Romanian film review – Astra winning docs & F-Sides cineclub

Romania’s biggest film event, Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is currently happening in Cluj-Napoca. Its busiest section is the Romanian Film Days, to which not only locals professionals flock but most foreign guests. This is where the fest bursts and not much of relevance happens elsewhere. Stay tuned for more on it next week. If you cannot make it, no need to be sad, the festival usually goes on tour later in the summer (keep an eye on their website). And I am happy to recommend alternatives to pass the time until then.

Another major festival, this time focusing on documentaries, often from an anthropological angle, is the wonderful Astra Film Festival. Its slot is in October and this month they are showing one of the last edition’s wining films every Thursday. This week, it is Nikoloz Bezhanishvili’s The Northeast Winds, an insightful look at Stalin’s birth city of Gori in Georgia, and the removal of his statue from the main square in 2010. The director observes the reactions with kindness, humour and most of all without judgement. You can find all details on the Astra Facebook page.

I have written before about F-Sides, a female gaze cineclub, happening once a month, now in more cities than Bucharest. The screenings are accompanied by a discussion with the filmmakers or an expert on the topic in case. The current event will happen on June 23 in Timișoara, on June 26 in Bucharest, and on June 30 in Cluj-Napoca. Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding was such a massive success in 2001 when it premiered, and has reached cult status since then. A vibrant, bustling movie about wedding celebrations in Delhi, India, it is also a warm and sharp take on tradition and modernity, class, and gender relations. But most of all it is joyful and funny. A perfect summer movie.

Photo info & credit: F-Sides Cineclub on Facebook