Passes can be purchased for all films and events in the festival
What are the best Romanian documentary films of the last year? We will find out the answer in less than three weeks at the Astra Film Festival ( Sibiu, October 20-27), the most important cultural event dedicated to non-fiction cinema. In the official selection are 18 documentary films about Romania or signed by Romanian directors, most of them premiered. Subscriptions to the films and events within the Astra Film Festival 2024, here: https://eventbook.ro/program/abonament-astra-film- festival.
Romanian documentary films from the official selection compete for awards in the Romania, Central and Eastern Europe and Docschool sections .
East to west. The documentary " DAD " ( National Premiere , Romania , 2024, 84 min), which has already created a sensation at the Toronto Film Festival, where it was presented in the world premiere, tells a complicated story about the father-daughter relationship, on the background of a phenomenon defined as " modern slavery ", which affects numerous Eastern Europeans who have gone to work abroad. The theme "Easterners in the West" can also be found in the film " 24 hours " by Harald Friedl (Austria, 2024, 100 min) , in which the Austrian director documented the difficult and very important work of a woman from the Jiu Valley, as a prototype of the Easterners come to care for elderly people in the West.
Family portraits . Complex life stories are the family portraits recovered almost miraculously thanks to the film kept in the attic (" Family films", by Dan Curean - România 2024, 87 min - World premiere), about families in which everything seems wonderful, seen from the outside, but inside which there is a continuous uproar is the documentary " An almost perfect family", by Tudor Platon ( Romania , 2024, 88 min - World Premiere). The documentary from the student competition " Blue ", by Ana Vâjdea ( Romania , 2024, 20 min - World premiere ) exposes the despair of a mother in relation to the teenagers in the family who become "zombies" because they are captives of the screens. In " Toată ziua-i noapte", by Daniel Ț icu (Republic of Moldova, 2023, 62 min - National premiere), the director's grandfather draws a surprising parallel between the similarities between the war triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that of the Second World War.
Vulnerable destinies . Several films in this year's official selection feature people facing uncomfortable realities. There are films about minors left to their own devices and forced to take their destiny into their own hands ( " Alice On & OFF", by Isabela Tent - Romania , 2024, 86 min), vulnerable elderly people, who have to face situations inhumane, eviction from the home (" Moartea lui Iosif Zagor", by Adrian Dohotaru - Romania , 2024, 72 min) or even absurd, as in " How to be dead, if alive?", by Ilinca Călugăreanu (Romania, UK, 2023, 73 min) the main character declared dead, struggles to get the ballot back and be declared alive again. Equally moving is the story of a couple from the LGBTQ community who wants to legalize their relationship (" Forbidden ", by Anelise Sălan - România , 2024, 99 min - World Premiere).
Inconvenient realities of recent history. The Romanian films in the official selection show us inconvenient truths that, most of the time, we avoid talking about, but which catch up with us, such as those related to the anti-Jewish policies of the Second World War. Two devastating productions describe the bloody events in Iași and Odorheiu Secuiesc (" Bloody Photographs " , by Copel Moscu - România , 2024, 83 min) and " As the Clock Strikes", by Zoltán Fecső - România , 2023, 99 minutes).
Portrait documentation. As usual, many acclaimed films at the Astra Film Festival present portraits of remarkable people. " Intre tăcere şipăcat ", by Diana Nicolae (Romania, USA , 2024 , 98 min ) talks about the life and work of the poet Ana Blandiana. In " Maia - portrait with hands", by Alexandra Gulea (Romania, 2024, 90 min), we travel through the 20th century with a woman from the Aromanian community, much tried by history, while Anca Lungu's documentary, " Triton" (Romania , 2024, 86 min – National premiere), retracing recovered archive films, outlines a state of mind of an era, through fragments of stories. In " Dream. Viață", by Ruxandra Gubernat (Romania , 2024, 84 min) and " Cei de Sus ", by Rare and Gabriel Vasilca (Romania, 2024, 28 min - World Premiere) we find other stories, about the uproar of young people who choose the first directions in adult life, while " Brushes and packaging", by Andu Paul (Romania , 2024, 17 min - World Premiere) describes an entire philosophy of life starting from a portrait sketch of a contemporary painter, and " Lord, turn the leu into a dollar!", by Valentin -Rareș Fogoroș (Romania, USA, 2024, 21 min - World Premiere) talks about the American dream through the story of the grandfather who emigrated to America at the beginning of the 20th century.
About the Astra Film Festival. The Astra Film International Documentary Film Festival in Sibiu, launched in 1993 as an innovative project, is one of the most important non-fiction film festivals in Europe, included by the European Film Academy on the list of festivals that have the right to make direct nominations for European Film Awards. AFF is under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and is organized by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation.
Strategic Partner: Ministry of Culture
With the support of the Sibiu County Council, the National Center of Cinematography, the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sibiu and the Union of Cinematographers, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Dacin Sara Association and AFCN. Project co-financed by the Sibiu City Council through the Sibiu City Hall.
Main sponsor: ING Bank
Sponsors: Mecatronics, Groupama, URSUS, Martini, Cinelab, Reef Distribution Dome, Luthelo, TheRefresh,, Algeco, Decathlon, Produced in Sibiu, Kulinarium, Cărturești, GLS, Cotnari, Agence K, Promenada Sibiu
DocTank sponsors: ProTV, Voyo, Chiansaw Europe Studio, Raina Film Festival Distribution, Institute of Documentary Film
Recommended by Europa FM
Main media partner: PRO TV, VOYO
Cultural partner: TVR, TVR Cultural
Media partners: TV5 Monde, Euronews România , Radio România Cultural , News.ro, G4media, Hotnews, Vorbitorincii .ro, Tribuna, Turnul Sfatului, Sibiu 100%, Messagerul de Sibiu, Ora de Sibiu, independent Sibiu, Sibiul today, Stiri de Sibiu, Hermannstä dter Zeitung, Nine O'Clock, Edupedu, Cultural Observatory, MovieNews, Cinefan, Cinefilia, FILM Magazine, LiterNet, Days and Nights, Cineuropa , Film New Europe
Monitoring partner: MediaTrust
Communication partner: PiArt Vision
