The programme also includes screenings in the thematic programmes, followed by DocTalk and InspirăDoc discussions, as well as concerts, exhibitions and special events.
The festival’s 12 thematic sections are: When injustice is the system; Places that make us, places that erase us; Sister gaze; War under the skin; Shift your perspective!; Some protest, while others make changes themselves; Fathers and sons; Can we heal transgenerational trauma?; No guide to adult life; Living Mountain; Women hold the world together; and AI Invasion.
Astra Film Junior, the first and largest documentary film education programme in Romania, will also continue this year. Students are invited to discover the world through authentic stories carefully selected for different age groups. This year, too, a large number of the films selected for AFF2026 will be available to watch online across Romania as part of the Astra Film Online programme.
Founded in 1993, Astra Film Festival is Romania’s longest-running documentary film festival and one of Europe’s major events dedicated to non-fiction cinema. The festival is included by the European Film Academy among the festivals entitled to make direct nominations for the European Film Awards.
Astra Film Festival is a strategic cultural project of the Ministry of Culture, organised by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation. The festival is held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, co-funded by the Sibiu City Hall and it is supported by the Sibiu County Council. Institutional partners include the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), UNATC, the Romanian Filmmakers Union (UCIN), Sibiu State Philharmonic, DRRM, and Dacin Sara.
Romania Competition:
Something Familiar / Atât de familiar (Romania, United Kingdom)
Directed by Rachel Taparjan
Lenin’s Pawn / Pionul lui Lenin (Romania, Republic of Moldova)
Directed by Dragoș Turea
A Forest Once Stood Here! / Aici a fost o pădure (Romania)
Directed by Valentin Anghel
A Train Passes Every Day and It Never Stops / În fiecare zi trece același tren și nu se oprește niciodată (Romania)
Directed by Vlad Petri
Cabbage, Potatoes and Other Demons. After 10 Years / Varză, cartofi și alți demoni. După 10 ani (Romania)
Directed by Șerban Georgescu
How to Talk to Lydia / Cum să vorbești cu Lydia (Georgia, Germany)
Directed by Rusudan Gaprindashvili
So Long Since I’ve Known a Spring / N-am mai simțit de mult o primăvară (Germany, Romania)
Directed by Alexandra Bidian
The Exported: The Dark Trade of the Cold War (France)
Directed by Pierre Goetschel
The Line / Rândul (Romania, the Netherlands)
Directed by Andreea Dumitriu
Central and Eastern European Competition:
80 Angry Journalists (Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway)
Directed by András Földes, Anna Kis
Closure (Poland, France)
Directed by Michał Marczak
Imago (France, Belgium)
Directed by Déni Oumar Pitsaev
Last Letters from My Grandma / Ultimele scrisori ale bunicii (Romania, Republic of Moldova, Belgium, the Netherlands)
Directed by Olga Lucovnicova
The Spies among Us (USA)
Directed by Jamie Coughlin Silverman, Gabriel Silverman
To Hold a Mountain / Planina (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia)
Directed by Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić
A Fire There (Canada)
Directed by Marlene Edoyan
Here, Elsewhere (Belgium)
Directed by Comes Chahbazian
Steps in Silence (Azerbaijan, Poland)
Directed by Fariz Ahmadov
Traces (Ukraine, Poland)
Directed by Alisa Kovalenko, Marysia Nikitiuk
Emerging Voices of Documentary Film Competition:
Confessions of a Swedish Man (Sweden)
Directed by Hampus Linder
From Dawn to Dawn (Spain, France)
Directed by Xisi Sofia Ye Chen
If Pigeons Turned to Gold (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Directed by Pepa Lubojacki
Confessions of a Mole (China, Poland)
Directed by Mo Tan
Days of Wonder (Finland, Denmark, Norway)
Directed by Karin Pennanen
Silent Flood (Czech Republic)
Directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
Techplomacy (Denmark)
Directed by Susanne Kovács
The Golden Swan (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands)
Directed by Anette Ostrø
Where the Silence Is Heard (Chile, Spain)
Directed by Gabriela Pena, Picho García
Birds of War (United Kingdom, Syria, Lebanon)
Directed by Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Click HERE to see the films selected in the DocSchool Competition.
Click HERE for more information about the official competitions, HERE to find more about the thematic sections, and HERE for information regarding Astra Film Junior.
