of Theater and Cinematography "IL Caragiale" from Bucharest ( UNATC), Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts Chisinau (AMTAP) and Astra Film Festival.
Media partners: TVR Moldova, Radio Chisinau, Vocea Bessarabiei Radio, Vocea Bessarabiei TV, Ziarul național, Deschide.md, IPN.md, Realitatea TV, NordNews, Ziua.md, One TV, Newstream.md, IaloveniOnline.md
