Documentary Projects Shortlist

This series portrays Moldova, where Europe and Russia intersect, caught between past and future. For more than a year, Alessandro Grassani documented this geopolitically divided nation, where 50.46 per cent of people voted in favour of EU integration and 49.54 per cent voted against, revealing deep fractures and reported Russian interference. Grassani used a combination of digital equipment to capture images that freeze the movement of subjects and expired photographic film from the 1990s – a decade marked by the USSR’s collapse – to capture panoramic landscapes. These ethereal images, which required long exposures, were taken along the Dniester River, which separates Moldova from the breakaway state of Transnistria, symbolising both a physical and temporal rupture. A silent witness to Moldova’s frozen conflict with Transnistria, and its broader struggle with Russia, the expired film became a bridge between past and present, echoing an unresolved history.

Alessandro Grassani is a photographer and visual journalist specializing in long-term documentaries. From 2003 to 2009, he covered major events in Iran, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories, including Yasser Arafat's funeral and Israel's "Summer Rain" military operation. His work explores climate change’s social impact and the rekindled East-West divide. Featured in The New York Times and TIME, his photography has earned global recognition and awards.