by Cláudio Alves
Michel Hazanavicius joins the Official Competition with an animated film.
As expected, a few more titles have been added to this year's Cannes Film Festival lineup. In the Premiere section, Jessica Palud's Maria Schneider biopic joins a star-studded selection. One of this year's two Count of Monte-Cristo adaptations will screen Out of Competition, while a pair of buzzy documentaries will bow in the Special Screenings program. They are Oliver Stone's Lula and Lou Ye's An Unfinished Film. Other new titles in that section include Arnaud Desplechin's latest Paul Dedalus film and Nasty, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu. But of course, the most important announcements concern the Main Competition, where three films complete the 22-title lineup…...
Michel Hazanavicius joins the Official Competition with an animated film.
As expected, a few more titles have been added to this year's Cannes Film Festival lineup. In the Premiere section, Jessica Palud's Maria Schneider biopic joins a star-studded selection. One of this year's two Count of Monte-Cristo adaptations will screen Out of Competition, while a pair of buzzy documentaries will bow in the Special Screenings program. They are Oliver Stone's Lula and Lou Ye's An Unfinished Film. Other new titles in that section include Arnaud Desplechin's latest Paul Dedalus film and Nasty, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu. But of course, the most important announcements concern the Main Competition, where three films complete the 22-title lineup…...
- 4/23/2024
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Oliver Stone is unveiling his long-awaited documentary “Lula” at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Stone filmed the documentary about thrice-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that encompasses the ruler’s incarceration between 2018 and 2019 and his return to power. Stone was in production on the feature in 2021 during which time Lula da Silva contracted Covid while filming in Cuba.
“Lula” is the latest addition to the star-studded Cannes lineup, which also includes new films from Paul Schrader, Francis Ford Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Ali Abbasi, Sean Baker, Jia Zhangke, and Paolo Sorrentino.
Stone teased “Lula” to Jacobin earlier this year, saying that the film would be released “hopefully before the end of the year.”
“As you know, I had him in the other films with Hugo Chávez. And of course, he’s gotten a very dramatic story, with his going to jail after his second term. Now...
Stone filmed the documentary about thrice-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that encompasses the ruler’s incarceration between 2018 and 2019 and his return to power. Stone was in production on the feature in 2021 during which time Lula da Silva contracted Covid while filming in Cuba.
“Lula” is the latest addition to the star-studded Cannes lineup, which also includes new films from Paul Schrader, Francis Ford Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Ali Abbasi, Sean Baker, Jia Zhangke, and Paolo Sorrentino.
Stone teased “Lula” to Jacobin earlier this year, saying that the film would be released “hopefully before the end of the year.”
“As you know, I had him in the other films with Hugo Chávez. And of course, he’s gotten a very dramatic story, with his going to jail after his second term. Now...
- 4/22/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Films from Oliver Stone, Michel Hazanavicius and Arnaud Desplechin have been added to the Official Selection of the 77th Cannes Film Festival. They join previously announced titles from David Cronenberg, Yorgos Lanthimos, Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader. Greta Gerwig is the president of this year’s jury.
Stone’s film, “Lula” is a documentary about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and will have its world premiere as part of the Special Screenings section, which also features “Spectators,” from Arnaud Desplechin. His latest stars “Anatomy of a Fall” child actor Milo Machado Graner as well as Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”).
Hazanavicius, a Best Director Oscar winner for “The Artist,” joins the Competition lineup with “La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises” (“The Most Precious of Cargoes”), an animated film about a Jewish child during World War II whose father, in a desperate attempt to save his son’s life,...
Stone’s film, “Lula” is a documentary about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and will have its world premiere as part of the Special Screenings section, which also features “Spectators,” from Arnaud Desplechin. His latest stars “Anatomy of a Fall” child actor Milo Machado Graner as well as Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”).
Hazanavicius, a Best Director Oscar winner for “The Artist,” joins the Competition lineup with “La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises” (“The Most Precious of Cargoes”), an animated film about a Jewish child during World War II whose father, in a desperate attempt to save his son’s life,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
The Cannes Film Festival has added 13 new titles to the selection for its 77 th edition, including new films by Oliver Stone, Lou Ye and Arnaud Desplechin as Special Screenings.
Three more titles have been added to competition including Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes.
Big budget French costume-adventure drama The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Pierre Niney as the titular hero will play Out of Competition.
The new additions are:
Un Certain Regard
When The Light Breaks
Rúnar Rúnarsson
Niki
Céline Sallette 1st film
Flow
Gints Zilbalodis
Cannes Premiere
Vivre, Mourir, Renaitre
Gaël Morel
Maria
Jessica Palud
Special Screenings
Spectateurs
Arnaud Desplechin
Nasty
Tudor Giurgiu
Lula
Oliver Stone
An Unfinished Film
Lou Ye
Out Of Competition
Le Comte De Monte-cristo
Alexandre De La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte
Competition
LA Plus PRÉCIEUSE Des Marchandises
Michel Hazanavicius
Trei Kilometri Pana LA Capatul Lumii
Emanuel Parvu
The Seed Of The...
Three more titles have been added to competition including Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes.
Big budget French costume-adventure drama The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Pierre Niney as the titular hero will play Out of Competition.
The new additions are:
Un Certain Regard
When The Light Breaks
Rúnar Rúnarsson
Niki
Céline Sallette 1st film
Flow
Gints Zilbalodis
Cannes Premiere
Vivre, Mourir, Renaitre
Gaël Morel
Maria
Jessica Palud
Special Screenings
Spectateurs
Arnaud Desplechin
Nasty
Tudor Giurgiu
Lula
Oliver Stone
An Unfinished Film
Lou Ye
Out Of Competition
Le Comte De Monte-cristo
Alexandre De La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte
Competition
LA Plus PRÉCIEUSE Des Marchandises
Michel Hazanavicius
Trei Kilometri Pana LA Capatul Lumii
Emanuel Parvu
The Seed Of The...
- 4/22/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sarajevo Film Festival has long been the biggest showcase of Southeast European cinema and this year’s edition, which unspools on August 11, is on course to be its most reflective and regionally focused edition yet.
“Our manifesto has always been to support young filmmakers and productions from the region while rebuilding an international film industry around it and this year our aim is to strengthen that even further,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović, who is currently in his second year in the role after taking over from festival founder Mirsad Purivatra, who started the event in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War.
This year’s official selection will see 49 films compete for Heart of Sarajevo awards across its four competition sections – feature, documentary, short and student film – and included in this are 22 world, two international, 22 regional and three national premieres. Films in the official line-up include...
“Our manifesto has always been to support young filmmakers and productions from the region while rebuilding an international film industry around it and this year our aim is to strengthen that even further,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović, who is currently in his second year in the role after taking over from festival founder Mirsad Purivatra, who started the event in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War.
This year’s official selection will see 49 films compete for Heart of Sarajevo awards across its four competition sections – feature, documentary, short and student film – and included in this are 22 world, two international, 22 regional and three national premieres. Films in the official line-up include...
- 8/7/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
The thriller is directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu.
London-based sales agent Reason8 Films has picked up world sales for political thriller Libertate (Freedom), directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu, ahead of its international premiere this month in competition at Sarajevo.
The feature world premiered at Transilvania.
It is set amid the chaos of the 1989 Romanian revolution, as civilians, the army, the police and the secret service were pitted against each other to control the narrative as communism came to an end.
The thriller is produced by Libra Films (Romania) in co-production with Mythberg Films (Hungary) with support from the...
London-based sales agent Reason8 Films has picked up world sales for political thriller Libertate (Freedom), directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu, ahead of its international premiere this month in competition at Sarajevo.
