ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL, The 28th Sibiu International Festival of Documentary Film

ended

ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL is an international festival of documentary film with a mission to raise awareness about the realities of our world and to inspire understanding of different cultures and societies by championing documentary films that look into issues of our time in complex and creative ways. The Festival program celebrates those filmmakers who skillfully turn human stories into meaningful documentary films and their resilience to go on regardless of any impediments, and the festival makes it its duty to bring their work to the attention of the audience. The 28th edition of the festival lines up 72 films out of which 60 are premieres: 6 World, 5 International and 40 Romanian. They come from 33 countries, 75% are European productions and co-productions and 17% are Romanian documentaries. The program is structured in four competitive sections: New Voices of Documentary, Central&Eastern Europe Documentaries, Romanian Documentaries and DocSchool for student films from film schools across Europe. Alongside the competition there are curated thematic programs. A newly introduced section called Interchange presents the result of collaborative programming with other European festivals. The films in the festival touch sensitive global topics like borders vs individual freedom and the climate crisis, and mental health issues, the ethics of IVF or the dynamics of couple relationships experienced at a personal level. The Industry program DokTank includes the Astra Film Lab, a project development intensive program consisting of workshops, mentoring from industry experts, one-to-one meetings and a public pitch to an audience of industry representatives. DokTank also hosts panel discussions on topics relevant to the industry delegates. Astra Film Junior, the festival's highly popular film literacy program, resumes after last year's reduced online edition, with 36 documentaries, pre- and post screening activities, and a cartoon competition for primary school pupils.