TIFF.14 - 2015

The 14th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival took place in Cluj-Napoca from May 29 to June 7, 2015. It was one of the festival’s most extensive editions up to that point, featuring 223 films from 60 countries, around 400 screenings, more than 73,000 paying viewers and over 110,000 participants in total, including free open-air screenings, concerts, masterclasses, workshops, launches, exhibitions and special events. Around 850 Romanian and international guests — directors, producers, actors, industry professionals and journalists — attended the festival in Cluj.

The edition opened in Piața Unirii with the screening of Wild Tales / Relatos salvajes, the black comedy directed by Damián Szifron, in front of around 2,500 spectators. The festival continued to expand throughout the city, with screenings in established venues such as Cinema Florin Piersic, Cinema Arta, Cinema Victoria, Cercul Militar, Cinema Mărăști and the French Institute, as well as in open-air spaces such as Mănăștur Open Air, TIFF Campus, the Film Depot and Bánffy Castle in Bonțida.

The TIFF 2015 image campaign was created, for the second consecutive year, by Romanian-British artists Anton Groves and Damian Groves. The official poster and trailer featured Cristian Iorga, an actor at the North Theatre in Satu Mare, in a comic reinterpretation of the iconic image from A Clockwork Orange. The concept of the campaign was an ironic comment on the gadget generation, increasingly absorbed by technology and less able to focus on the film experience inside the cinema. The “spirit of TIFF,” represented by the black-gloved hands in the poster and trailer, intervened abruptly and playfully to open the protagonist’s eyes to the emotional force of cinema.

One of the edition’s special projects was TIFF Campus, launched in the year when Cluj-Napoca was European Youth Capital. In the area of the Hașdeu Student Campus, the festival organized open-air screenings, concerts and parties with free entry, bringing TIFF closer to young audiences and to the energy of the university city. The program included concerts by The Toasters, RotFront, ROA, Golan, CTC, Fantome and AFO & live band Cred că sunt extraterestru, as well as screenings such as Dyke Hard, Dessau Dancers and Wild Tales.

At Bánffy Castle in Bonțida, the Weekend at the Castle program brought together children’s activities, outdoor performances and cine-concerts. Highlights included FierS à Cheval, performed by the French company Compagnie des Quidams, the Romanian premiere of the documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, and the cine-concert by the French band Zenzile, who accompanied the silent film Berlin: Symphony of a Great City live.

The edition also featured a rich music program, with events at Casa TIFF, Casa de Cultură a Studenților, Bánffy Castle, the Film Depot and TIFF Campus. Musical guests included Zenzile, Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, Afghan-German artist Simin Tander, Einar Stray Orchestra, Adrian Naidin Band, Moebius, Satellites, Of the Wand & The Moon, Temple Invisible and Baba Dochia.

Highlights

Record number of attendees at Transilvania IFF 2015!

The 14^th edition of Transilvania IFF brought a record in the history of the biggest and most important film festival in Romania: the 223 films from 60 countries, shown into about 400 screenings, had a record number of tickets sold, 73.000, with 10.000 more than in 2014 and without taking into account the great numbers attending the free open air screenings in Mănăștur, TIFF Campus or the Film Deposit, the master classes, workshops, exhibitions, the free NORWAVE screenings and concerts.

14th Transilvania IFF Awards

El incendio / The Fire, from Argentina, directed by Juan Schnitman, is the winner of the Transilvania Trophy. The winners of the 14th edition of Transilvania IFF were announced on Saturday evening, at the National Theatre in Cluj, during the Closing Gala of the festival. The main award, in amount of 15.000 Euro, was handed out on stage by actress Nastassja Kinski, Dennis Lim - member of the Jury - and the Minister of Culture, Ionuț Vulpescu. The jury praised the film for "for its vitality, ambition and sense of risk in dealing with a complex subject".

Nastassja Kinski honoured at Transilvania IFF 2015

Nastassja Kinski comes for the first time to Romania, as a Special Guest of Transilvania International Film Festival. Actress, model and sex symbol of the 70s-80s era, she has appeared in over 60 films and worked with renowned directors such as Wim Wenders, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola and David Lynch. She will attend the screening of Paris, Texas (Palme d’Or, 1984), on June 3th, and will hold a master-class within Transilvania Talent Lab, on June 5th. During the Closing Ceremony on June 6th, which will take place at the National Theatre in Cluj, she will receive the Special Award for the Contribution to the World Cinema.

Debra Winger – Lifetime Achievement Award

The American actress Debra Winger is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Debra Winger is one of the most sensuous, talented and temperamental American actresses of her generation. She became famous shortly after moving to Los Angeles. Her feature film debut was in the sexploitation Slumber Party ‘57 (1976), and in 1980 she was a two-time Golden Globe nominee and a BAFTA nominee thanks to her turn in Urban Cowboy, co-starring John Travolta.

Awards

Transilvania Trophy