Astra Film Festival, taking place between the 16th and 22nd of October 2017, is the main screening platform and a catalyst for the latest documentary film productions in Romania. The selection of Romanian documentaries within the 2017 AFF programme is divided into 3 competitive sections: Romania, Student, Shorts. 

The fellowship of filmmakers, or the Romanian documentary filmmakers invite you in Sibiu to a broad professional programme: DocumentaryTank@AFF (19th -21st of October), a platform dedicated to the film industry that will bring local and European filmmakers to Sibiu for 3 days of networking, masterclass sessions and presentations about the new trends in the documentary film production and distribution. Romanian Docs in Progress (21st of October) is also part of this programme, where the authors of 16 ongoing documentary film projects will be there to meet the representatives of the European industry. 6 Romanian directors will present their ongoing documentary film projects before a jury, the local audience and international professionals. The winning teams will receive post-production awards and other forms of support in order to complete their documentaries.

“The fact that a Romanian documentary film project which developed last year within the “Romanian Docs in Progress” programme is selected in the competition proves that this programme has a favorable effect on the expansion of a documentary film industry in Romania. Furthermore, the film will have the world premiere at Astra Film Festival, marking a turning point in the festival phenomenon in Romania” - stated Dumitru Budrala, the director of AFF.

The camera of documentary filmmakers analyzes Romania, questions its past and reveals unexplored issues. In 2017, Romania is a world leader in the video chat and cybersex market, making a profit of over 100 million euros. Numbers speak of the scale of this type of job: the business thrives in 3,000 studios, where 100,000 young women attracted by a big income offer their services. In its first run, Phoenixxx (Mihai Gavril Dragolea), a poignant and open documentary, introduces us to the world of two young women and their lives outside video chat, with their daily routines, family environment and the prospects for the future.

Documentary filmmakers have taught us how to see and re-discover a different facet of what we thought we knew, by changing our point of view and selection. Filmmaker Radu Jude in The Dead Nation, a stinging film through its minimalistic depth, made of purposely tame archive images, illustrates fragments of a Jewish doctor’s journal, describing the Romanians’ anti-Semitic actions between 1930 and 1940, and strikes a deep chord by reviewing the national myth of Romanians not being anti-Semitic. Guided by the prospects of self-taught massage therapists of the resort, we discover the micro-universe of Baile Herculane falling into a perpetual post-communist decline (I am Hercules, Marius Iacob), or the coal-mining town of Petrila, seen through the eyes of remarkable locals and illustrating the success of miner Catalin Cenusa and artist Ion Barbu (Planet Petrila, Andrei Dăscălescu). Or the micro-universe of a family of Kalderash Roma people from the village of Corcova, Mehedinti County in The last Kalderash (Cosmin Bumbuț, Elena  Stancu) caught between the traditional work on the brink of disappearance and the migration to the West as a survival alternative. The portrait of a woodworker from Maramures, A film less happy, more sad, poetical and wise (Cornel Mihalache) is a collage of the life and thoughts of a native storyteller. The side street of Europe (Emese Ambrus) is a road-movie around Transylvania, a glimpse into the Hungarian diaspora, offering a double perspective on these villages and a woman’s struggle to make it as an actress. In The trial (Claudiu Mitcu), Mihai Moldoveanu, a former army officer sentenced to 25 years in prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit, presents his case and offers the viewer the position of a juryman in a complex and controversial case. Romania, the great spring clean (Ruxandra Annonier) presents characters involved in the fight against corruption in Romania, both at institutional level and within NGOs.

You can find the full list of Romanian documentaries selected in the 2017 AFF programme at www.astrafilm.ro.

