Between June 3 -12, within the tenth edition of TIFF, one of the most spectacular and appreciated open-air locations of the festival, Unirii Square in Cluj-Napoca, has set in store for the audience in Cluj a series of screenings and events, scheduled both during the day and at night-time.
Inaugurated in 2010 as open-air venue, under the name Ursus Open Air, the screening location in Unirii Square has enjoyed a tremendous success among the audience, in each of the 10 evenings of the festival, with over 1000 viewers who relished hit film titles, from great comedies and original documentaries, to memorable love stories and heart-wrenching dramas.
In 2011, in addition to the night-time screenings at Ursus Open Air, film lovers will have several daytime options for spending their free time, considering the extremely tempting offer of films.
The Ursus Open Air screenings in Unirii Square will start on Friday, June 3, 8.30 p.m., with Potiche (d. Francois Ozon), the comedy that marks the official start of TIFF 2011, following with 9 other hit titles which will charm the audience throughout the rest of the festival, such as Vallanzasca (d. Michele Placido), selected at Venice Film Festival 2010 - a film about Italy's most notorious mobster in the 70s, with Monica Bîrlădeanu playing an important part, Cousinhood / Primos, the third film by Spanish director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, after Dark Blue Almost Black (2006) and Fat People (2009), present in the TIFF competition of previous editions, both winners of the Audience Award; The Bear (d. Dan Chișu), an gratifying road-movie comedy recently launched on the big screens in Romania, and Rabbit Hole (b. John Cameron Mitchell), which brought Nicole Kidman an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Football fans will be able to watch Brother / Hermano (d. Marcel Rasquin), the story of two young football players who dare to hope for a better life when a talent scout invites them to try out with the city's best team: Caracas Football Club.
The fans of the famous actress Keira Knightley can admire her in Never let me go (d. Mark Romanek), also starring Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield.
Loose Cannons / Mine Vaganti (d. Ferzan Ozpetek) is another title which will try to win over the audience present at Ursus Open Air. The film was presented at some of the most prestigious international film festivals in the world, such as Berlin (Panorama section), London and Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The film centers on Tommaso, an aspiring writer and the youngest child of an eccentric family. Returned from Rome for an important family dinner during which his father will hand over the management of the pasta factory to him and his brother, Tommaso is determined to assert his own personal choices: he plans to announce that he is gay. But that evening, just as he begins to say “silence please”, he is upstaged by his brother who, to Tommaso’s surprise, and everyone else’s shock, reveals his own secret.
The film offer is completed by Sound of noise (d. Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjärne Nilsson), winner of the Young Critics' Award at Cannes 2010, Special Jury Mention at Sitges Fantastic Film Festival 2010, Free Spirit Award and Audience Award at Warsaw Film Festival 2010 and The life of Fish / La vida de los peces, Matias Bizé's fourth feature, after he previously attended TIFF with En la cama, Sábado and Lo bueno de llorar. The film won the Best Latin-American Film at the Goya Awards in 2011.
The price for a ticket at Ursus Open Air is 5 Ron, with the exception of tickets for the TIFF 2011 Opening Ceremony - which are 15 Ron. Tickets can be bought at every TIFF Ticketing Point, starting May 30.
Besides film screenings, Unirii Square will also host other exciting activities, such as master-classes, books and DVD launches, conferences, thus becoming the kilometer zero of TIFF 2011.
One of the festival's main attractions is represented by TIFF Lounge, which, starting this year, is changing its location from the Art Museum to the most important town square. The traditional 5 o'clock meetings between film lovers and important guests of the festival, film professionals from Romanian and international film industry, so popular during the previous editions, will continue this year too. In addition, TIFF Lounge will host a series of conferences, panels and launches, both varied as themes and discussion topics, and extremely interesting.
For a second consecutive year, Unirii Square in Cluj-Napoca will host TIFF HAPPY KIDS kindergarten. Organized by TIFF in partnership with the Happy Kids kindergarten within the International School in Cluj, the kindergarten wants to help parents who need to leave their children in the trust of reliable people, in order to enjoy TIFF screenings and events. The kindergarten is dedicated to children between 2 and 10, and it will be open during the festival, starting on June 4.
The important guests of the tenth edition of the festival will be able to relax in a set-up dedicated specially to them: VIP Lounge.
An Info Point will also be available to the general audience, where the public can buy both tickets for TIFF screenings and events, and merchandise branded with TIFF 2011.