The feature world premiered at Transilvania.
It is set amid the chaos of the 1989 Romanian revolution, as civilians, the army, the police and the secret service were pitted against each other to control the narrative as communism came to an end.
The thriller is produced by Libra Films (Romania) in co-production with Mythberg Films (Hungary) with support from the...
- 8/2/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled its official selection for this year’s edition, with Elene Naveriani’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry among the titles playing in Competition.
A total of 49 films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards. The Festival’s four competition sections – feature, documentary, short, and student film – will feature 22 world, two international, 22 regional, and three national premieres.
Additional titles featured in the main competition program include Animal by Greek filmmaker Sofia Exarchou, Tigru by Andrei Tănase, and the Turkish series Rumi from producers Ahmet Okur, Kerim Ayyildiz, and director Can Ulkaj playing as a special screening.
The festival said Creative Director Izeta Građević saw 935 films submitted for consideration, including 200 feature fiction films, 235 documentaries, 500 shorts, and student titles.
The Sarajevo Film Festival competition programme is open for films and filmmakers from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo*, North Macedonia,...
A total of 49 films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards. The Festival’s four competition sections – feature, documentary, short, and student film – will feature 22 world, two international, 22 regional, and three national premieres.
Additional titles featured in the main competition program include Animal by Greek filmmaker Sofia Exarchou, Tigru by Andrei Tănase, and the Turkish series Rumi from producers Ahmet Okur, Kerim Ayyildiz, and director Can Ulkaj playing as a special screening.
The festival said Creative Director Izeta Građević saw 935 films submitted for consideration, including 200 feature fiction films, 235 documentaries, 500 shorts, and student titles.
The Sarajevo Film Festival competition programme is open for films and filmmakers from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo*, North Macedonia,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Forty-nine films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, which runs in Bosnia and Herzegovina from Aug. 11 to 18.
The Feature Film Competition will present 11 titles, with two world premieres, one international and five regional premieres.
World premieres include “Europa” from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai, whose credits include 2018 Venice Days entry “Joy,” the Best Film winner at London Film Festival, and “Macondo,” which competed for the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2014.
The other world premiere is “Medium,” from Greek director Christina Ioakeimidi, whose debut feature was “Harisma” in 2010.
The international premiere is Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu’s “Freedom,” which world premiered at Transilvania Film Festival, and won the Public’s Choice award. Last year, “Freedom” won the jury prize in the Work in Progress section of CineLink Industry Days, Sarajevo’s industry program.
The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary,...
The Feature Film Competition will present 11 titles, with two world premieres, one international and five regional premieres.
World premieres include “Europa” from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai, whose credits include 2018 Venice Days entry “Joy,” the Best Film winner at London Film Festival, and “Macondo,” which competed for the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2014.
The other world premiere is “Medium,” from Greek director Christina Ioakeimidi, whose debut feature was “Harisma” in 2010.
The international premiere is Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu’s “Freedom,” which world premiered at Transilvania Film Festival, and won the Public’s Choice award. Last year, “Freedom” won the jury prize in the Work in Progress section of CineLink Industry Days, Sarajevo’s industry program.
The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Submissions to the competition sections up 23% for this year’s festival.
Sudabeh Mortezai’s Europa is one of 10 feature world premieres set to screen in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival next month (August 11-18).
Europa is the fifth feature from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Mortezai, and follows an ambitious executive working at a mysterious corporation looking to expand into the Balkans. Mortezai’s previous feature Joy debuted at Venice in 2018; while her 2014 title Macondo premiered at the Berlinale.
Five of the 10 titles in the feature film competition are directed by women. Also having its world premiere in the feature film competition...
Sudabeh Mortezai’s Europa is one of 10 feature world premieres set to screen in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival next month (August 11-18).
Europa is the fifth feature from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Mortezai, and follows an ambitious executive working at a mysterious corporation looking to expand into the Balkans. Mortezai’s previous feature Joy debuted at Venice in 2018; while her 2014 title Macondo premiered at the Berlinale.
Five of the 10 titles in the feature film competition are directed by women. Also having its world premiere in the feature film competition...
- 7/20/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
International sales agents, producers and programmers salute 2023 edition of Transilvania Pitch Stop
Attendees praised the projects, atmosphere and organisation.
Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.
The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.
Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a...
Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.
The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.
Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a...
- 6/19/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
International sales agents, producers and programmers salute 2024 edition of Transilvania Pitch Stop
Attendees praised the projects, atmosphere and organisation
Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.
The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.
Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a harrowing...
Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.
The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.
Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a harrowing...
- 6/19/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The traditional closing-night party saw revellers celebrating until breakfast.
Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha’s Like A Fish On The Moon won the Transilvania Trophy, the top prize of the international competition at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Romania at a gala ceremony on Saturday June 17.
Hajiha’s debut feature premiered at in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition in 2022 and is being handled internationally by Hong Kong-based Asian Shadows It also picked up the best performance award for the lead actress Sepidar Tari ex aequo with Nacho Quesada, who plays the lead role in Andrew Sala’s France-Argentina film The Barbarians.
Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha’s Like A Fish On The Moon won the Transilvania Trophy, the top prize of the international competition at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Romania at a gala ceremony on Saturday June 17.
Hajiha’s debut feature premiered at in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition in 2022 and is being handled internationally by Hong Kong-based Asian Shadows It also picked up the best performance award for the lead actress Sepidar Tari ex aequo with Nacho Quesada, who plays the lead role in Andrew Sala’s France-Argentina film The Barbarians.
- 6/19/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The traditional closing-night party saw revellers celebrating until breakfast.
Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha’s Like A Fish On The Moon won the Transilvania Trophy, the top prize of the international competition at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Romania at a gala ceremony on Saturday June 17.
Hajiha’s debut feature premiered at in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition in 2022 and is being handled internationally by Hong Kong-based Asian Shadows It also picked up the best performance award for the lead actress Sepidar Tari ex aequo with Nacho Quesada, who plays the lead role in Andrew Sala’s France-Argentina film The Barbarians.
Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha’s Like A Fish On The Moon won the Transilvania Trophy, the top prize of the international competition at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Romania at a gala ceremony on Saturday June 17.
Hajiha’s debut feature premiered at in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition in 2022 and is being handled internationally by Hong Kong-based Asian Shadows It also picked up the best performance award for the lead actress Sepidar Tari ex aequo with Nacho Quesada, who plays the lead role in Andrew Sala’s France-Argentina film The Barbarians.
- 6/19/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Like a Fish on the Moon, the feature debut of Iranian writer-director Dornaz Hajiha, has won the Transilvania Trophy for best feature film at this year’s festival, marking the first time in the event’s 22-year history that Transilvania International Film Festival’s top award went to a female director.
The film follows new parents who are forced to adapt when their apparently healthy son suddenly stops talking.
“The film we have chosen impressed us for the originality of its premise, the power of its performances and the intelligence with which it explored very difficult subject matter,” Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, the jury president, said in a statement. “The director demonstrated great attention to detail and an impressive, singular vision. We were also impressed by the script, which captured the often conflicting pressures of parenthood, the brutality of devotion. It is a film that resonated long after it ended.
The film follows new parents who are forced to adapt when their apparently healthy son suddenly stops talking.
“The film we have chosen impressed us for the originality of its premise, the power of its performances and the intelligence with which it explored very difficult subject matter,” Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, the jury president, said in a statement. “The director demonstrated great attention to detail and an impressive, singular vision. We were also impressed by the script, which captured the often conflicting pressures of parenthood, the brutality of devotion. It is a film that resonated long after it ended.
