From October 19 to 23, the second session of Ex Oriente Features 2025 will unfold in Sibiu – marking the first time this workshop takes place at Astra Film Festival, one of the leading showcases for creative documentary cinema.
After the kick-off in Sheffield, the eleven selected feature documentary projects – Not so far away places, My Dear Vira, Total Mess, Shape of Silence, Children of the Moon Land, Dance with Me, I had a Dream about an Elephant, Symphony of Seasons, Dekonstrukt, VESNA FOREVER VESNA and House in a Bottle – will continue refining their narratives, visual approaches, and production strategies, building towards the final pitching at the East Doc Forum in Prague next spring.
Photos from the first session of Ex Oriente Features by Kyle Patterson
Meet the tutors
Participants will continue developing their projects under the guidance of leading tutors Gitte Hansen, a highly respected mentor and executive producer with extensive international experience from IDFA to Nordisk Panorama; Filip Remunda, award-winning director and co-founder of the Institute of Documentary Film and Hypermarket Film, recognized for impactful titles like Czech Dream; Ivana Pauerová Miloševičová, co-founder of the Institute of Documentary Film, director with a focus on politically and socially engaged documentaries and Head of Documentaries at Czech Television; Diana El Jeiroudi, acclaimed filmmaker and co-founder of DOX BOX, whose work bridges artistic vision and industry activism with credits like Republic of Silence and 5 Seasons of Revolution; and Christian Popp, producer with more than 40 films to his name, former ARTE commissioning editor, and longtime mentor across Europe’s leading doc platforms.
For each session, we invite guest tutors relevant to the stage and focus of the workshop. At the Astra Film Festival, the line-up is particularly strong. Contributing their expertise will be: Niels Pagh Andersen, an award-winning editor of over 250 films including The Look of Silence, Emma Davie, documentary filmmaker and BAFTA-winning director who teaches at Edinburgh College of Art, Salomé Jashi, a Georgian filmmaker awarded at multiple international festivals for The Dazzling Light of Sunset, Christilla Huillard-Kahn, producer and CEO of Elda Productions, known for supporting socially engaged documentaries with strong artistic visions with past experience as deputy director at Radio France and commissioning editor at ARTE France, Jan Gogola jr., Czech director and script editor known for his reflective approach to everyday life, Stefan Rüll, Berlin-based attorney specialized in film and media law, and Stephan Riguet, founder of the international sales company AndanaFilms, representing independent documentaries worldwide.
Programme
The workshop program will offer participants a variety of masterclasses, lectures, and practical sessions. For example, it will include Niels Pagh Andersen’s masterclass on tricks and methods in the exciting process of cutting documentary films, Salomé Jashi reflecting on the poetic and political dimensions of Taming the Garden, Christilla Huillard-Kann exploring international co-production strategies, Emma Davie discussing how to discover a film’s unique narrative DNA, Filip Remunda guiding participants through the making of Happiness to All, and Stephan Riguet sharing insights on documentary sales and distribution. The program will also feature lectures on the film industries of Romania and Moldova, as well as screenings of selected works by the tutors. If you are attending Astra IFF and have an industry accreditation, you will be able to join the open programme, which can be found here.
About Astra Film Festival
Astra Film Festival – the Sibiu International Festival for Documentary Film – is a major event in the European community of documentary film. The Festival is a meeting point for documentary filmmakers from all over the world, promotes the production of quality non-fiction film in Romania and in the region. AFF is dedicated to showing realities of our world as perceived and interpreted by committed creative documentary filmmakers, and to facilitating open debates with the audience, as well as among professionals. The festival has four competition sections: International for documentaries made outside Europe; European for docs about Europe; Romanian for docs about Romania, and Student Docs.
This edition is possible thanks to our donors: Creative Europe MEDIA, Ministry of Culture Czech Republic and the Czech Audiovisual Fund.
