The largest film festival in Romania kicks off today, May 29, in Cluj. The 14th edition of Transilvania International Film Festival will officially begin at 8.45 PM in Unirii Square Open Air with the Opening Ceremony, followed by the Romanian premiere of Wild Tales (by Damián Szifron), nominated this year for an Academy Award. The film is produced by Pedro Almodóvar and will be distributed locally by Transilvania Film, from June 12. The gala will be presented by Tudor Giurgiu, Festival President, and will take place in the presence of various local officials and international film personalities.
Until June 7, the Transilvania IFF audience can choose between the best recent films, concerts, exhibitions, master-classes, debates and parties. The festival boasts 223 films from over 60 countries and about 850 Romanian and foreign guests.
During the Gala, Tudor Giurgiu will introduce the most recent projects of the festival: TIFF Campus – launched with the occasion of the Cluj – European Youth Capital 2015 event, Cine-pool – a fresh way of watching films, the Film Warehouse – reactivated last year after the Save the Big Screen! campaign and becoming now a new free entrance location of Transilvania IFF with a playing area, a fair and a summer garden. During the Gala, the street theatre troupe Compagnie des Quidams will present a fragment from their new musical and visual show: “Fiers à Cheval”.
TIFF Campus: During the first weekend of the festival, Transilvania IFF comes to the students, in the Hașdeu Campus, with free entrance open air screenings, concerts and parties. On May 29, the program will start after 6pm with The Toasters, the legendary ska band from America, followed by the explosive Berliners of RotFront. On May 30, it's time for a Romanian-electro night featuring GOLAN and ROA. In the last day, hip-hop takes center stage via Fantome, AFO (Aforic) and CTC. The films screened here will delight the students: on Friday – Dyke Hard, a delicious Sci-Fi musical punk parody; on Saturday – the black comedy on revenge, Wild Tales; and on Sunday, Dessau Dancers, about the history of breakdance in East Germany.
Weekend at the Castle: On May 30 and 31, Transilvania IFF will also be present at the Banffy Castle in Bonțida. The program features, from 12pm to 7pm, workshops, games and children shows. On Saturday, from 8.30pm, Compagnie des Quidams will perform the show „Fiers à Cheval” in its entirety. The event will be followed by the Romanian premiere of one of the most anticipated documentaries of the year: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, by Brett Morgan, the first film ever made about the famous leader of Nirvana with his family's support. The French band Zenzile will accompany live the masterpiece Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), Sunday, from 9.45pm.
EducaTIFF: The screenings will start Friday morning with films for the youngest audiences. The seventh edition of EducaTIFF brings to Cluj six films awarded in international festivals. The importance of cinematic education and the necessity of its presence in schools are the focus of various meetings between the festival and the Cluj professors, among others. The first screening of this year's Transilvania IFF – Friday, 10am, Cinema Victoria – is My Skinny Sister (by Sanna Lenken), a story about jealousy, love and betrayal, told with a lot of humor and warmth. Other various screenings will take place at Cinema Florin Piersic, Cinema Arta, Cinema Victoria, The Army House, Cinema Mărăști, Mănăștur Open Air and the French Institute.
Mănăștur Open Air will host, on Friday night, from 10pm, the screening of a coming-of-age film about football, El Cinco (by Adrian Biniez), while Cinema Mărăști will start at 6pm, with Historia del miedo (by Benjamin Naishtat).
Starting with this edition, Transilvania IFF can be discovered with the aid of a new app, Zoniz, developed in Cluj. The app includes announcements and sends notifications about the events which take place in the user's proximity, but it can also be used to send the user's itinerary and favorite films to his friends and to share recommendations.
Tickets can be acquired online, on www.biletmaster.ro, and from the TIFF ticket offices.
The TIFF 2015 app is available on App Store and Play Store.