- 6/19/2023
- by Stjepan Hundic
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iranian filmmaker Dornaz Hajiha took home the top prize Saturday at the Transilvania Film Festival, as the jury awarded the first-time director with the Transilvania Trophy for “Like a Fish on the Moon,” a moving family drama about two parents coping with the emotional fallout when their young son suddenly stops talking.
In the jury’s citation, Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco highlighted “the originality of its premise, the power of its performances, and the intelligence with which it explored very difficult subject matter,” describing “Like a Fish on the Moon” as “a film that resonated long after it ended.”
Hajiha was visibly moved as she took the stage to accept the award, which was presented to her by Transilvania Lifetime Achievement Award winner Geoffrey Rush moments after the Australian actor delivered an impassioned and at times whimsical tribute to the power of cinema.
“It’s such an honor to get...
In the jury’s citation, Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco highlighted “the originality of its premise, the power of its performances, and the intelligence with which it explored very difficult subject matter,” describing “Like a Fish on the Moon” as “a film that resonated long after it ended.”
Hajiha was visibly moved as she took the stage to accept the award, which was presented to her by Transilvania Lifetime Achievement Award winner Geoffrey Rush moments after the Australian actor delivered an impassioned and at times whimsical tribute to the power of cinema.
“It’s such an honor to get...
- 6/18/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
‘Nasty’ is about the legendary Romanian tennis player and is direted by festival president Tudor Giurgiu.
New films by Tudor Giurgiu and Marian Crisan are to be shown in Ro Days’ Closed Screenings at this week’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Cluj-Napoca.
The screenings are open to distributors, festival programmers, and sales agents.
Transilvania festival president Giurgiu’s documentary Nasty about the legendary Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase includes interviews with Rafa Nadal, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, and Billie Jean King.
At last year’s TIFF, the director had given a sneak preview of around 15 minutes...
New films by Tudor Giurgiu and Marian Crisan are to be shown in Ro Days’ Closed Screenings at this week’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Cluj-Napoca.
The screenings are open to distributors, festival programmers, and sales agents.
Transilvania festival president Giurgiu’s documentary Nasty about the legendary Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase includes interviews with Rafa Nadal, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, and Billie Jean King.
At last year’s TIFF, the director had given a sneak preview of around 15 minutes...
- 6/12/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
When push comes to shove, the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival has always prided itself on pushing the envelope, preferring to err on the side of provocation where other fests might choose to play it safe. That mentality has been encoded into the fest’s DNA since its beginnings in the tumultuous post-Communist era, when civil liberties and artistic freedom were still far from guaranteed in the newly democratic Romania.
Yet after a turbulent period of unprecedented disruption, brought on first by the coronavirus pandemic and then by the widespread humanitarian and economic crises spurred by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, even TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu admits, “These were tough years.” The temptation might have been there to tinker with a formula that has made the festival such a success for the past two decades.
But for its 22nd edition, which runs June 9 – 18 in the picturesque medieval city of Cluj,...
Yet after a turbulent period of unprecedented disruption, brought on first by the coronavirus pandemic and then by the widespread humanitarian and economic crises spurred by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, even TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu admits, “These were tough years.” The temptation might have been there to tinker with a formula that has made the festival such a success for the past two decades.
But for its 22nd edition, which runs June 9 – 18 in the picturesque medieval city of Cluj,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Projects from Greece and Ukraine lead co-production awards.
Ukrainian drama Cherry Blossoms from director Marysia Nikitiuk has picked up one of the top prizes at Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry platform CineLink, which handed out its awards last night (August 18).
See below for full list of winners
The project was among 12 presented at the CineLink Co-Production Market and won the Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award of €20,000.
Cherry Blossoms centres on a man and girl who escape territories in Ukraine occupied by Russia and meet a Bosnian woman who survived the Balkan wars as a child. Nikitiuk’s first feature, When The Trees Fall,...
Ukrainian drama Cherry Blossoms from director Marysia Nikitiuk has picked up one of the top prizes at Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry platform CineLink, which handed out its awards last night (August 18).
See below for full list of winners
The project was among 12 presented at the CineLink Co-Production Market and won the Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award of €20,000.
Cherry Blossoms centres on a man and girl who escape territories in Ukraine occupied by Russia and meet a Bosnian woman who survived the Balkan wars as a child. Nikitiuk’s first feature, When The Trees Fall,...
- 8/19/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Festival to close with Pjer Zalica’s ‘May Labor Day’.
New film projects from Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev and Renen Schorr, the former head of Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel School for Film and Television, are among the 12 features selected for Sarajevo’s CineLink Work In Progress section.
The festival has also programmed the world premiere of Bosnian-Herzegovinian director Pjer Zalica’s May Labor Day as its closing film, on August 19.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
The Work In Progress strand consists of 10 fiction and two documentary projects, which will be presented to industry professionals including funders, sales agents,...
New film projects from Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev and Renen Schorr, the former head of Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel School for Film and Television, are among the 12 features selected for Sarajevo’s CineLink Work In Progress section.
The festival has also programmed the world premiere of Bosnian-Herzegovinian director Pjer Zalica’s May Labor Day as its closing film, on August 19.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
The Work In Progress strand consists of 10 fiction and two documentary projects, which will be presented to industry professionals including funders, sales agents,...
- 7/29/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, whose feature debut “Pamfir” premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section, and director and former political prisoner Oleh Sentsov (“Rhino”) are among the Ukrainian filmmakers who say they’re “distraught” by the inclusion of a Russian film in the main competition at the Transilvania Film Festival.
In a statement posted on Monday to the Facebook page for “Pamfir,” the filmmakers spoke out against the selection of Russian director Lado Kvataniya’s “The Execution” as one of 12 features competing for the Transilvania Trophy, criticizing the “illusion of cultural reconciliation” created by the festival’s decision and insisting that “art does not exist outside of politics.”
The filmmakers noted that Kvataniya’s psychological thriller was produced with the support of the state-backed Russian Film Fund as well as Kinoprime, the 100 million film fund bankrolled by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the U.K. and Europe.
“This film...
In a statement posted on Monday to the Facebook page for “Pamfir,” the filmmakers spoke out against the selection of Russian director Lado Kvataniya’s “The Execution” as one of 12 features competing for the Transilvania Trophy, criticizing the “illusion of cultural reconciliation” created by the festival’s decision and insisting that “art does not exist outside of politics.”
The filmmakers noted that Kvataniya’s psychological thriller was produced with the support of the state-backed Russian Film Fund as well as Kinoprime, the 100 million film fund bankrolled by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the U.K. and Europe.
“This film...
- 6/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
After pulling off the near miraculous feat of mounting two in-person editions in the middle of a global pandemic, the organizing team of the Transilvania Film Festival had hoped for a return to normalcy this year – hopes that were quickly dashed when Russian troops invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The tone and tenor of this year’s event swiftly shifted gears, says TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu, as festival leadership looked to strike a precarious balance. “The lives of many people have been turned upside-down. We need to be empathetic and pay attention to what’s happening over there and try to mirror through the festival program this tragedy which is happening in Ukraine,” Giurgiu tells Variety.
As TIFF kicks off its 21st edition, which runs June 17 – 26, the war in Ukraine will be reaching the conclusion of its fourth month, a period that has already dramatically upended life in its Eastern European neighbor.
The tone and tenor of this year’s event swiftly shifted gears, says TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu, as festival leadership looked to strike a precarious balance. “The lives of many people have been turned upside-down. We need to be empathetic and pay attention to what’s happening over there and try to mirror through the festival program this tragedy which is happening in Ukraine,” Giurgiu tells Variety.
