Biography
Astrid Menzel, born in 1985 in Hamburg, Germany, studied directing at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (ESTC) in Lisbon, Portugal. She gained practical experience as an assistant director on Jonas Rothlaender's feature film "Fado" (2016), which was shot in Lisbon. Menzel's short film "Nicht im Traum" ("Unlike Today", 2018), about an aging couple who refuse to acknowledge their physical and mental decline, screened at festivals around the world and received numerous awards, including the Film Promotion Prize of the Minister of the Arts at Filmfest Dresden, the Audience Award at the Independent Film Festival Osnabrück, and the Best Foreign Short Film Award at the Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles, USA.
In her first feature-length documentary, "Blauer Himmel Weiße Wolken" ("Blue Sky White Clouds"), Menzel recorded an adventurous two-week canoe trip with her brother and their 86-year-old grandmother, who has dementia, to explore how they could provide future care for her. The film made its debut at DOK Leipzig 2022, where it received the Young Eyes Film Award. It was released in theaters in May 2023.