“FOREST” WINS AT ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL
The documentary directed by Lidia Duda won the competition section presenting documents from Central and Eastern Europe.
The Astra Film Festival is one of the most prestigious documentary film festivals in Central and Eastern Europe, taking place annually in the Romanian city of Sibiu. The festival focuses on presenting documentary films that tackle vital social, political, and cultural themes, while also promoting filmmakers from the region and the rest of the globe. Its program includes competitive screenings, retrospectives, panel discussions, workshops, and director Q&As, enabling audiences to gain deeper insights into the presented stories. For years, the Astra Film Festival has supported documentary cinema and serves as an important exchange platform for industry professionals. With its unique atmosphere and wide-ranging subject matter, it attracts both local audiences and international film enthusiasts.
The awarded film Forest by Lidia Duda tells the story of Asia and Marek, a couple who bought an old house near Poland's eastern border in the Białowieża Forest, Europe's oldest forest. It’s their little paradise – a place for their children to grow up far away from the troubles of the modern world. For Marysia, Ignacy, and Franek the forest is like a second home – familiar and safe. But one day their forest changes. Strangers show up. Outsiders… refugees. Unwanted both in Poland and in Belarus. Against the law, the family starts helping them. You can’t leave other human beings without help, can you? The children’s world changes drastically. They no longer play knights and princesses, but refugees and border patrols. Big politics knocks at their door, and nothing is the same as it was before.
The list of all awarded films has been posted here.