As TIFF kicks off its 21st edition, which runs June 17 – 26, the war in Ukraine will be reaching the conclusion of its fourth month, a period that has already dramatically upended life in its Eastern European neighbor.
- 6/16/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When Dumitrana Lupu took over as the head of the Transilvania Film Festival’s industry program earlier this year, she was tasked with a two-fold mission of continuing to discover and boost emerging talents from the host country, as well as ensuring that the Romanian festival remains a vital meeting place for filmmakers from Southeastern Europe and the surrounding region.
To do so, she and the organizing team revamped some of TIFF’s industry sections while ensuring that long-running programs provide continuity for a festival that unspools its 21st edition from June 17 – 26.
With a focus on the Black Sea region and its neighboring countries, the Transilvania Pitch Stop has emerged as one of the leading co-production and co-financing platforms for the region’s filmmakers. Among the films supported by the Tps since its inception in 2014 include “Apples,” by Greece’s Christos Nikou, which opened the Horizons sidebar of the Venice...
To do so, she and the organizing team revamped some of TIFF’s industry sections while ensuring that long-running programs provide continuity for a festival that unspools its 21st edition from June 17 – 26.
With a focus on the Black Sea region and its neighboring countries, the Transilvania Pitch Stop has emerged as one of the leading co-production and co-financing platforms for the region’s filmmakers. Among the films supported by the Tps since its inception in 2014 include “Apples,” by Greece’s Christos Nikou, which opened the Horizons sidebar of the Venice...
- 6/15/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Philipp Yuryev’s “The Whaler Boy,” which took home the Venice Days award at last year’s Venice Film Festival, won the top prize at the Transilvania Film Festival on Saturday.
The jury praised the Russian director’s feature debut, an offbeat story of a teenage whale hunter on the Bering Strait who sets out to meet a webcam model, for being “beautiful and meticulous in its sense of time and place” while also being “really resonant and contemporary at the same time as being classic.”
Yuryev, who had not attended the festival, was hastily flown to Cluj from Moscow on Saturday morning, telling the audience: “It is really something surprising to be here, and to have a chance to visit this place and to see you all.” He dedicated the award to the remote whale-hunting community in Chukotka where the movie was filmed, as well as to its young...
The jury praised the Russian director’s feature debut, an offbeat story of a teenage whale hunter on the Bering Strait who sets out to meet a webcam model, for being “beautiful and meticulous in its sense of time and place” while also being “really resonant and contemporary at the same time as being classic.”
Yuryev, who had not attended the festival, was hastily flown to Cluj from Moscow on Saturday morning, telling the audience: “It is really something surprising to be here, and to have a chance to visit this place and to see you all.” He dedicated the award to the remote whale-hunting community in Chukotka where the movie was filmed, as well as to its young...
- 8/1/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
As it celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival looked to keep pace with the rapidly evolving – and colliding – worlds of film and television with the launch of a new sidebar and industry strand dedicated to high-end TV series.
For the first time TIFF unspooled a sidebar featuring eight of the buzziest European TV dramas of recent years. The festival also launched the Drama Room, a three-day event for industry professionals in Central and Eastern Europe interested in producing scripted drama, in what TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu sees as the first step in a growing commitment to support the region’s evolving TV business.
“We are paying more and more attention to this, like many other festivals,” said Giurgiu. “The content is really surprising and good. We are encouraging both producers and writers to learn and understand the mechanics of doing TV series and miniseries.”
A collaboration with the Midpoint Institute,...
For the first time TIFF unspooled a sidebar featuring eight of the buzziest European TV dramas of recent years. The festival also launched the Drama Room, a three-day event for industry professionals in Central and Eastern Europe interested in producing scripted drama, in what TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu sees as the first step in a growing commitment to support the region’s evolving TV business.
“We are paying more and more attention to this, like many other festivals,” said Giurgiu. “The content is really surprising and good. We are encouraging both producers and writers to learn and understand the mechanics of doing TV series and miniseries.”
A collaboration with the Midpoint Institute,...
- 8/1/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
TIFF artistic director Mihai Chirilov on how the festival supports the local industry.
The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) was co-founded by producer-director Tudor Giurgiu and film critic Mihai Chirilov in Romania’s second city of Cluj-Napoca in 2002. It rapidly became the nation’s most important film-related event and this year’s physical edition marks its 20th anniversary.
TIFF opens today (July 23) with a gala screening of Spanish director Cesc Gay’s comedy The People Upstairs on Unirii Square as part of a new collaboration with the San Sebastian film festival. The festival will run until August 1.
Artistic director Chirilov...
The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) was co-founded by producer-director Tudor Giurgiu and film critic Mihai Chirilov in Romania’s second city of Cluj-Napoca in 2002. It rapidly became the nation’s most important film-related event and this year’s physical edition marks its 20th anniversary.
TIFF opens today (July 23) with a gala screening of Spanish director Cesc Gay’s comedy The People Upstairs on Unirii Square as part of a new collaboration with the San Sebastian film festival. The festival will run until August 1.
Artistic director Chirilov...
- 7/23/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Ten projects in development will be presented to industry professionals during the 8th Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at this year’s Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, with a hybrid pitching session on July 29 including a range of film funds, distributors, sales agents, producers and financiers both online and on-site in the host city of Cluj.
Launched in 2014 as a five-day workshop for first- and second-time directors from Romania and Moldova, the Pitch Stop expanded in 2017 to include a co-production platform with projects from neighboring countries. The program – which has become one of the leading industry confabs in the region – looks to foster cross-border collaboration while also nurturing and supporting emerging talent.
TIFF industry manager Ioana Lazareanu says the Tps’ mission is to help create “a synergy between the creative side in the industry and the business side.”
“On the one hand, obviously, [there is] the need to nurture, support and promote local talent…...
Launched in 2014 as a five-day workshop for first- and second-time directors from Romania and Moldova, the Pitch Stop expanded in 2017 to include a co-production platform with projects from neighboring countries. The program – which has become one of the leading industry confabs in the region – looks to foster cross-border collaboration while also nurturing and supporting emerging talent.
TIFF industry manager Ioana Lazareanu says the Tps’ mission is to help create “a synergy between the creative side in the industry and the business side.”
“On the one hand, obviously, [there is] the need to nurture, support and promote local talent…...
- 7/22/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Of all the international film festivals to roll out the red carpet this summer in what feels like a global industry reboot, few can fall back on past experience when it comes to the logistics of an in-person pandemic edition. But amid the wave of cancellations that all but wiped out the calendar year in 2020, the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival managed to pull off what few others could, relying on a host of open-air venues to successfully welcome moviegoers to the medieval city of Cluj.
One year later, for what in a different era might have been a splashy 20th anniversary edition, TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu admits, “I thought this year would be easier.” Just days after confusion over Pcr tests and vaccine certificates reigned on the Croisette, however, Giurgiu and the TIFF organizing team have realized that as the coronavirus’ deadly Delta variant sweeps across the globe, a return...
One year later, for what in a different era might have been a splashy 20th anniversary edition, TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu admits, “I thought this year would be easier.” Just days after confusion over Pcr tests and vaccine certificates reigned on the Croisette, however, Giurgiu and the TIFF organizing team have realized that as the coronavirus’ deadly Delta variant sweeps across the globe, a return...
- 7/22/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
For a festival that prides itself on shining a spotlight on the domestic industry, the Transilvania Film Festival can point to a record number of Romanian films unspooling at this year’s 20th-anniversary edition, with 32 feature-length and 13 short films – including 13 world premieres – set to screen in the scenic medieval city of Cluj from July 23 – Aug. 1.
