26/10/2020 - Films from France, Germany and Poland were also among the award winners at the online iteration of the Romanian gathering

After a ten-day, open-air edition in September, the Astra Film Festival, Romania’s biggest documentary gathering, enticed documentary lovers again with a rich selection for its online edition (16-25 October), which also showcased the festival’s traditional competitions, New Voices in Documentary Cinema, and the Central and Eastern European Competition. The top award of the 27^th edition of the gathering went to Sine Skibsholt's Long Live Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Denmark).

The jury, consisting of Italian programmer Federico d’Accinni, Finnish author Ilona Hongisto and Romanian programmer Andrei Tănăsescu, praised Long Live Love for being an “imaginative coming-of-age story, where everyday footage and family archive material turn into the empowering story of a young woman with a lust for life”. The jury also gave a Special Mention to Éléonore Weber’s There Will Be No More Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France), deeming it “a subtle and compelling look at war and the power of vision”.

In the Central and Eastern European Competition, the top award went to Luisa Bäde's As Long As You Still Have Arms [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Germany). “We give the prize to this poetic film for its formal originality and for addressing the complex question of how we relate to our past,” said the jury, consisting of German festival organiser Samay Claro, Russian director Ksenia Okhapkina, and French visual artist and author Julia Varga.

The jury also gave a Special Mention to Maksim Shved's Pure Art [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Poland/Belarus) for the compelling way in which it explores “the tension of two opposite trends having to co-exist: the natural human desire for freedom and a life in harmony, and the fear not to overstep the rules enforced by a totalitarian society”.

Furthermore, three documentary projects pitched in the context of DokTank, Astra’s industry platform, received awards. They were Don’t Worry, Sari! by Sari Haragonics (Hungary), The Wedding Operation by Daniel Barnuti (Romania/Germany) and Lost and Found by Laurenţiu Garofeanu (Romania/Canada).

Here is the full list of awards given out at the 2020 Astra Film Festival:

New Voices in Documentary Cinema Competition

First Prize
Long Live Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sine Skibsholt (Denmark)
Special Mention
There Will Be No More Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Eléonore Weber (France)

Central and Eastern European Competition

First Prize
As Long As You Still Have Arms [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Luisa Bäde (Germany)
Special Mention
Pure Art [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Maksim Shved (Poland/Belarus)

Industry awards

Development Award, offered by HBO
Don’t Worry, Sari! - Sari Haragonics (Hungary)

Post-Production Award, offered by CineLab Romania
The Wedding Operation - Daniel Barnuti (Romania/Germany)

Project Boost Award, offered by Pitch the Doc
Lost and Found - Laurenţiu Garofeanu (Romania/Canada)