Astra Film Festival continues online with AF Online until November 9, documentary lovers across Romania can enjoy a selection of films from AFF2025. Details: https://online.astrafilm.ro.
The best films in the Romania Competition
Ten films competed in the official selection of the Romania Competition. Each screening drew full audiences, many followed by engaging Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. Two films ultimately received top distinctions.
The Astra Film Award for Best Romanian Documentary, offered by Voyo, went to Still Nia by Paula Oneț. Jury motivation: “The documentary has the courage to look at trauma with honesty, in a culture still learning how to deal with it. The film turns a heavy story into a gentle, sensorial journey, creating a safe space where the viewer can immerse, reflect, and heal.”
Director Paula Oneț dedicated her award to Ștefania, the protagonist of the documentary, from whom she learned that “the healing process is a winding one, and it’s okay to accept that we’re all a little torn on the inside.”
Director Andra MacMasters (Bright Future) received the Best Directing Award in the Romania Competition. Jury motivation: “The director finds empathetic ways to reinterpret the past, challenging us to see the present differently, recalling youth as a force of resilience. The jury appreciates the film’s elaborate and original process of bringing forgotten historical images to life, celebrating the vision of an overlooked filmmaker. Through poetic collage and polyphony, the director turns memory into dialogue.” The award, offered by DACIN SARA, was presented by Copel Moscu.
“This is a film about peace and about young people who believe it is the greatest ideal of humankind,” said director Andra MacMasters, who dedicated the award to videographer Emilian Urse, “a great teacher without whom this film would not have existed.”
Winners of the International Competition
The Emerging Voices Competition featured nine films from countries such as Lebanon, Paraguay, Ireland, Cuba, Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Croatia. The Astra Film Award for Best Documentary, offered by Astra Film and presented by State Secretary Koppány Bulcsú Ötvös, went to Kabul, Between Prayers (The Netherlands, 2025), directed by Aboozar Amini. Jury motivation: “A nuanced portrayal of a world difficult to access and understand. The director approaches the story with complete openness and no moral judgment. Through strikingly beautiful cinematography, the film provides both a sensorial and sensual experience, while being profoundly moving.”
“The mountains around Sibiu remind me of Kabul,” said director Aboozar Amini, adding that he hopes one day to make a joyful film about Afghanistan “about the vitality, openness, and hospitality of its people. But the wounds of war run deep. After more than 40 years of conflict, there’s still a long road to recovery.”
The Best Director Award in the same section went to David Bim, for To the West, in Zapata (Cuba, 2025). The prize, offered by the Romanian Cultural Institute, was presented by writer Florin Iaru. Jury motivation: “Shot in black and white, the film is composed of long observational takes with minimal author intervention. It works as a window into an unknown world, in which the two halves balance each other rhythmically, humanly, imaginatively, and dramaturgically. The director’s warm and deeply human approach creates a harmonious fusion between landscapes and faces, as if they become one. The characters become the world, and the world becomes the characters.”
In a heartfelt, energetic acceptance speech, David Bim compared documentary filmmaking to writing haiku poetry, something that “requires putting everything on the table.” “Haiku poets teach me that talent is not what matters, and I’m not even talented. What you need is passion, faith, and availability. (…) The main instrument of your work must be life itself, and the best thing that can happen after finishing a film that shows truth and reality is to no longer exist for the audience. Once you’ve done your work, you’re no longer important. You were only an instrument. (…) It’s not the filmmakers who matter, the film matters, and you matter, good people.”
Eastern Europe Competition
Ten productions from Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Estonia competed in the Eastern Europe Competition. The award, offered by the German Consulate and presented by Consul Wiebke Oeser, went to My Dear Théo (Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic – 2025), directed by Alisa Kovalenko. Jury motivation: “A documentary about courage and personal sacrifice. The love for family and country drives the director to risk her life on the front line. The film is a diary, a testimony, and a love letter from a mother to her son, who longs to live in a free and peaceful country.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be in Sibiu,” said Alisa Kovalenko in a video message from Ukraine. “This award means so much to me and my country, Ukraine, especially at a time when we are witnessing attacks on civilians and bombed kindergartens. I hope all our children can grow up in a free country, without having to hide from bombs.”
DocSchool and DocShort Competitions
In the DocSchool Competition, the jury had to choose among ten titles vying for the award offered by Fundația 9 | BRD, in memory of Vintilă Mihăilescu, a dear friend of the festival. The winner: God’s Other Plan by Moritz Mueller-Preisser. Jury motivation: “A remarkable visual portrait of a modern family. Through the story of complex and evolving characters, the director tells a personal story about breaking away from traditional life structures to make the most of one’s existence and care for loved ones in chosen circumstances. With creative storytelling and dramaturgical precision, this deeply engaging observation of a particular family becomes universal in its message. In today’s divided world, the film stands as a moving example of overcoming division through acceptance, care, and, ultimately, love.”
In his remarks, Moritz Mueller-Preisser emphasized the importance of always seeing both sides of a conflict, since “reality isn’t just black and white, it’s somewhere in between; it’s somehow colorful.”
A new addition to this year’s program, the DocShort Competition featured ten short documentaries. The award, offered by the Romanian Filmmakers’ Union (UCIN), went to 67 Milliseconds, directed by Fleury Fontaine, “for the innovative and fluid integration of technology into the narrative process, opening new perspectives for investigative documentary storytelling,” as stated by the jury. In his brief acceptance speech, co-director Galdric Fleury expressed joy and gratitude, saying he was glad the film “can be seen anywhere in the world, and the voices of the victims can be heard.”
About Astra Film Festival
Founded in 1993, Astra Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in Romania and one of the most prestigious non-fiction events in Europe. It is included on the European Film Academy Short List, with the right to nominate films directly for the European Film Awards. AFF is a strategic cultural project of the Ministry of Culture, organized by Astra Film, CNM Astra, and the Astra Film Foundation, held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, co-funded by the Sibiu City Hall, and supported by the Sibiu County Council.
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Festival Coffee: Amor Perfecto
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