TIFF.19 - 2020

The 19th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival, the first major film festival to take place in the region in this period ended on Sunday, August 9, with two sold-out screenings of the French comedy Delete History (r. Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern). Even in conditions of increased safety, and organized exclusively outdoors, the largest film event in Romania attracted, between July 31 and August 9, a number of 45,000 participants. For ten days, film lovers watched 157 films, from 49 countries, presented late into the night in 232 screenings (from around 400 in 2019), in 14 partner locations in Cluj-Napoca.

More than 50 events were sold out, with the opening film La Belle Époque by Nicolas Bedos on top of the list, with more than 1000 sold tickets for the three parallel screenings. The occupancy rate remained high - 61% compared to 63 % last year. According to the rules in place in Romania, the maximum number of participants aloud per event is 500. The entire festival was organized according to social distancing regulations and taking all relevant safety precautions, setting an example for similar large events.

The  best films and filmmakers of this year’s edition was rewarded Saturday, August 8, at the awards gala of the Transilvania International Film Festival, which took place outdoors, in Cluj-Napoca’s Unirii Square for the first time in the festival’s history. Shannon Murphy’s debut film Babyteeth, starring Eliza Scanlen won the 10,000 euros Transilvania Trophy “for the joy of life told through the experience of our passage beyond”.

The Transilvania International Film Festival (July 31 – August 9, 2020) is reconfigured to prioritize public health, safety, and social distancing by doing exclusively outdoor screenings in over 10 locations in Cluj. Safety measures will be mandatory for all TIFF crew, guests, and audience members and will be posted prominently in all locations.

TIFF’s 19th edition opens Friday, July 31, in the Unirii Square outdoor cinema with La Belle Époque, a French comedy featuring Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, and Fanny Ardant. Tickets sold out on the first day they went on sale, so two parallel locations were added, for which tickets will go on sale soon. The over 130 titles selected by Artistic Director Mihai Chirilov will screen for 10 days starting mostly at 9:30PM, with the exception of a few locations where they will start at 7PM. The EducaTIFF screenings for children  will take place in the courtyard of the Art Museum at 10 AM.