13/10/2023 - The leading Romanian non-fiction gathering kicks off on Sunday with a work-in-progress version of André Singer’s newest documentary, Meeting Zelenskyy

As every October, the quaint Romanian city of Sibiu is about to become the backdrop for the country’s Astra Film Festival (15-22 October), which seems determined to enthusiastically celebrate its impressive status as Romania’s longest-running film festival, with as many as 30 editions under its belt. Thirty-one features will be competing in the festival’s three feature-film competitions, while 13 shorts will be in the running for the award in the Docschool competition. This edition kicks off on Sunday with a work-in-progress version of André Singer’s newest documentary, Meeting Zelenskyy, but the event also comes with some unwanted attention generated by an official protest of the Romanian Orthodox Church regarding the screening of Alexandru Solomon’s newest documentary, Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandru Solomon
film profile], at the festival, which prompted the festival to issue a press release stating that at Astra, freedom of speech “is not negotiable”.

As every year, ten films, brought together in the New Voices of Documentary Cinema Competition, will be vying for the Astra Trophy: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento’s Adieu Sauvage [+see also:
film review
interview: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento
film profile] (Belgium/France); Helin Celik’s ANQA [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Austria/Spain); Vlad Petri’s Between Revolutions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vlad Petri
film profile] (Romania/Croatia/Qatar/Iran); Elvis A-Liang Lu’s A Holy Family [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Taiwan/France); Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L'helgoualc'h’s Knit’s Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France); Efthymia Zymvragaki’s Light Falls Vertical [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Spain/Germany/Italy/Netherlands); Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies (Morocco/Egypt/Saudi Arabia/Qatar); Christian Einshøj’s The Mountains [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Denmark); Mickaël Bandela’s One Mother (France); and Paul B Preciado’s Orlando, My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile] (France).

Ten further films will be competing in the Central and Eastern European Competition: Mstyslav Chernov's 20 Days in Mariupol [+see also:
film review
interview: Mstyslav Chernov
film profile] (Ukraine), Bartłomiej Żmuda's God and Lunaparks Warriors (Poland), Otilia Babara's Love Is Not an Orange [+see also:
trailer
interview: Otilia Babara
film profile] (Belgium/Netherlands/Moldova/France), Suzana Dinevski's The Love Room (North Macedonia), Angie Vinchito's Manifesto (Russia), Nikola Boshnakov's My Uncle Luben [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikola Boshnakov, Georgi-Ja…
film profile] (Bulgaria/Germany), Nikoloz Bezhanishvili's The Northeast Winds [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Georgia), Mátyás Kálmán's Paying a Visit to Fortuna [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Hungary/Croatia), Marek Kozakiewicz's Silent Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Poland/Germany) and Alisa Kovalenko's We Will Not Fade Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Ukraine/France/Poland).

Besides Solomon's Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife, ten other features either produced or shot in Romania or having a topic related to the country will be competing in the Romania Competition: Diana Gavra's Amar (Romania/Spain), Gautier Gumpper's Earth's Sweet Kiss (France), Elena Rebeca Carini's The Land You Belong (Italy/Romania), Ovidiu Georgescu's The Memory of the Moment (Romania), Eugene Buică's Mrs. Buică (Romania), Daniel Ioan Bărnuţi and Alexandra Lizeta Bărnuţi's My Muslim Husband [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Romania), Carla-Maria Teaha's Nora (Romania), Şerban Georgescu's Our Daily Bread (Romania), Moscu Copel's Paradise of the Naives (Romania), and Iulia Rugină's Playback [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Romania).

Dozens of other movies will be shown in the Astra Film Junior sidebar, which is dedicated to children and teenagers, and in the full-dome selection.