Young filmmakers enjoy unique opportunities during the Astra Film Festival (Sibiu, October 20-27), which turned 31 this year. Romanian and European directors and producers, who have film projects in development, receive the guidance and expertise of industry specialists, within the DocTank program. And film students from universities in the country, as well as from prestigious universities abroad, participate this year, for the first time, in a training program, DocStudent Hub.
Mentored within Dok Tank. PHOTO: Astra Film
AFF2024 dedicates a special program to an absolutely outstanding filmmaker, artist and theorist, Trinh T. Minh-ha, this edition’s guest of honor, which will be accessible to both industry specialists and the general public.
Astra Film Doc Tank
Eight film projects were selected this year at the Astra Film Festival to be developed within the DocTank program, dedicated to the documentary film industry. The films, which are in various stages of development or production, will receive both the expertise and guidance of industry specialists as well as financial support to bring them to completion. The selected projects belong to directors and producers from Romania (four documentaries, one made in co-production with France), the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary. The DocTank program has been implemented within the AFF since 2016 and aims to encourage the development of the Romanian and European documentary film industry.
Astra DocTank Awards 2024
At the end of the program, four prizes will be awarded. The program also includes individual mentoring sessions, attended by three tutors, international experts in the documentary film industry: director Jorge Léon from Belgium (Directing tutor), producer Olivier Sertić from Croatia (Production tutor) and Dimitra Kouzi, communication consultant and producer from Greece (Marketing tutor). Information on the list of selected films and the full DocTank2024 program can be consulted here
Astra DocTank Emerging Voices Award presented by VOYO. The prize offered by VOYO for the most promising Romanian project includes a development agreement and the sum of 5,000 euros. Chiansaw Europe Studio Award. The award includes post-production services for DCP colorization and mastering worth €5,000 Raina Festival Consultancy Award. Award consisting of consultation and analysis regarding film festival entry. East Silver Market Award by the Institute of Documentary Film. It’s an award that includes selection for East Silver Market 2025 and two team credentials.
Focus Trinh T. Minh-ha: Intervals of endurance
This year, Astra Film Festival dedicates a special program to an absolutely outstanding filmmaker, artist and theorist, Trinh T. Minh-ha, the guest of honor of this edition. AFF2024 audiences will be able to watch three of his films, namely Reassemblage (1982), Shoot for the Contents (1991) and What About China? (2022), and will be able to participate in a Q&A session and masterclass: “Focus Trinh T. Minh-ha: Intervals of Resistance” – designed to highlight his radical approach to documentary.
Born in Hanoi and immigrated to the US in 1970, Trinh has redefined the ways in which we understand the concepts of identity, representation and power since the early 1980s, especially in the context of marginalized female collective voices originating in the Global South. Her best-known texts—such as the book Woman, Native, Other (1989)—have played key roles in the history of feminism and post-colonial studies, formulating a nuanced critique of the totalitarian gaze and optics.
DocStudent Hub
Astra Film Festival dedicates a training program exclusively to film students from Romania and Europe. They will have the opportunity to take part in workshops, masterclasses and practical activities in the field of art, production and distribution of the documentary film. Students and professors from five prestigious universities from Prague, Zagreb, Vilnius, Bratislava, Zlin, as well as Babeș-Bolyai University from Cluj will participate. They will also participate as observers in the pitching sessions of the Doc Tank industry program. Presented for the first time, the DocStudent Hub program is developed by the National University of Theater and Cinematography “IL Caragiale” from Bucharest and Astra Film Festival.