But despite the historic selection, which includes three films arriving fresh off of Cannes premieres, it’s an uneasy time for the local film industry. Funding from the Romanian Film Center (Cnc) ground to a halt last year as the coronavirus pandemic leveled the Romanian economy, and an industry that for two decades has produced a string of world cinema heavyweights has been left to wonder what the future has in store.
Speaking ahead of this year’s festival, producer and TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu spoke candidly about the ostensibly prolific output, crediting “the fortunate...
But despite the historic selection, which includes three films arriving fresh off of Cannes premieres, it’s an uneasy time for the local film industry. Funding from the Romanian Film Center (Cnc) ground to a halt last year as the coronavirus pandemic leveled the Romanian economy, and an industry that for two decades has produced a string of world cinema heavyweights has been left to wonder what the future has in store.
Speaking ahead of this year’s festival, producer and TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu spoke candidly about the ostensibly prolific output, crediting “the fortunate...
- 7/22/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Romanian festival sets opening film for in-person event.
Transilvania International Film Festival has selected Cesc Gay’s Spanish comedy The People Upstairs as the opening film of its 20th edition, marking a new collaboration with San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The opener is part of a Spanish focus planned for this year’s festival, which TIFF artistic director Mihai Chirilov said had been in the works for some time.
“We had been thinking for the last couple of years about having a more consistent focus on Spanish cinema and had been discussing with [Ssiff director] Jose Louis Rebordinos and [programmer] Roberto Cueto about...
Transilvania International Film Festival has selected Cesc Gay’s Spanish comedy The People Upstairs as the opening film of its 20th edition, marking a new collaboration with San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The opener is part of a Spanish focus planned for this year’s festival, which TIFF artistic director Mihai Chirilov said had been in the works for some time.
“We had been thinking for the last couple of years about having a more consistent focus on Spanish cinema and had been discussing with [Ssiff director] Jose Louis Rebordinos and [programmer] Roberto Cueto about...
- 5/24/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Additions include a pilot TV programme and workshop for features at editing stage.
Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is to expand its industry platform in an effort to address challenges facing the film sector and will introduce a new pilot TV programme.
The industry days will take place from July 23 to August 1, parallel to TIFF’s 20th anniversary edition, as a hybrid of online and physical events.
The already established Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) will be restructured and expanded in a bid to better fit the needs of filmmakers, producers, distributors and exhibitors. It will continue to focus...
Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is to expand its industry platform in an effort to address challenges facing the film sector and will introduce a new pilot TV programme.
The industry days will take place from July 23 to August 1, parallel to TIFF’s 20th anniversary edition, as a hybrid of online and physical events.
The already established Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) will be restructured and expanded in a bid to better fit the needs of filmmakers, producers, distributors and exhibitors. It will continue to focus...
- 3/2/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Event was originally set to take place from May.
Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is to host its 20th anniversary edition as an outdoor event in July, two months later than its traditional dates, due to the pandemic.
The festival was initially set to return to its usual period, running May 28 to June 6, after last year’s edition was pushed to August as a physical event, with socially-distanced outdoor screenings.
But as Romania works to limit the spread of Covid-19, TIFF organisers have pushed the dates to July 23 to August 1, and plan to repeat last year’s outdoor screening approach.
Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is to host its 20th anniversary edition as an outdoor event in July, two months later than its traditional dates, due to the pandemic.
The festival was initially set to return to its usual period, running May 28 to June 6, after last year’s edition was pushed to August as a physical event, with socially-distanced outdoor screenings.
But as Romania works to limit the spread of Covid-19, TIFF organisers have pushed the dates to July 23 to August 1, and plan to repeat last year’s outdoor screening approach.
- 2/10/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Throughout the anxious weeks leading up to the opening night of the 19th Transilvania International Film Festival, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread across Romania, government officials began to impose a series of increasingly rigorous safety protocols that cast the festival’s viability in doubt. But the organizers insisted that the show would go one.
“When we realized that the [case] numbers were increasing…we immediately created a crisis committee” to determine how to create a safe movie-going environment, says TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu. In the picturesque medieval city of Cluj, which plays host to the festival, a series of outdoor venues were marshaled into service—from open-air cinemas to public squares to a leafy courtyard at the local agricultural university. After ensuring the necessary health and hygiene measures were in place, the green light from the government finally came with just days to spare.
“I think we’ve been...
“When we realized that the [case] numbers were increasing…we immediately created a crisis committee” to determine how to create a safe movie-going environment, says TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu. In the picturesque medieval city of Cluj, which plays host to the festival, a series of outdoor venues were marshaled into service—from open-air cinemas to public squares to a leafy courtyard at the local agricultural university. After ensuring the necessary health and hygiene measures were in place, the green light from the government finally came with just days to spare.
“I think we’ve been...
- 7/30/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to feature film output in Central and Eastern Europe, it’s all about marshaling indie forces and breaking out of familiar tropes this year, say producers and filmmakers.
It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the
communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.
“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.
Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...
It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the
communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.
“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.
Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...
- 2/23/2020
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
The drama centres on a man who finds out he has only months to live. Romanian director Mihai Sofronea is currently in post-production with his first feature, The Windseeker. A Libra Film Productions project produced by Tudor Giurgiu and Bogdan Crăciun, the film is being co-produced by Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria), represented by Boris Chouchkov, and Living Pictures (Serbia), represented by Stefan Orlandic. Post-production is expected to wrap in the spring. Written by Sofronea, the screenplay centres on Radu (Dan Bordeianu), a man fighting depression. A promising job interview seems to augur a better future for him, but the medical tests required by the new company come with a terrible diagnosis. With only a few months to live, Radu seeks solace in the Romanian seaside, where an old man (Adrian Titieni) takes him in. A love story with one of the man’s nieces (Olimpia Melinte) may bring a new ray of.
Spain’s Seville-based shingle La Claqueta and Portugal’s SPi have clinched a co-development agreement for three fiction projects a year. Companies first made contact at last year’s Conecta Fiction, the annual co-production meet in Spain.
The companies have also pacted to co-produce the animated feature-length docu “El viaje más largo” in collaboration with Portuguese pubcaster Rtp and Spain’s Tve and Etb networks.
The agreements dovetail with both companies’ ambitions to further expand their international reach and in La Claqueta’s case, its bid to venture into fiction TV series.
“After many years producing documentary series, we believe the time has come to make the leap into creating serialized fiction,” said La Claqueta CEO Olmo Figueredo in a statement, adding: “But we wanted to do it hand in hand with an international partner of SPi’s stature, a company with years of experience in that market.”
“2019 has been...
The companies have also pacted to co-produce the animated feature-length docu “El viaje más largo” in collaboration with Portuguese pubcaster Rtp and Spain’s Tve and Etb networks.
The agreements dovetail with both companies’ ambitions to further expand their international reach and in La Claqueta’s case, its bid to venture into fiction TV series.
“After many years producing documentary series, we believe the time has come to make the leap into creating serialized fiction,” said La Claqueta CEO Olmo Figueredo in a statement, adding: “But we wanted to do it hand in hand with an international partner of SPi’s stature, a company with years of experience in that market.”
“2019 has been...
- 6/18/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress wins €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.
Fifteen projects from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey were presented at the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) in Cluj-Napoca in Romania last week.
The €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award went to Hungarian filmmaker Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress. The project had been developed at the Nipkow Programme in Berlin last year.
Turkish director Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns was awarded €25,000 in postproduction services from Chainsaw Europe. The project is being co-produced by Romania’s Oana Giurgiu of...
Fifteen projects from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey were presented at the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) in Cluj-Napoca in Romania last week.
