After the opening night with sold-out screenings and an audience of thousands of people, Astra Film Festival 2019 continues until Sunday, 20 October, with a busy schedule including top films, Q&A sessions, debates, event-meetings with the legends of documentary filmmaking and live concerts.
This year, Astra Film Festival launches a new series of special events:”Astra Film: Life in Documentaries”and the first guest in this series is the legendary Peter Dale, Head of Documentary at the world-renowned National Film and Television School in London. Over 40 years of artistic success will be presented during a discussion between Peter Dale and Liviu Tipuriță. The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 17, 5 PM, at Hub - Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu and the audience is encouraged to get involved and ask questions.
”The Film Collector”focuses on Andrei Ujică, Romanian filmmaker, known and appreciated all around the world. To collect means to create your personal universe.What are the films most cherished by the Romanian director? We will find out by meeting him on Friday, 18 October, 5 PM, at the Glass Hall of Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu. His film, ”Videograms of a Revolution”, will be screened from 7:30 PM at Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu followed by a discussion with the audience at the end of the documentary.
Hidden secrets from the sensible corners of marriage, love and sex are revealed in the thematic programme called “Marriage, Sex and Beyond”. The film ”Heartbound”steps behind the scenes of the marriage industry that links the lives of Thai women with those of Danish men. The screening of this documentary will take place on Wednesday, 16 October, 5:30 PM, at Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu and it will be followed by a discussion with director Janus Metz. “School of Seduction” will also be screened on Wednesday, 9:30 PM, in the same venue, a film that goes inside the classrooms of a school of seduction where young women are trained to find a husband that will offer them a better life.
Three films from the thematic programme “Sex Work Stories” move the emphasis from shock and disgust to understanding and empathy when dealing with people whose sexual explorations know no boundaries. The stories of seven Romanian sex workers and one star of gay erotic movies are presented in the films ”Blue Boy” and ”Until Porn Do Us Part”, which will be screened on Thursday, 17 October, 8 PM, at Cinema Ion Besoiu – Large Hall, followed by a Q&A session with producer Bogdan Georgescu. One of the most popular gay pornstars presents his taboo-career but also his relationship with his mother in the film ”Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life” that will be screened on Friday, 18 October, 9 PM, at Cinema Ion Besoiu – Large Hall, followed by a Q&A session with the protagonist’s mother who will be in Sibiu for the screening.
Depicting the combination of a controversial subject and a unique style of filmmaking, “Shooting the Mafia” directedby Kim Longinotto, one of the leading voices in British documentary, is a captivating film that adopts a totally different perspective on the Sicilian Mafia. The documentary included in the thematic programme “Great Masters” will be screened on Saturday, 19 October, 5 PM, at Cinema Ion Besoiu – Large Hall.
A series of live music performances will delight the festival audience: on Wednesday, 16 October, from9:30 PM, Disco Sigaretta will performin the lobby of Cinema Ion Besoiu; on Thursday, 17 October, from9:30 PM, at the Dome in the Large Square, Ungo Visualswill hold a spectacular immersive party andafter11 PMthe music will play at Hub - Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu, on the rhythms of Balkan Taksim; on Saturday, 19 October, after the AFF 2019 Awards, Om la lună will play on the stage of Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu.
You can find the complete festival programme here: https://www.astrafilm.ro/en/program/
Tickets for AFF 2019 can be purchased online: https://eventbook.ro/festival/astra-film-festival
Astra Film Festival Sibiu is held under the High Patronage of the Romanian Presidency.
Astra Film Festival 2019 is coordinated by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation, with the support of the Sibiu County Council, the Ministry of Culture and National Identity and the National Center of Cinematography. The event is co-financed by the Sibiu Local Council through the City Hall of Sibiu.
