The Competition Sections and Thematic Programs of Astra IFF 2018

     Astra Film International Festival celebrates its 25th edition in 2018 with a selection of more than 100 outstanding non-fiction films, grouped in 5 competition sections and 14 thematic programs.
     Of the 101 selected films, 56 compete at Astra Film Festival 2018 and 45 top productions are presented outside the competition - within the 14 thematic programs of the Festival, in the format dedicated to VR and 360 degrees screenings, as well as in Astra Film Junior, AFF’s documentary film literacy programme.
     Through its thematic programs, Astra Film International Festival Sibiu presents the cinema of reality seen not only as an intimate and detailed portrait of the human condition, but also as a way to increase social awareness, an instrument of change, and a "therapy to heal society" (as it is described by filmmaker Cristi Puiu). The themes addressed by AFF 2018 examine this world’s facets and mindsets, as well as society's written and unwritten rules, starting from the idea that we cannot understand reality without knowing it first, just as we cannot change reality without fully understanding it.
     The AFF 2018 thematic programs explore family ties, relationships between generations, and the effects on us of time passing by (Motherhood, Beware! Parents Behind the Wheel, Coming of Age, Rites of Passage, Mature View); the difficult exercise in search of personal, national or digital identity (Surviving My Homeland, In Search of HOME, My Origin/Religion & I, Far-right Near Us, #ourlivesonline); and the quest for balance between living our fate and building a destiny (Challenging Fates, Against the Odds, In a Larger View, The Butterfly Effect).
     Romania’s Centenary is honored at the Festival by the premiere of the film Road of Kings – Transalpina directed by Dumitru Budrala. Used from ancient times, the road that crosses the Carpathians linking Transylvania and Oltenia is a true depository of history, where the fantastic, mythological stories and the sublime landscapes accompany you at every step. The Road of Kings was considered an extraordinary technical achievement for those times.
     The AFF 2018 edition also includes, as special guest screenings, the three finalists productions of the European Parliament's Lux Film Prize competition, of which the winner of the LUX Prize will be announced on November 14th, at Strasbourg: The Other Side of Everything (Serbia, France, directed by Mira Turajlić), Styx (Austria, directed by Wolfgang Fischer); Woman at War (Iceland, Ukraine, France, directed by Benedikt Erlingsson).


The films selected to participate in the 5 competition sections of the Astra Film Festival are:

I. AFF INTERNATIONAL (9 Films)
I Am Another You (USA), directed by Nanfu Wang
Minding the Gap (USA), directed by Bing Liu
Sand and Blood (Austria), directed by Matthias Krepp, Angelika Spangel
Solving My Mother (Lithuania), directed by Ieva Ozolina
Tanzania Transit (Netherlands), directed by Jeroen van Velzen
The Image You Missed (Ireland, France, USA), directed by Donal Foreman
Thinking Like a Mountain (Germany, Colombia), directed by Alexander Hick
Unsettling (Israel, UK), directed by Iris Zaki
Yvonne (Italy, France), directed by Tommaso Perfetti

II. AFF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE (10 films)
Easy Lessons (Hungary), directed by Dorottya Zurbó
Frozen Conflict (Germany), directed by Steffi Wurster
Hugo (Poland), directed by Wojciech Klimala, Mateusz Wajda
Love Is Potatoes (Holland), directed by Aliona van der Horst
Putin’s Witnesses (Lithuania, Switzerland, Czech Republic), directed by Vitaly Mansky
Srbenka (Croatia), directed by Nebojsa Slijepcevic
Taurunum Boy (Serbia), directed by Jelena Maksimović
The Distant Barking of Dogs (Denmark, Sweden), directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
The White World According to Daliborek (Czech Republic), directed by Vít Klusák
When the War Comes (Croatia), directed by Jan Gebert

III. AFF ROMANIA (9 Films)
Anniversary, directed by Claudiu Mitcu
Apricot-Cinderella Kid, directed by Alexandru Mavrodineanu
Free Dacians, directed by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
Lagarde, a Romanian story, directed by Ana Dumitrescu
Megaphone (Germany, Romania), directed by Ruxandra Gubernat, Henry Rammelt
Mockup Wedding, directed by Mihai Andrei Leaha
Mahua + Baba, directed by Ibolya Simó
Nussbaum 95736, directed by Csibi László
Wedding of the year, directed by József Bán

IV. AFF SHORT DOCUMENTARY (12 films)
5 Years After the War (France), directed by Samuel Albaric, Ulysse Lefort, Martin Wiklund
Because of Salt (Spain), directed by Cardozo Basteiro
Dust (Poland), directed by Jakub Radej
Film for Carlos (Russia, Guatemala), directed by Byron Renato Borrayo Serrano
If Objects Could Speak (Canada, Romania), directed by Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu
If Only There Were Peace (Turkey), directed by Carmine Grimaldi, Deniz Tortum
Ma (Ukraine), directed by Maria Stoianova
One Day in Aleppo (Sweden, Syria), directed by Ali Alibrahim
Our Song to War (Belgium, France), directed by Juanita Onzaga
Password: Fajara (Spain), directed by Sévérine Sajous, Patricia Sánchez Mora
They Just Come and Go (Croatia), directed by Boris Poljak
Valea Jiului – Notes (Germany), directed by Alexandra Gulea


V. AFF DOCSCHOOL – STUDENT (15 films)
Call Him President (UK), directed by Marie-Emma Paoli
Daiana (Romania), directed by Ozana Nicolau
EXIT (Germany, Israel), directed by Katharina Woll
Fitzcarraldo Syndrome (Switzerland), directed by Laura Morales
Ink of Yam (Germany), directed by Tom Fröhlich
It Was Tomorrow (Italy,UK), directed by Alexandra D’Onofrio
Maregrave (Belgium), directed by Justine Cappelle
Marie (Romania), directed by Letiția Popa
Meuthen’s Party (Germany), directed by Marc Eberhardt
My father, Imre (Romania), directed by Andreea Stiliuc
My Voina (Czech Republic), directed by Zora Čápová
Remnants of a Conversation (UK), directed by Jules Leaño
The End (Slovenia), directed by Vid Hajnšek
The Ship Of Gold (Belgium, Canada), directed by Siham Hinawi
The Sun Will Rise (Haiti, France), directed by Gessica Généus