The €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award went to Hungarian filmmaker Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress. The project had been developed at the Nipkow Programme in Berlin last year.
Turkish director Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns was awarded €25,000 in postproduction services from Chainsaw Europe. The project is being co-produced by Romania’s Oana Giurgiu of...
- 6/13/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Cluj, Romania–When Lee Chang-dong’s mystery thriller “Burning” was released in Romania not too long ago, Tudor Giurgiu had the sense he had to catch the Cannes festival player before it was too late. “I felt this film was kind of meteoric, and it just disappeared,” he said.
The Romanian director and Transilvania Film Festival founder used the South Korean arthouse darling as an example of the challenges facing distributors in Central and Eastern Europe during a panel discussion Friday afternoon in Cluj, as part of the European Film Forum.
The day-long event, which was presented by the E.U.’s Creative Europe-Media Program, included a conversation with Giurgiu, Romanian producer Ada Solomon, and Warsaw-based sales agent New Europe Film Sales CEO Jan Naszewski. The session, entitled “New Trends in Regional Distribution,” was moderated by Erwin M. Schmidt, managing director of the German Producers Association.
Giurgiu cited the case...
The Romanian director and Transilvania Film Festival founder used the South Korean arthouse darling as an example of the challenges facing distributors in Central and Eastern Europe during a panel discussion Friday afternoon in Cluj, as part of the European Film Forum.
The day-long event, which was presented by the E.U.’s Creative Europe-Media Program, included a conversation with Giurgiu, Romanian producer Ada Solomon, and Warsaw-based sales agent New Europe Film Sales CEO Jan Naszewski. The session, entitled “New Trends in Regional Distribution,” was moderated by Erwin M. Schmidt, managing director of the German Producers Association.
Giurgiu cited the case...
- 6/8/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Cluj, Romania–More than a decade after a tide of critically acclaimed and award-winning features announced the arrival of the Romanian New Wave, the Transilvania Film Festival’s annual Romanian Days program continues to offer a vital and wide-ranging survey of the country’s dynamic film industry.
This year’s edition, which kicks off June 6, will present 15 features and 22 short films over the course of three days in Cluj, presenting what Tiff artistic director Mihai Chirilov calls “a recap of the best in Romanian cinema.”
A highlight this year will be the Romanian premiere of “The Whistlers,” which arrives in Cluj on the heels of its world premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week. Corneliu Poromboiu’s latest feature is a noir-inspired crime thriller about a Romanian police inspector who gets entangled in a high-stakes heist that takes him to the Spanish island of La Gomera. Chirilov describes it as “a genre film,...
This year’s edition, which kicks off June 6, will present 15 features and 22 short films over the course of three days in Cluj, presenting what Tiff artistic director Mihai Chirilov calls “a recap of the best in Romanian cinema.”
A highlight this year will be the Romanian premiere of “The Whistlers,” which arrives in Cluj on the heels of its world premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week. Corneliu Poromboiu’s latest feature is a noir-inspired crime thriller about a Romanian police inspector who gets entangled in a high-stakes heist that takes him to the Spanish island of La Gomera. Chirilov describes it as “a genre film,...
- 6/5/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Cluj, Romania – The storm clouds that had spent the better part of the afternoon trundling across Transilvania couldn’t be kept at bay Friday night, though several hundred festival-goers – armed with umbrellas and ponchos – arrived for the opening of the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival hoping for the best.
“People are ready to go on. It’s unbelievable,” said Tiff artistic director Mihai Chirilov, as crowds continued to tramp down the soggy red carpet spread across Piata Unirii (Union Square). “They’re unstoppable.”
Nearby veteran director and festival founder Tudor Giurgiu worked a crowd sprinkled with Romanian stars of the big and small screen. A man dressed as the Pope posed for photos to commemorate the Pontiff’s contemporaneous visit to Romania, while dozens of corporate-branded balloons drifted past the Gothic spire of St. Michael’s Church. Between drags of his cigarette, Chirilov furiously worked his cell phone for the latest weather report.
“People are ready to go on. It’s unbelievable,” said Tiff artistic director Mihai Chirilov, as crowds continued to tramp down the soggy red carpet spread across Piata Unirii (Union Square). “They’re unstoppable.”
Nearby veteran director and festival founder Tudor Giurgiu worked a crowd sprinkled with Romanian stars of the big and small screen. A man dressed as the Pope posed for photos to commemorate the Pontiff’s contemporaneous visit to Romania, while dozens of corporate-branded balloons drifted past the Gothic spire of St. Michael’s Church. Between drags of his cigarette, Chirilov furiously worked his cell phone for the latest weather report.
- 5/31/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes–The Transilvania Intl. Film Festival has announced a new Svod service, Tiff Unlimited, which will launch during the festival’s 18th edition, which bows May 31 in Cluj, Romania.
The service will curate titles from current and previous editions of the festival, while also showcasing other hand-picked auteur-driven productions, presented in partnership with local distributors. It will launch June 6 and be available across Romania.
“With all my colleagues from the festival, we thought we have to do something that will somehow extend the whole festival experience for all the year,” said director festival chief Tudor Giurgiu (pictured), whose latest feature, “Parking,” opens this year’s fest. “Yearly we are receiving emails from the public who say, ‘Oh, I missed that Russian film that won the audience award in your festival. Where am I going to see it?’ And I say, ‘Sorry, I don’t know where you can see the film,...
The service will curate titles from current and previous editions of the festival, while also showcasing other hand-picked auteur-driven productions, presented in partnership with local distributors. It will launch June 6 and be available across Romania.
“With all my colleagues from the festival, we thought we have to do something that will somehow extend the whole festival experience for all the year,” said director festival chief Tudor Giurgiu (pictured), whose latest feature, “Parking,” opens this year’s fest. “Yearly we are receiving emails from the public who say, ‘Oh, I missed that Russian film that won the audience award in your festival. Where am I going to see it?’ And I say, ‘Sorry, I don’t know where you can see the film,...
- 5/23/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes–A poet, a romantic, and a stranger in a strange land, Adrian is a Romanian immigrant working as a night watchman at a car dealership in Cordoba. After leaving his old life behind, he falls in love with a Spanish singer who offers him a shot at reinvention. But when a money-making scheme by his shifty boss goes awry, Adrian himself has to face the consequences, threatening to put his very life in jeopardy.
“Parking” is the latest feature from Tudor Giurgiu, the veteran Romanian director and founder of the Transylvania Intl. Film Festival. Inspired by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari’s “Apropierea” (Closeness), which was a bestseller after its 2010 release in Romania, it stars Mihai Smarandache, along with rising Spanish star Belén Cuesta, Ariadna Gil (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), and two-time Goya Award winner Luis Bermejo. “Parking” will open the 18th edition of the Transilvania fest, which bows May 31 in Cluj, Romania.
“Parking” is the latest feature from Tudor Giurgiu, the veteran Romanian director and founder of the Transylvania Intl. Film Festival. Inspired by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari’s “Apropierea” (Closeness), which was a bestseller after its 2010 release in Romania, it stars Mihai Smarandache, along with rising Spanish star Belén Cuesta, Ariadna Gil (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), and two-time Goya Award winner Luis Bermejo. “Parking” will open the 18th edition of the Transilvania fest, which bows May 31 in Cluj, Romania.
- 5/22/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
French actress-director Fanny Ardant, feted this week at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival with lifetime achievement honors, said her latest role, portraying the free-spirited mother of a “square” son in “Ma Mere Est Folle,” presented her with a dilemma. “I have only daughters, not a son,” she told Variety, “so for me men are still a mystery.”
