| THE GRAND PRIZE AT THE ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL (29.10.2007) |
| (2007-10-29) |
| Last updated: 2007-10-30 15:17 EET |
Romanian-born director Dan Alexe’s film “Cabal in Kabul” has won the Grand Prize of the 9th Astra Film Festival held in Sibiu, central Romania, considered the most important documentary film festival in Eastern Europe. The film gives you an insight into life in Afghanistan, after the toppling of the Taliban regime, as seen by the last two Jews left in the capital Kabul. The prize is the first reward that the Romanian director settled in Belgium for 20 years now receives in his native country. This recognition is all the more important as the director had a great deal of bad luck while shooting the film. He spent three years alongside his characters, learning their language and making the film proper, but then the film rolls were stolen.
So, he went back to Kabul on his own and started shooting the film again; he managed to capture the last moments in the life of one of his characters. At that time, Alexe was a correspondent of Radio Free Europe, but he had to work for a local radio too. The jury of the Astra Film Festival thus explained their decision, quote: ” The documentary approach to reality, the detailed outlining of two powerful portraits and the maintenance of balance, given the dramatic circumstances, all this makes the film deserve the Grand Prize.” unquote. “ Cabal in Kabul” has so far been screened at the Man’s Museum Festival in Paris, because as the director explains, quote “both its subject and its approach are very unconventional and that is why, it has been refused many times.” end of quote. Next month, the film will also be screened at the Documentary Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
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2025-04-03
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