The gala will be presented by Tudor Giurgiu, the president of the festival and will be attended by various officials and film personalities. For ten days, until June 8 included, the audience can choose between 217 films from 55 countries, concerts, exhibitions, masterclasses, debates and parties. About 700 guests, Romanian and from abroad, will arrive at TIFF in the next days.
At the opening gala, people will find out more about one of the most important campaigns that involves the TIFF this year, "Save the big screen". On Saturday, May 31, from 10.30 in the Boema Attic, will take place the first major conference of the campaign focused on saving Romania’s cinemas. Emil Boc, the mayor of Cluj, Marius Szabo, the mayor of Gherla, Tudor Giurgiu, TIFF’s President, Marta Mateøské-Samek, president of the Cinema Development Foundation Board (Poland), Tina Hajon - Head of Film Exhibition, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Ivo Andric, manager Aerofilms (The Czech Republic) will attend. Also on May 31, at 8.30 PM, the Film Warehouse on Maiakovsky Street will be officially opened in the presence of various officials and guests; the event will be followed by the screening of some excerpts from Alexander Belc’s documentary, Cinema, mon amour (work-in-progress) and of Cinema at the End, in the presence of the film’s director, Meritxell Soler. The novel space of the former RADEF warehouse will host during the festival the screenings of the same titled section, Cinema, Mon Amour. Free entry.
Screenings begin on Friday morning with films dedicated to the younger festival crowd and presented within the EducaTIFF program. At Cinema Victoria, from 10 AM, screens Etre et avoir, in the presence of its director, Nicolas Philibert, celebrated this year in the 3X3 section. Voted Best Documentary at the 2002 European Film Awards, the film tells the story of the only class in a French village, where all the children are in the care of a teacher. Sunday, June 1, from 11 AM to Piersic Cinema, children and parents will enjoy the Cinepiano experience, a show with live music by pianist Tony Berchmans and images from silent movies with Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton. EducaTIFF includes animation workshops, seminars on film criticism, acting lessons with Stephen Collier, the actor from the movie Regret!, 3D screenings. Details about the schedule, here.
Weekend at the Castle: The little ones are in for some great surprises at the Banffy Castle in Bontida, as well. On May 31and June 1 at 12 PM, children are invited to learn old crafts and professions in the Fortress of the Small Entrepreneurs. Their efforts will be rewarded with fun coupons. Those working with the master potter, carpenter or cook, the fire or hospital departments, earn their right to participate in the workshops on special effects, puppetry, magic shows, football and other games. Those who have old toys can bring them to the outlet shop, where nice sellers who can count, will encourage other kids to buy them. On Saturday, May 31, from 2 PM, the Male Instrumenty Polish musicians, famous for their concerts with improvised instruments, will show children how to create music from recyclable items.
After nightfall, at 9:45 PM, there will be outdoor screenings for adults: on Saturday – The beautiful vacation by Karoly Makk, a Romanian-Hungarian comedy from 1967 starring Florin Piersic, Ion Dichiseanu and Ilinca Tomoroveanu and on Sunday – 1984, directed by Michael Radford, celebrating this year its 30th anniversary. Additional details about Weekend at the Castle, on www.tiff.ro.
Concerts at Casa TIFF also start during the weekend. On Saturday, at 10 PM, a unique show will be offered by the Male Instrumenty Poles who play makeshift instruments from toys, recyclable stuff, and different objects. Sunday, from 10 PM, Teodora Enache will delight the audience with her voice that brought the nickname "Ella Fitzgerald of Romania".
At Mănăștur Open Air, the free outdoor screenings begin on Friday at 10 PM, with Killers, a thriller from the Eye for an Eye thematic section, unsuitable for children. At the Mărăşti cinema, a gym which returns this year in the TIFF circuit, will run two movies per day, at 6 PM and 8:30 PM. Each purchased ticket provides access for two people. The first films are Love Steaks, a love story between two employees of a luxury hotel, and Viva la Libertad!, a sharp comedy about politics.
The weekend is full of good films in all sections and locations. Among them, a world premiere: 28 ½, the story of a man who goes in search of the child he never met, selected in the New German Cinema; the film will screen at 7:30 PM, at Cinema Arta, in the presence of the director, Anton Gonopolski and of the producer, Anna Guddat. Michael Kutza, the director of the Chicago International Film Festival and a member of the TIFF competition jury, has a date with the audiences for the special screening of Strictly Ballroom (by Baz Luhrman), on Saturday, 5 PM, at Cinema Arta.
The full schedule as well as fresh info can be found on www.tiff.ro.
Tickets can be acquired online, on www.biletmaster.ro, and the TIFF ticket counters.
The TIFF 2014 application is available in App Store and Play Store.
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