RO Days | Industry Events at Transilvania IFF.25: The program for film industry professionals
At the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026, Cluj-Napoca), RO Days | Industry Events returns with three days of dedicated industry programming, bringing international film professionals together in Cluj for talks, pitching sessions, and exchange.
The program highlights topics such as film financing and the future of European cinema, new directions in national film funding bodies, the protection of screenwriters’ rights, the development of international careers for Romanian actors, and the impact of artificial intelligence on audiovisual production.
Among the speakers and masterclass guests are Ada Solomon, producer and Chair of the Board of the European Film Academy, Roman Gutek, one of Europe’s most influential art-house film distributors, Irish actor Aidan Gillen—known for series such as Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders, and The Wire—and Corneliu Porumboiu, one of the most important representatives of the Romanian New Wave.
“By bringing together international perspectives with discussions that directly address the needs of the Romanian industry, we hope to offer a program that is both inspiring and genuinely useful. If participants leave Transilvania IFF with new ideas, valuable contacts, and renewed energy for their projects and careers, we will consider that we have achieved our goal,” said Ami Geger, Head of Industry at Transilvania IFF.25, in an interview for Variety.
Access to RO Days | Industry Events is granted via accreditation, which can be requested online at https://tiff.ro/industry/acreditari.
The program opens on Thursday, June 18, with the Transilvania Pitch Stop (TPS) pitching sessions, where ten projects will be presented, followed by one-on-one meetings between creative teams and international industry professionals. Ada Solomon opens the event series with the keynote Future of European Film Financing, dedicated to the challenges and perspectives of European film funding.
In the panel National Film Centers: Shifting from Traditional Cinema to Audiovisual, Cross-Media Storytelling, and Sustainable Production, Nataša Bučar (Slovenian Film Centre) and Valentina Iusuphodjaev (National Film Center of the Republic of Moldova) discuss how film institutions are adapting to industry transformations. What’s Cooking, Romania? addresses key topics for the local sector—including the new Cinema Law, the cash rebate scheme, and support for minority co-productions—with contributions from Andrei Boncea, Valentin Savu, and Anamaria Antoci. The first day concludes with Between Generations: Passing the Mic, a Romanian-language conversation between directors and producers from different generations.
Friday, June 19, opens with Works in Progress screenings, offering the first glimpses of seven Romanian films in development. At Edison – House of Music, the SYNC section brings together composers and music supervisors in a series of talks dedicated to the relationship between music and image: Alex Simu and George Dumitriu discuss film music and cine-concerts, Balz Bachmann explores the role of music in narrative construction, and Gary Welch speaks about the profession of music supervision.
At the Radisson Blu, the program continues with Who and What Protects the Screenwriter?, a discussion on screenwriters’ rights featuring Denis Goulette (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe), Geo Doba, and Cristina Iliescu, representatives of the Romanian Screenwriters’ Guild. The audience is then invited to two masterclasses led by Roman Gutek, one of the most influential figures in European art-house film distribution, and actor Aidan Gillen.
The panel European Series in Transition: Funding, Institutions and New Dynamics brings together Alex Trăilă (Council of Europe) and Emmanuel Eckert (Samara Media), while Beyond Borders: How Actors Build International Careers gathers agents and casting directors Alice Walrafen, David Zitzlsperger, Domnica Cîrciumaru, and Jon Kiriac to discuss building international careers. The afternoon is reserved for Drama Room and Book to Screen pitching sessions, followed by two presentations on the impact of artificial intelligence in the audiovisual industry: Matt Subieta (Navia Films) explores AI tools accessible to independent filmmakers, while Vasi Alboiu (PRO TV) analyzes their use in film and animation production.
On Saturday, June 20, the final day of the program is largely open to the wider public and features three consecutive masterclasses. The series opens with Corneliu Porumboiu and continues with British director Ben Wheatley, known for Kill List, High Rise, and Rebecca, and Ornella Muti, one of the most acclaimed actresses in European cinema, with a career spanning more than five decades.
Over 250 producers, distributors, sales agents, film commissioners, and festival programmers are expected at Transilvania IFF.25, taking part in events organized within the framework of Zilele Filmului Românesc, a section supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
The RO Days | Industry Events program at Transilvania IFF is made possible with the support of HBO, Chainsaw, Avanpost Media, Connecting Cottbus, the Romanian Cultural Institute, UPFAR-ARGOA, DACIN SARA, the Romanian Filmmakers’ Union, the National Center of Cinematography of Romania, the National Film Center of the Republic of Moldova, Luno, German Films, Swiss Films, Edison House of Music, Sync About It, Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme, the Embassy of France in Romania, the French Institute in Romania, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania, See NL, PRO TV, VOYO, Radisson Blu, Nespresso, Jidvei, Filmoffice.ro, Filmmakers Europe, Festival Scope, Screen International, Matca Literară, and Curtea Veche Publishing.
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The Transilvania International Film Festival is organized by the Romanian Film Promotion Association and the Transilvania Film Festival Association.
