TIFF.13 - 2014
The 13th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival took place in Cluj-Napoca from May 30 to June 8, 2014. The edition featured 217 films from 55 countries, screened in approximately 400 screenings, and attracted more than 63,000 paying viewers, while the total number of participants — including free open-air screenings, masterclasses, workshops, launches, exhibitions and special events — exceeded 100,000. Around 1,000 Romanian and international guests attended the screenings and events.
The edition opened with Stephen Frears’ Oscar-nominated film Philomena. The opening gala, initially scheduled for Piața Unirii Open Air, was moved due to bad weather to Casa de Cultură a Studenților and Cinema Florin Piersic. The festival closed on June 8 with Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, one of the most anticipated films of the year, screened in Piața Unirii.
The TIFF 2014 image campaign brought together Vlad the Impaler and Matthias Corvinus, imagined as cinephiles of the 3D era. For the first time in the festival’s history, the visual concept was not created internally, but selected through a competition aimed at young artists. The winner was Paul Bucovesan, a graphic artist from Cluj, whose proposal was chosen from more than 100 submitted projects.
One of the most important projects associated with the edition was the “Save the Big Screen!” campaign, initiated by APFR and supported by TIFF, aiming to raise awareness about the disappearance of cinemas in Romania and the need to restore existing venues. TIFF 2014 hosted debates, workshops, special screenings and fundraising actions for the Cluj Film Depot, envisioned as a future alternative space and possible Museum of Cinema.
The program also included special events such as Weekend at the Castle, TIFF Lounge meetings, masterclasses within Transilvania Talent Lab, Hungarian Day, screenings in sections such as Supernova, Shadows and Cinema, Mon Amour, as well as concerts and musical experiments. Among the complementary events was the concert by Polish band Małe Instrumenty / Small Instruments, which also included a workshop at Bonțida, in dialogue with local traditional singers and musicians.