On Monday, October 14, the 26th edition of the International Astra Film Festival kicks off. The official program of the edition includes 126 films, out of which 46 will compete in the four competition
sections, 58 will be presented as premieres, 55 screenings will be followed by Q&As with the
Romanian directors and with the foreign ones who attend the festival and 29 will be screened in the VR and full-dome formats.
The film events will take the viewers from one of the nine screening locations to another: Thalia Hall, Glass Hall, Gong Theatre, Astra Film Cinema 1, Astra Film Cinema 2, “Ion Besoiu” Cinema- Big Jall and Small Hall, Full-dome and VR dome and a series of events will take place at the Hub AFF Thalia. Through the lens of the directors, the viewers will discover different and profound stories about the world we live in.
The Opening Gala will be marked by two exceptional events: the Romanian premiere of the film
State Funeral directed by Sergei Loznitsa, one of the most important voices of the world cinema and the discussion about communism and post-communism held by Emil Hurezeanu, one of the most important Romanian political analyst, who was named Romania`s ambassador in Berlin in 2015. The starting point for the discussion will be represented by the opening film, described by
Loznitsa as “a visual study of Stalin`s cult of personality”, meant to cause anxiety in the actual global context. The event will take place at the Thalia Hall, from 19:00, in the presence of hundreds of special guests.
The following days, the film screenings will be followed by discussions with the authors and special guests, who will explore important themes of the contemporary society. The phenomenon of corruption will be approached by the film
Casa cu lacăt and discussed during the Q&A attended by the director Dana Gavrea, Dumitru Borțun (SNSPA professor, who was interviewed in the film), the political analyst Cristian Pârvulescu and the production team:
Marius Panduru,
Eugen Kelemen and Cristian Radu. “What is justice?” and “Who are the people behind the cases?” are the questions which will be answered by the film
Oamenii dreptății and by its protagonists, Iulia Georgescu and Theodor Ioniță, who will attend the Q&A. The teaching system is placed under a magnifying glass by the film
Profu’ and by the discussion with the director Alex Brendea. The screenings where the authors, protagonists or other guests will be present are marked in the program with the Q&Q sign.
This year the festival brings 12 special programmes, which are varying, complex and captivating, which fully engages the viewers, push them towards introspection and make them go out of the comfort zone:
The Family Camera,
Marriage, Sex and Beyond,
Unknown China,
DokStation,
Europa 30: Inbetweening,
Great Masters,
Sex work stories,
Power is feminine,
The legal system under the magnifying glass,
Videograme - Romania 1989,
Portrait Asen Balikci and
Special Screenings.
This year`s edition is completed by live musical performances (Adrian Naidin, Disco Sigaretta, Balkan Taksim, Om la lună and Ungo Visuals), the DocumentaryTank@AFF programme which includes the Astra Film Lab, a program for developing documentary projects, which brings to Sibiu around 50 specialists with international experience, event-meetings, such as “The Film Collector” with the film director
Andrei Ujică or “Astra Film: Life in Documentaries”, a discussion during which the legendary Peter Dale (Head of Documentary at the National Film and Television School in London) will talk about his prestigious career and his storytelling philosophy in the documentary.
“During its 26 years of existence, Astra Film Festival built such an international reputation, that many film auteurs want to come and show their films here, because they are charmed by the original programming, by the warmth with which the viewers receive the films, by the permanent flow of ideas and by the multicultural atmosphere from inside the former medieval city.
From the experience of the previous years, I can tell you that there are many established directors who came to Astra Film Festival first. That is the reason why it is important for you to see as many films possible from the generous program that we prepared. The official selection is full of films which have the power to enter the viewers` minds and to stay there forever.”
Dumitru Budrala, the Astra Film Festival founding director said.
Details:
Program Astra Film Sibiu
