The anniversary edition of the Astra Film Festival 30 will kick off on Sunday, October 15, in Sibiu, with a film-event presented in the world premiere in the work-in-progress version: “Meeting Zelenskiy”, by Warner Herzog (director) and André Singer (producer). The organizers have also prepared other surprises: films screened for the first time, masterclasses with notable personalities of the documentary, such as the famous Pablo D’Ambrosi, who worked with artists such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Adele or Shinead O’Connor, special exhibitions signed by Dan Perjovschi, Iulian Ignat or Dumitru Budrala, concerts, book launches and the long-awaited “teleportation” into the future of cinema, with immersive films and full-dome projections.
AFF2023 competitions and special programs will screen 130 documentary films, most of them premieres, and dozens of other cinematic events. For tickets and the full schedule: https://www.astrafilm.ro/ro/2023/program-orar
The film “Meeting Zelenskyy/Meeting Zelenskyy”, by Warner Herzog (director) and André Singer (producer), which follows Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarkable journey over 30 years since the declaration of Ukraine’s independence, will be screened at the opening of the festival (Sunday October 15, Sala Thalia) in the work-in-progress version. The event will take place in the presence of producer André Singer. After the film, there will be a debate moderated by writer, publicist and diplomat Emil Hurezeanu.
Another projection-event will be that of the documentary “Calea Laptelui/The Milky Way”, by Dumitru Budrala. The film, presented in the work-in-progress version, is about mountain people, about shepherding, transhumance and myths, about the journeys made by these keepers of millennial traditions.
“This Blessed Plot” (2023) is a recent film by the British director Marc Isaacs, where the dead and the living coexist and where the border between this world and the next can be easily crossed. The film “Bogotá Change”, by the Danish director Andreas Mol Dalsgaard, is a story about the metamorphosis of the capital of Colombia, once one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
The special guest of the program Masters – A life in documentary will be the director and producer André Singer, winner of the Emmy award this year. With a career spanning 50 years, André Singer has directed and produced hundreds of film and television documentaries and worked with world-class figures in the field, such as Jean Rouch, Mike Grigsby, DA Pennebaker, Robert Drew and Fred Wiseman.
The famous Pablo D’Ambrosi, who has worked with artists such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones or Oasis will hold a masterclass that offers a unique insight into the complex process that transforms raw footage into iconic documentaries.
Irena Taskovski, film consultant who has collaborations with HBO Europe and festivals all over the world, will show what are the steps to follow “from idea to screen”. For her part, Hermione Eftstratiades from Greece, who has over 40 projects and films that premiered at festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno or Tribeca, will hold a masterclass on project & film marketing.
Another long-awaited meeting is with filmmakers and anthropologists Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, who are part of the team of the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University. They will present their production “De Humanis Corporis Fabrica” (2022), made in five Parisian hospitals. The film depicts the human body as a fascinating landscape, brought to life by the gaze and attention of those around.
The post The Astra Film Festival kicks off with documentary about Volodymyr Zelensky, a world’s first appeared first on The Romania Journal.