Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality.
Schedule
Friday 13.06
Saturday 14.06
To a Land Unknown
Chatila and Reda are Palestinian refugees living in Athens. They are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Greece, but then Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his dangerous drug addiction. Now Chatila hatches an extreme plan so that their dream can get back on track...
Islands
Tom is the tennis coach at a luxurious island hotel, filling the time between lessons with alcohol and one-night stands. He strikes up a relationship with guests Anne, her husband Dave and their son Anton.
The Man from London
After witnessing a crime during his night shift as railway switchman near the docks, a man finds a briefcase full of money. While he and his family step up their living standards, others start looking for the disappeared case. Based on the thriller novel of Georges Simenon!
Sunday 15.06
Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued
A young man named Julian moves to New York City. He rents a small room and one day, as he repaints the room, he finds a book and a pencil drawing of a deer concealed in the wall.
Noise
A woman with a hearing impediment who is haunted by sounds linking to her sister's disappearance and the presence of a malevolent spirit. It leads to a dark secret and the revelation of a mysterious entity.
Being Maria
Maria is a young, struggling actress with promise. When an emerging Italian director casts her to
Monday 16.06
Rains Over Babel
Today marks the end of Dante's contract with La Flaca, death personified. As Dante starts recalling who he was before he died, he aids Monet, a ghost desperate to return to his body before it decomposes.
Cine-concert Aurora
Aurora (Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1927), directed by F.W. Murnau, is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of early cinema. The story follows a farmer (George O'Brien) who falls under the spell of a femme fatale from the city (Janet Gaynor), who persuades him to murder his wife. However, the film transforms into a profound meditation on love, remorse, and redemption.
The Return
After 20 years away, Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognisable. The King has finally returned home but much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war.
Tuesday 17.06
Block Pass
Willy and Jojo are childhood friends who never leave each other's side. Training at the motocross track is their way to beat boredom. One evening, Willy discovers Jojo's secret.
Electric Child
Sonny and Akiko’s joy upon the arrival of their first child quickly turns to panic when their doctor gives them unimaginable news.
Wednesday 18.06
Internal Zero
Cristina, a 35-year-old secretary living in an alienating and hostile Bucharest, is trying to understand what it means being a bills-paying, ready-to-settle, social-ladder-climbing adult while still desperately wanting to be a good child for the single mom that raised her.
World Between Us
Marie no longer feels at home in her native Mikulov, nor does she feel like she belongs to America. The phenomenon of pulling up one’s roots, migrating elsewhere, and finding a new home in a foreign land is a universal theme.
Family Nest
Irén lives with her daughter in a small apartment of her in-laws, in the center of Budapest. Her husband Laci just came back from his national service and his relationship with Irén is deteriorating.
Embrace of the Serpent
The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists searching the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.
Special screening in honor of director Ciro Guerra, who serves as a jury member at TIFF 2025!
Thursday 19.06
Love Hurts
Love Hurts is an intimate documentary about the fragility and power of love, which tells the true stories of two couples over two years of suffering, separations and reconciliations. The film explores the sinuous dynamics of relationships and the difficult process of emotional healing.
A Hunt for Hedgehogs
Bogi, a talented opera singer student, earns money by babysitting the children of her cousin, whose marriage is in crisis. On the day of her final exam, she is under pressure and commits an error while she is with the children.
Tooth and Nail
Two filmmakers follow an entrepreneur turned eco-activist as he exposes Romania's timber mafia. Their journey takes a dramatic turn when, in the middle of a forest, the three are attacked by a group of 12 angry men.
A Whale
Ingrid is a hired killer with a special power: she can use the darkness to enter a parallel world and reappear somewhere else in the real world. This allows her to get into the homes of her victims and get out again without leaving any trace.
Werkhmeister Harmonies
An innocent young man witnesses violence break out after an isolated village is inflamed by the arrival of a circus and its peculiar attractions: a giant whale and a mysterious man named “The Prince”.
Friday 20.06
Comatogen
Trying to get money to cover a debt for her son, who is in danger of going to prison, Alina, a nurse, faces an unexpected ethical problem. World premiere at TIFF!
Romanian Shorts II
Despre imposibilitatea unui omagiu (On the Impossibility of an Homage, dir. Xandra Popescu, România)
Alișveriș (Alisveris, dir. Vasile Todinca, România)
Zi de sărbătoare (Celebration Day, dir. Octavian Șaramet, România)
Grandpa Is Sleeping (dir. Matei Branea, România)
Moor
Ex-military Beibars, nicknamed Moor, returns from prison to look after his brother's family, but finds that his brother has disappeared, leaving huge debts behind. It's up to Moor to pay. If you ever wished for a Kazakh Rambo, here it is!
Saturday 21.06
Cadet
Single mother Alina tries to enroll her son, Serik, in an elite military academy, but he is bullied by his classmates because of his girlish appearance, and the principal deems him unfit for the school. Alina succeeds in getting Serik reinstated, but the consequences will be terrible…
The Marching Band
Thibaut is an internationally renowned conductor who travels the world. When he learns he was adopted, he discovers the existence of a younger brother, Jimmy, who works in a school cafeteria and plays the trombone in a small marching band.
Sunday 22.06
Being Maria
Maria is a young, struggling actress with promise. When an emerging Italian director casts her to
Cine-concert Amadeus LIVE
After performances at the New York Philharmonic and Royal Albert Hall London, the film Amadeus (dir. Miloš Forman, 1984), depicting the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, will be screened at the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 13–22, 2025, Cluj-Napoca).
Paul and Paulette Take a Bath
Paul and Paulette’s chance encounter on a Parisian boulevard sparks an unusual friendship that grows around a dark game. The two youngsters start reenacting scenes of notorious crimes from bygone eras at the sites they occurred... For Paul, the game is a way of getting closer to Paulette.