Film critic Alex Leo Şerban, one of the representative figures of Romanian contemporary cinema, has passed away on April 8, 2011, at the age of 51, after a long and painful battle with illness (lymphatic cancer).
Leo was one of the closest friends of Transilvania International Film Festival, ever since its foundation in 2002, and his loss is deeply felt by the entire TIFF team.
Born on June 28, 1959, film critic, author of essays, prose, translations, visual artist, senior editor at Dilema Veche, Alex Leo Şerban graduated the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Bucharest in 1983, being also awarded several fellowships, by the French Ministry of Culture in 1992, “International Visitor” in the U.S. in 1996 and the GE/NEC fellowship between 2003 and 2004. Since 1982, he has been present (with essays, poetry, prose and translations) in most of the Romanian cultural publications (România literară, Secolul 20, Luceafărul, Contrapunct, Litere, Arte & Idei, Lettre internationale, Ideea, etc.) and in various foreign publications (Cahiers du cinema, Cover Magazine, Film Comment). He also wrote for Elle, Idei în dialog, Libertatea, Observator cultural, Suplimentul de cultură, Ziarul de duminică.
He was the only Romanian film critic invited on Bernard Pivot’s show Double Je (2004). Author and moderator of the show Fotograme on TVR Cultural (2005-2006). Lecturer at the Lincoln Center, at the Universities of Umea, Humboldt and Pittsburgh, and at the National Theater in Bucharest. He presented the Lucian Pintilie retrospective in London (2004), curated and presented the Romanian Film Festival “Romanian Cinema: A Journey”, organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London (2007), and the “Shining Through a Long, Dark Night” retrospective at the Lincoln Center (2008). In January 2008 he was elected, through a public poll on www.cinemagia.ro, The Favorite Film Critic of Romanian Film Lovers. He was the first beneficiary of the Grand Prize for Cultural Journalism, awarded by Fundatia Timpul, also in 2008.
Through the years, he has been a member in the juries of many prestigious film festivals from all around the world, including the jury of Transilvania International Film Festival – at its second edition, in 2003.
His friendship and support towards the festival have had a huge contribution in TIFF’s emergence on the national and international stage, and he has always been one of the festival’s most beloved guests.
Those who wish to express their feelings on the loss of Leo may do so by sending their messages to info@tiff.ro. The messages will be posted on our website, in a special section.