 

Astra Film Festival 2017 is organized by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation 
With the support of Sibiu County Council, the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, the European Union – through the Creative Europe-Media programme and the National Centre for Cinematography 
Co-financed by Sibiu Local Council through Sibiu City Hall
In collaboration with Lucian Blaga University
Partners: Romanian Cultural Institute, UCIN – Romanian Filmmakers Union, Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sibiu, Cinetic, Refresh
Digital partner: Urby
Title sponsor: Construcții SA
Sponsors: Romgaz, Electrica, Banca Transilvania, Takata, Aqua Carpatica, Happy City, HBO, Cinelab
Car of the festival: Toyota
Media partners: TVR, Europa FM, HotNews, Revista 22, VICE, Revista Timpul, Transilvania Reporter, Cineuropa, Film New Europe, Radio România Cultural, Radio România Actualități, Radio Cluj, Radio Antena Sibiului, Radio Târgu Mureș, RFI România, Cinemagia, LiterNet, CineFan, Sub25, All About Romanian Cinema, Cooperativa Urbană, ÎnFestival, Recorder, Iqads, Filmtett, Zile și Nopți, Tribuna, Turnul Sfatului, Sibiu 100%, Eveniment TV, Ora de Sibiu

GDYNIA: Jagoda Szelc’s debut feature Tower. A Bright Day will vie in the main competition of the 42nd Gdynia Film Festival (18-23 September 2017). The film is a psychological thriller produced Indeks Film Studio, a production company working in the framework of the Lodz Film School.

The Border Gate Award is a distinction bestowed by the organizers of Regiofund Forum upon distinguished film producers. The Award is presented to producers who think and act outside of the box, whose experiments and searches result in novel approaches and surprising discoveries. Border Gate’s previous recipients include Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Piotr Dzięcioł, and Simon Chinn. This October it will be presented to Michał Kwieciński. The Award always takes shape of a personalized statuette, made distinctly for the laureate.

23d International Short Film Festival in Drama

Three promising central and eastern European films will spread their wings at the dok.incubator preview 2017, hosted at Nordisk Panorama in Malmö, Sweden.

Mari Gulbiani’s Before Father Gets Back (GE, FR, DE), which has been presented at East Doc Platform in Prague, depicts a quiet Georgian village, infested by radicalism, where two teenage girls are united in their longing for their fathers who have left for Syria. Through the magic of cinema, they can escape their desperation and the light from the projector inspires them to seize a camera themselves, and begin to document their own harsh reality.

Worked to exhaustion. No bed to sleep in. Fed only leftovers. Bernadett Tuza-Ritta’s harrowing documentary A Woman Captured (HU, DE) uncovers the horrifying reality of Marish: one of the 45 million victims of modern day slavery. However, despite the brutal treatment she faces at the hands of her oppressors, her spirit refuses to be crushed and her determination to reclaim her life, and her freedom, is unwavering.

The elusive Olympic gold is all Margarita Mamun has ever dreamed of, but what sacrifices must she make to achieve her dream? Marta Prus’ intimate drama Over the Limit (PL, DE, FI) follows the elite Russian rhythmic gymnast as she struggles to balance her own personal life with the rigid expectations of her trainers. The documentary paints a mesmerising portrait of a young athlete, precariously poised on the narrow bar between success and failure.

Before Father Gets Back, A Woman Captured and Over the Limit will debut at the dok.incubator preview 2017, a prestigious showcase of eight documentaries  hosted at Nordisk Panorama in Malmö, Sweden. Throughout the last five months, the teams have been developing their projects at dok.incubator, a well-established, international rough-cut documentary workshop based in Prague. In addition to the dramaturgy, the producers have devised personalised distribution and marketing strategies for the films’ upcoming releases.

The domino effect from these successes opens the door for other central and eastern European filmmakers to step into the spotlight. Three films from the previous dok.incubator preview premiered at IDFA, two at Sundance, and two have been selected for nomination for the European Film Academy Award. The preview on 24th September in Malmö will be one of the final opportunities to meet the filmmakers and examine the projects before the fledgling films fly the nest and head to prestigious international festivals.

For more information and the profiles of the presented films, follow this link to: http://dokincubator.net/selected-projects-2017/

Follow the preview event on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1879474675651111/