Special Guests | TIFF 2026

Ornella Muti, a legend of Italian cinema, is coming to Cluj-Napoca, where she will be celebrated at the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026). The actress will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the screening of Swann in Love.

Ornella Muti rose to prominence through both auteur cinema—working with directors such as Ettore Scola, Francesco Rosi, Woody Allen, Lucas Belvaux, Mike Figgis, and John Landis—and hugely popular Italian comedies. Over the years, she has built a remarkable filmography spanning a wide range of styles, genres, and national cinemas.

Ben Wheatley is one of the most original and unpredictable British directors of his generation. His films, ranging from the psychological thriller Kill List (2011) to the dystopia High-Rise (2015), from the dark comedy Sightseers (2012) to the blockbuster Meg 2: The Trench (2023), refuse to fit into a single genre, blending horror with satire, violence with absurd humor, and conventional storytelling with pure experimentation. Wheatley is a filmmaker of contrasts, an author who can move from art-house cinema to studio production without losing his distinctive voice.

With his latest film, Bulk, screened at TIFF.25, Wheatley returns to where he feels most at home: the controlled chaos of independent filmmaking made on a minimal budget, with improvised cameras and limitless imagination.

Sam Riley was the lead singer of a rock band before turning to acting, an unconventional path that has shaped his entire career. The role that brought him widespread recognition was his portrayal of Ian Curtis, the legendary frontman of Joy Division, in the film Control (dir. Anton Corbijn, 2007), which earned him numerous awards, including a British Independent Film Award and a BAFTA nomination for “Rising Star.”

Since then, Riley has built a remarkable career, moving from the adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road (dir. Walter Salles, 2012), to playing Diaval in the blockbuster Maleficent (dir. Robert Stromberg, 2014) alongside Angelina Jolie, and even Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (dir. Seth Grahame-Smith, 2016). At TIFF, Sam Riley will be attending the screening of the film Bulk.

Aidan Gillen, the Irish actor whose career has spanned mainstream television and European independent cinema, will be joining the jury of the Official Competition at the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026) in Cluj-Napoca. The festival will also screen two of his most recent films: Gorky Resort and Re-creation.

Publicul îl asociază cel mai des cu Petyr Baelish, cunoscut drept Littlefinger în Game of Thrones, unul dintre personajele care au influențat decisiv jocurile de putere din serial. Cu mult înainte de succesul HBO, Gillen devenise deja cunoscut în Marea Britanie datorită rolului Stuart Alan Jones din Queer as Folk, serialul creat de Russell T Davies care a schimbat felul în care televiziunea britanică reprezenta comunitatea queer la finalul anilor ’90.

A defining name and face of Romanian cinema in the 1980s, Anda Onesa will receive the Excellence Award at the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026, Cluj-Napoca). The actress will take the stage at the TIFF.25 Closing Gala, while audiences will also have the chance to meet her at the special screening of September (Septembrie, dir. Timotei Ursu, 1978), in which she starred at just 17 years old.

Anda Onesa made her screen debut at an early age, appearing as an extra in Happiness Is So Close (E atât de aproape fericirea, dir. Andrei Cătălin Băleanu, 1978), and quickly stood out for her sensitivity and natural presence. Her role as Anișoara in September—a modest, dreamy young waitress who accompanies the rebellious leather-jacketed protagonist, played by Geo Costiniu, on a trip to the seaside—brought her into the public spotlight.

Opening TIFF.25 will be Nadia Comăneci, in a year dedicated to her by the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee to mark the 50th anniversary of the first perfect 10 ever awarded in the history of gymnastics. Audiences gathered in Union Square will have the exclusive opportunity to watch the first footage from the work-in-progress documentary about her life and career.

A familiar presence at TIFF, György Pálfi is renowned for his explosive and unconventional style, and the latest title in his filmography is no exception. As the title suggests, in Hen (2025), the story is told almost entirely from the perspective of a chicken that escapes from an industrial farm and ends up in a village on the Greek coast, where it navigates a world dominated by abuse, violence, and absurd power dynamics.

A two-time winner of the Transilvania Trophy, the festival’s highest honour, Corneliu Porumboiu will receive the Special Award of the Anniversary Edition – TIFF.25 Trophy and will hold a masterclass for audiences and film industry professionals. A complete retrospective dedicated to his work will showcase all of his films, from 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006) to The Whistlers (2019).

Sandra den Hamer, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund from 2023 to 2026 and one of the leading figures in the Dutch film industry, is a member of the TIFF.25 Official Competition Jury. With more than 30 years of experience in cultural management and film programming, she served as Director of Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam from 2010 to 2023 and previously held several key positions at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), where she oversaw initiatives including the Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart.

Roman Gutek is a Polish film distributor, producer, festival founder, and champion of arthouse cinema whose name has become synonymous with some of Poland’s most important film initiatives of the past decades. Following the Warsaw Film Festival, the New Horizons International Film Festival, and the American Film Festival in Wrocław, his most recent venture is the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, dedicated to bringing classic films back to contemporary audiences.

Serbian-born filmmaker Ivana Mladenović, who later settled in Romania, studied Film Directing at the National University of Theatre and Film (UNATC) in Bucharest. Following her documentary Turn Off the Lights, which won awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Gopo Awards, she directed Soldiers. Story from Ferentari and Ivana the Terrible, which received the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. Her latest feature, Sorella di Clausura, premiered in the Official Competition at Locarno and earned her the Best Director Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Noaz Deshe is a Romanian filmmaker, cinematographer, and composer based between Mexico City and Athens. His debut feature, White Shadow, won the Lion of the Future Award at the Venice Film Festival and was selected for competition at Sundance. His latest film, Xoftex, premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2024 and went on to win the Best Director Award at both the Transilvania International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. As a cinematographer, he shot the acclaimed Iranian comedy Radio Dreams, while as a musician he composed the score for Babak Jalali’s Frontier Blues, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.

Ana Dumitrașcu va fi prezentă la proiecția filmului Jurnalul unei cameriste

Actrița Adela Popescu va fi prezentă la proiecția filmului 3 zile în septembrie

Actrița Andreea Vasile va fi prezentă la proiecția filmului 3 zile în septembrie

Actorul Valeriu Andriuță va fi prezent la TIFF pentru lansarea primului film regizat de acesta, Cercul

Actrița Ioana Flora va fi prezentă la TIFF pentru proiecția filmului Piatră foarfecă hârtie

Regizorul Tudor Cristian Jurgiu va fi prezent la TIFF pentru proiecția filmului De capul nostru

Actrița Alexandra Maria Lara va fi prezentă la TIFF pentru proiecția filmului Bulk

Regizorul Paul Negoescu va fi prezent la TIFF pentru proiecția filmului Atlasul Universului

Actorul Emilian Oprea va fi prezentă la proiecția filmului 3 zile în septembrie

Actrița Maria Popistașu va fi prezentă la TIFF pentru proiecția filmului ei de debut, Y