Focus Argentina attracted large audiences at Transilvania IFF

The 14^th edition of Transilvania International Film Festival brought to Cluj-Napoca, in addition to the competitive and the traditional thematic sections, a program focused on the most dynamic South-American film industry, Argentina. 17 Argentinean productions and co-productions, among which 16 feature films, were presented in six different sections, including the Opening Gala. 11 films were presented in the special Focus Argentina section. Some of the Argentinean filmmakers attended the festival as guests and met with the audience during the Q&A sessions.

Relatos salvajes / Wild Tales, the dark revenge comedy by Damián Szifrón, nominated in the Best Foreign Language category at the Oscars and the most successful film at the 2014 Argentinean box office, opened TIFF on May 29, in the Unirii Square and set a new record of over 2.500 spectators, the highest number ever present to a TIFF opening gala. The film is distributed by Transilvania Film and opened theatrically on June 12. The Gala was attended by His Excellency, Claudio Pérez Paladino, the ambassador of Argentina in Romania. The Gala also benefited from a tango show put on by the Cluj Tango Company and a flash mob with amateur dancers. The night went on in a very Argentinean style thanks to Walter Donado, one of the protagonists of the film, who talked to the public after the screening. In addition, the Opening Party which took place in Casa TIFF was also focused on Argentina.

Over 6.000 viewers attended the Argentinean screenings. The selection was put together by Violeta Bava, Artistic Director of Buenos Aires International Film Festival (BAFICI) and member in the 2015 TIFF jury, and Mihai Chirilov, Artistic Director of TIFF. Based on Mihai Chirilov idea, the two festivals entered a partnership which stipulates that the winner of the national competition in one festival should be screened by the other festival and vice versa. Violeta Bava talked about the evolution of Argentinean cinema: „What is really remarkable is the fact that, from the very beginning, Argentinean cinema stayed in focus, in terms of the international festival circuit, multiplexes and arthouse cinemas. The most important directors of the New Argentinean Cinema continue to make good and highly anticipated films. They have their own international audiences.”

In addition to Violeta Bava, the 2015 TIFF jury was composed of Dennis Lim (programmer for Film Society of Lincoln Center), George Ovashvili (director), Olimpia Melinte (actress) and Juliette Lepoutre (producer). The jury awarded the Transilvania Trophy (15.000 euro), to the Argentinean film El incendio, by Juan Schnitman. The jury awarded the drama of the couple in crisis for its "for its vitality, ambition and sense of risk in dealing with a complex subject".

Juan Schnitman was in Cluj for the screening and sent a video message during the award ceremony. During the festival, he told AperiTIFF:  „The city is great, the weather is wonderful. I'm going to see lots of films [...] In Argentina, we make about 200 films every year, which is huge, but kind of explains our presence in all major international film festivals. It's statistics. As we can't make 200 bad films, some of them are really good. But we can't show them as easy as we make them, because American films have precedence in cinemas”. Another TIFF guest was director Sebastián Schindel, author of El patron, radiografia de un crimen.

Focus Argentina

1. Aire libre, by Anahí Berneri (Argentina-Uruguay)
2. Dos disparos / Two Shots Fired, by Martín Rejtman (Argentina-Chile-Germany-The Netherlands)
3. El cinco de talleres, by Adrián Biniez (Uruguay-Argentina-Germany-France-The Netherlands)
4. Mariposa / Butterfly, by Marco Berger (Argentina)
5. Historia del miedo / History Of Fear, by Benjamín Naishtat (Argentina-France-Germany, Uruguay-Qatar)
6. Jauja, by Lisandro Alonso (Argentina-USA-The Netherlands-France-Mexico)
7. The Mad Half Hour, by Leonardo Brzezicki (Argentina-Denmark)
8. Noche / Night, by Leonardo Brzezicki (Argentina-Italy)
9. El patron, radiografia de un crimen / The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime, by Sebastián Schindel (Argentina-Venezuela)
10. La princesa de Francia / The Princess Of France, by Matías Piñeiro (Argentina)
11. Refugiados, by Diego Lerman (Argentina-Columbia-France-Poland-Germany)

Other sections:

Unirii Square - Relatos salvajes / Wild Tales, by Damian Szifron (Argentina-Spain)

Competition - El incendio / The Fire, by Juan Schnitman (Argentina)

Words Are Very Unnecessary - Dog Lady / La Mujer de los perros, by Laura Citarella & Verónica Llinás (Argentina); Parabellum, by Lukas Valenta Rinner (Argentina-Austria-Uruguay)

Supernova - Sand Dollars / Dólares de arena, by Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán (The Dominican Republic-Mexico-Argentina)

Usual Suspects - Betibú, by Miguel Cohan (Argentina-Spain)

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Partners: Tenaris Silcotub, Fundación Proa, Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales, Ambasada Argentinei în România