Transilvania IFF announces the Janovics Jenő Award, honoring a pioneer of European cinema
Starting with its anniversary edition (June 12–21, 2026, Cluj-Napoca), the Transilvania International Film Festival will introduce the Janovics Jenő Award, a new distinction dedicated to the memory of a pioneer of Cluj and European cinema. The award will be presented annually to an international film personality whose work reflects a pioneering spirit, bold vision, and a drive to open new paths within the industry.
The man behind “Transylvanian Hollywood”
Janovics Jenő (1872–1945) is inseparable from the early history of cinema in Cluj — and, more broadly, in this part of Europe. A theatre director and head of the city’s Hungarian Theatre, Janovics was among the first to recognize that film was not just a technical novelty, but the defining popular art form of the 20th century. In the early 1910s — when cinema was still largely itinerant — he turned Cluj into a filmmaking hub. In 1913, he initiated the first fiction film productions shot in the city, collaborating with the French company Pathé on Sárga csikó (The Yellow Foal). The film circulated internationally, proving that cinema could be produced and exported from Transylvania — not only from Europe’s major capitals.
Over the following years, Janovics founded or supported several local production companies: Janovics Studio (1914), Proja Film (1915), Corvin Film (1916), and Transsylvania Film (1917). He developed production infrastructure — converting the summer theatre (today’s Hungarian Theatre) into a cinema space — and trained film crews and actors. Among those who worked under his patronage were filmmakers who would go on to shape world cinema, including Mihály Kertész — later known in Hollywood as Michael Curtiz, director of Casablanca — and Alexander Korda, who would become a founding figure of the modern British film industry.
Between 1913 and the early 1920s, more than 60 silent films were produced in Cluj — from melodramas and literary adaptations to historical epics — transforming the city into one of Central Europe’s most active production centers. Janovics’s legacy is foundational: he built the region’s first film ecosystem, trained generations of professionals, connected local production to international networks, and demonstrated that cinema could function as a cultural industry here. He effectively placed Cluj on the map of European filmmaking before the idea of a Romanian national film industry had fully crystallized.
A lasting presence at Transilvania IFF
Over the years, Jenő Janovics has been a recurring presence within the Transilvania IFF program: from special cine-concert screenings of films such as Világrém (Terrors of the World) and A tolonc (The Exile, dir. Michael Curtiz), which he produced, to book launches, exhibitions, and the documentary Jenő Janovics, a Hungarian Pathé (dir. Bálint Zágoni).
From 2026 onward, his name will be permanently embedded in the festival through this eponymous award.
More details about the TIFF.25 program will be announced soon. Festival passes are already available online: https://tiff.ro/en/abonamente
***
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok
***