The production, directed by Diane Kurys and just wrapped following a shoot in Belgium and the Netherlands, is the story of a relationship between a mother with great imagination and “a very square boy.” The role gave the veteran actress a chance “to learn how to know your own soul,” Ardant says. Although her character shares much with Ardant’s life and work in stage and film, she explains that the only real way to grasp what raising a boy is like is to experience it.
Working with Kurys was a great experience,...
The production, directed by Diane Kurys and just wrapped following a shoot in Belgium and the Netherlands, is the story of a relationship between a mother with great imagination and “a very square boy.” The role gave the veteran actress a chance “to learn how to know your own soul,” Ardant says. Although her character shares much with Ardant’s life and work in stage and film, she explains that the only real way to grasp what raising a boy is like is to experience it.
Working with Kurys was a great experience,...
- 6/2/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
The film and TV industry in Romania is close to realizing a long-held dream to see the country introduce a production incentive to match those in rival locations like Hungary and the Czech Republic, which have attracted scores of international shoots while Romania has been left virtually empty-handed.
After years of lobbying, local producers’ sense of frustration has been exacerbated in recent years by a string of announcements from the Romanian Ministry of Culture claiming that the introduction of the sweeteners was imminent. This time around, with a draft proposal circulating, the prime minister openly urging passage and the U.S. embassy said to be strongly backing, industry-ites seem convinced it’s happening.
“We are expecting it,” says Alex Traila of the Romanian Film Center, the country’s major film support body, noting that a petition signed by 4,000 working film professionals has added new urgency. What’s more, lawmakers approved...
After years of lobbying, local producers’ sense of frustration has been exacerbated in recent years by a string of announcements from the Romanian Ministry of Culture claiming that the introduction of the sweeteners was imminent. This time around, with a draft proposal circulating, the prime minister openly urging passage and the U.S. embassy said to be strongly backing, industry-ites seem convinced it’s happening.
“We are expecting it,” says Alex Traila of the Romanian Film Center, the country’s major film support body, noting that a petition signed by 4,000 working film professionals has added new urgency. What’s more, lawmakers approved...
- 6/2/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
The influence on today’s generation of Romanian filmmakers of local auteur Lucian Pintilie, who died earlier this month, is so profound it’s difficult to chart. But, Transilvania Film Festival chief and leading Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu says, his legacy will be felt for many years, and a tribute is planned for the event’s closing ceremony.
“I was his 1st Ad [first assistant director] in 1995 when working on ‘Too Late,’ which was screened in 1996 Cannes main competition,” Giurgiu recalls. “I learned everything from him – it was like attending a second film school.”
Pintilie’s first feature, “Sunday at 6 O’Clock,” a tragedy about two young communist lovers on the run in World War II, won him international attention in 1966.
Because of the director’s extensive background in theater, Giurgiu says, “Pintilie was an absolute master when working with actors. It was mesmerizing to observe how he achieved impressive performances by forcing...
“I was his 1st Ad [first assistant director] in 1995 when working on ‘Too Late,’ which was screened in 1996 Cannes main competition,” Giurgiu recalls. “I learned everything from him – it was like attending a second film school.”
Pintilie’s first feature, “Sunday at 6 O’Clock,” a tragedy about two young communist lovers on the run in World War II, won him international attention in 1966.
Because of the director’s extensive background in theater, Giurgiu says, “Pintilie was an absolute master when working with actors. It was mesmerizing to observe how he achieved impressive performances by forcing...
- 5/23/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Summer 1993 and My Happy Family also take home prizes from Ukrainian festival.
Peter Brosen and Jessica Woodworth’s fourth feature King Of The Belgians received the Golden Duke Grand Prix - based on voting by festival-goers - at the eighth Odesa International Film Festival (Oiff, July 14 - 22), which came to a close on Saturday evening.
The International Competition jury, headed up by German director Christian Petzold and including actress Sibel Kekilli and Romanian producer-director-festival organiser Tudor Giurgiu, awarded the prize for best international feature film to Catalan director Carla Simón’s autobiographical film Summer 1993.
Handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales, Simón’s film had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar where it won the international jury’s grand prix and the Gwff best first feature award.
Meanwhile, My Happy Family by the directorial duo Nana & Simon continued its successful international festival career by picking up the jury’s awards for best director...
Peter Brosen and Jessica Woodworth’s fourth feature King Of The Belgians received the Golden Duke Grand Prix - based on voting by festival-goers - at the eighth Odesa International Film Festival (Oiff, July 14 - 22), which came to a close on Saturday evening.
The International Competition jury, headed up by German director Christian Petzold and including actress Sibel Kekilli and Romanian producer-director-festival organiser Tudor Giurgiu, awarded the prize for best international feature film to Catalan director Carla Simón’s autobiographical film Summer 1993.
Handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales, Simón’s film had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar where it won the international jury’s grand prix and the Gwff best first feature award.
Meanwhile, My Happy Family by the directorial duo Nana & Simon continued its successful international festival career by picking up the jury’s awards for best director...
- 7/24/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Gallery: Pictures from the closing night and awards ceremony of the 15th Transilvania film festival; festival hands out industry development prizes.
Romanian director Bogdan Mirică’s feature debut Dogs (Câini) was the winner of the Transilvania Trophy at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) which came to a close yesterday (June 5).
The thriller about a young man from the big city coming to a remote village to sell the land he inherited from his grandfather had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes last month and is being handled internationally by Bac Films International.
The co-production between Marcela Ursu’s 42 Km Film, French producer Elie Meirovitz’s Ez Films and Bulgaria’s Stephan Komanderev’s Argo Film is the fourth Romanian film to win the top prize in Cluj-Napoca after Cristian Mungiu’s Occident at the first edition of Tiff in 2002, followed by two films by Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East...
Romanian director Bogdan Mirică’s feature debut Dogs (Câini) was the winner of the Transilvania Trophy at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) which came to a close yesterday (June 5).
The thriller about a young man from the big city coming to a remote village to sell the land he inherited from his grandfather had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes last month and is being handled internationally by Bac Films International.
The co-production between Marcela Ursu’s 42 Km Film, French producer Elie Meirovitz’s Ez Films and Bulgaria’s Stephan Komanderev’s Argo Film is the fourth Romanian film to win the top prize in Cluj-Napoca after Cristian Mungiu’s Occident at the first edition of Tiff in 2002, followed by two films by Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East...
- 6/6/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Romanian government is considering tax incentives to attract more foreign producers to shoot in the country.
Speaking at a workshop today as part of the Transilvania International Film Festival’s (Tiff) industry programme, festival president Tudor Giurgiu said that tax incentives were included in draft proposals for amending the Cinema Law.
These proposals were recently submitted to the Ministry of Culture and other government ministries as part of the consultation process “to create a more healthy climate for the film industry in Romania”.
They also aim to revamp and strengthen national film fund Cnc so it can play a more strategic role in the nation’s audiovisual landscape; identify additional sources of funding such as production, distribution and exhibition; make the decision-making process more transparent; and encourage more support for minority co-productions.
Alex Traila, a Cnc board member and Culture Ministry counsellor, said one crucial change to the funding procedure is to move from the existing...
Speaking at a workshop today as part of the Transilvania International Film Festival’s (Tiff) industry programme, festival president Tudor Giurgiu said that tax incentives were included in draft proposals for amending the Cinema Law.
These proposals were recently submitted to the Ministry of Culture and other government ministries as part of the consultation process “to create a more healthy climate for the film industry in Romania”.
They also aim to revamp and strengthen national film fund Cnc so it can play a more strategic role in the nation’s audiovisual landscape; identify additional sources of funding such as production, distribution and exhibition; make the decision-making process more transparent; and encourage more support for minority co-productions.
Alex Traila, a Cnc board member and Culture Ministry counsellor, said one crucial change to the funding procedure is to move from the existing...
- 6/3/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The festival will also honour Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith.
Legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren and Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith will be guests of honour at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff, May 27 – June 5).
The festival kicks off this evening with the world premiere of Romanian director Nae Caranfil’s comedy 6.9. On The Richter Scale.
The festival’s closing gala on June 4 will see Loren [pictured in 2014 short Human Voice] – who is visiting Romania for the first time - receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, while Smith – who came to Romania to produce Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in 2003 - will be presented with the Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema on the same evening in Cluj’s National Theatre.
Competition
This year’s 12-strong Competition includes nine first features such as Bogdan Mirică’s Balkan anti-Western Dogs, Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s horror film Shelley, and [link=nm...
Legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren and Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith will be guests of honour at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff, May 27 – June 5).
The festival kicks off this evening with the world premiere of Romanian director Nae Caranfil’s comedy 6.9. On The Richter Scale.
The festival’s closing gala on June 4 will see Loren [pictured in 2014 short Human Voice] – who is visiting Romania for the first time - receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, while Smith – who came to Romania to produce Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in 2003 - will be presented with the Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema on the same evening in Cluj’s National Theatre.
Competition
This year’s 12-strong Competition includes nine first features such as Bogdan Mirică’s Balkan anti-Western Dogs, Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s horror film Shelley, and [link=nm...
- 5/27/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Throughout the year Los Angeles hosts a great number of festivals focused on highlighting the cinema of specific geographic regions or countries. Among them, the annual South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles allows American audiences the opportunity to experience films from about 18 countries of South East Europe, showcasing diversity of cultures and cinematic talents.
SEEfest was twice the recipient of the prestigious festival grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and five other awards for programming excellence from the State of California, County and City of Los Angeles, and Cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
The 2016 edition of the festival runs April 28 – May 5 at Ahrya Fine Arts and Music Hall in Beverly Hills, the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and West Hollywood Council Chambers/Library. This year the program focuses on the many faces of exile, both external and internal, and includes stories both piercing and lifting that share as many facets of the human experience of exile as there are films. A full slate of high quality features and timely documentaries will begin on Opening night April 28 at Ahrya Fine Arts theater with the premiere of Bosnia’s Oscar entry "Our Everyday Life," directed by Ines Tanović, who will attend the screening.
The festival was designed to showcase the cinema from South East Europe, a part of the world that is as tumultuous as it is fascinating. “We are deeply honored to have several wonderful films on the program that do what cinema does best, take us up close and personal with real people on a perilous trek toward uncertain future,” says SEEfest Founder and Artistic Director, Vera Mijojlić.
The list of acclaimed features and documentaries include a young boy’s journey across hostile borders in search of a father in Visar Morina’s "Babai," which was Kosovo's Oscar entry at the most recent Academy Awards; a documentary about refugees "Logbook_Serbistan"" by the celebrated Serbian director and lifelong rebel, Želimir Žilnik; a romantic comedy from Australia about Greek-Muslim love, "Alex & Eve" by Peter Andrikidis; Bulgarian coming-of-ager "Losers," a self-deprecating reference to the society at large by Ivaylo Hristov; Serbian morality tale about corrosive hidden truths, "A Good Wife" by celebrated Eastern European actress-turned-director Mirjana Karanović and which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival; a love story on the mine fields dotting the border-crossings between Turkey and Greece, "Riverbanks" by Greek director Panos Karkanevatos; a photographer’s album of the 20th century in "The Eye of Istanbul" from Turkey, by Binnur Karaevli and Fatih Kaymak; the riveting political thriller "Why Me?" by Tudor Giurgiu from Romania; Serbia's moving Oscar entry "Enclave" by veteran helmer Goran Radovanović, and more films ranging in cinematic sensibility from quiet observation to irreverent humor.
For more information and tickets visit Here.
SEEfest was twice the recipient of the prestigious festival grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and five other awards for programming excellence from the State of California, County and City of Los Angeles, and Cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
The 2016 edition of the festival runs April 28 – May 5 at Ahrya Fine Arts and Music Hall in Beverly Hills, the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and West Hollywood Council Chambers/Library. This year the program focuses on the many faces of exile, both external and internal, and includes stories both piercing and lifting that share as many facets of the human experience of exile as there are films. A full slate of high quality features and timely documentaries will begin on Opening night April 28 at Ahrya Fine Arts theater with the premiere of Bosnia’s Oscar entry "Our Everyday Life," directed by Ines Tanović, who will attend the screening.
The festival was designed to showcase the cinema from South East Europe, a part of the world that is as tumultuous as it is fascinating. “We are deeply honored to have several wonderful films on the program that do what cinema does best, take us up close and personal with real people on a perilous trek toward uncertain future,” says SEEfest Founder and Artistic Director, Vera Mijojlić.
The list of acclaimed features and documentaries include a young boy’s journey across hostile borders in search of a father in Visar Morina’s "Babai," which was Kosovo's Oscar entry at the most recent Academy Awards; a documentary about refugees "Logbook_Serbistan"" by the celebrated Serbian director and lifelong rebel, Želimir Žilnik; a romantic comedy from Australia about Greek-Muslim love, "Alex & Eve" by Peter Andrikidis; Bulgarian coming-of-ager "Losers," a self-deprecating reference to the society at large by Ivaylo Hristov; Serbian morality tale about corrosive hidden truths, "A Good Wife" by celebrated Eastern European actress-turned-director Mirjana Karanović and which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival; a love story on the mine fields dotting the border-crossings between Turkey and Greece, "Riverbanks" by Greek director Panos Karkanevatos; a photographer’s album of the 20th century in "The Eye of Istanbul" from Turkey, by Binnur Karaevli and Fatih Kaymak; the riveting political thriller "Why Me?" by Tudor Giurgiu from Romania; Serbia's moving Oscar entry "Enclave" by veteran helmer Goran Radovanović, and more films ranging in cinematic sensibility from quiet observation to irreverent humor.
For more information and tickets visit Here.
- 4/28/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
United States Of Love, Rams and Mustang will feature at the eighth edition of the festival; regional premiere of Mirjana Karanovic’s A Good Wife.Scroll down for full line-up
The eighth Prishtina International Film Festival (April 22-29) will open with a screening of Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea, which will compete as part of the event’s European Film Competition.
Tomasz Wasilewski’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning United States Of Love will also compete in the strand, as will Grímur Hákonarson’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning Rams and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang.
Completing the line-up is Juris Kursietis’ Modris, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000 Km, and Swiss 10-part Sci-Fi anthology Heimtaland. The films will compete for the festival’s Golden Goddess prize for best European film.
The Honey and Blood competition, which showcases Balkan titles, will this year feature nine films including Danis Tanovic’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning Death In Sarajevo - which will close the festival with Tanovic...
The eighth Prishtina International Film Festival (April 22-29) will open with a screening of Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea, which will compete as part of the event’s European Film Competition.
Tomasz Wasilewski’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning United States Of Love will also compete in the strand, as will Grímur Hákonarson’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning Rams and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang.
Completing the line-up is Juris Kursietis’ Modris, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000 Km, and Swiss 10-part Sci-Fi anthology Heimtaland. The films will compete for the festival’s Golden Goddess prize for best European film.
The Honey and Blood competition, which showcases Balkan titles, will this year feature nine films including Danis Tanovic’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning Death In Sarajevo - which will close the festival with Tanovic...
- 4/7/2016
- ScreenDaily
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