What’s on at

This year, the Transilvania International Film Festival (July 23-August 1, Cluj-Napoca), an event with a huge creative energy that has been running in the city of Cluj-Napoca every year since 2002, will mark its 20th anniversary. A record number of Romanian world premieres will take place this year, as well as a series of surprises such as the attendance of Sergei Polunin, one of the greatest dancers of all time.

By Oana Vasiliu

Unirii Square is going to be the hugest cinema hall in the country

For 20 years now, TIFF has been one of the best cultural products Romania has to offer to the entire world, not just to locals. Last year, it was the first major festival in Europe to take place in an offline format and it continues to surprise audiences with its programme. Under strict restrictions, 45,000 participants watched 159 films at 14 venues in Cluj and its surroundings. This year’s 10-day festival programme will include some 150 features, live performances, talks, exhibitions, and special events for families.

“It’s a time of re-writing history (something historical films have always done anyway), and since any kind of time travel invites anachronism, we dared to imagine a different, more playful, cinephile beginning to the festival: an ancient origin story like those told by Romanians themselves, but with Dacians eating popcorn out of Hungarian kürtőskalács while watching Sergiu Nicolaescu’s 1966 The Dacians projected on the mysterious alien monolith borrowed from Kubrick’s 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s our way of saying that TIFF itself landed like a UFO in the Cluj of 2002,” says TIFF Artistic Director Mihai Chirilov.

RECORD NUMBER OF ROMANIAN WORLD PREMIERES

Romanian Cinema is the highlight of the 20th edition of TIFF, with an impressive selection of 45 Romanian productions — 32 features and 13 shorts – selected in this year’s programme. 13 feature films will have their world premieres during the festival, mostly directed by newcomers who are ready to be discovered by the audience and by the film industry. The overall selection of the 20th edition comprises more than 170 titles.

The three films representing Romania at Cannes will all have their national premieres at Transilvania IFF. Included in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Radu Munteanu’s Intregalde tells a thrilling and captivating story about the limits of generosity. Two shorts – Andreea Bortun’s When Night Meets Dawn and Andrei Epure’s Intercom 15/Interfon 15, selected in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs and the Semaine de la Critique respectively – are among the 11 titles competing for the best Romanian short at TIFF.

The Romanian Days Competition will feature 12 titles directed by young filmmakers, two of which – Poppy Field/Camp de maci by Eugen Jebeleanu, a queer drama about a conflicted member of the police force, and Unidentified/Neidentificat, a thriller about an unsolved crime and an obsessed cop by Bogdan George Apetri – are also in the international competition for the Transilvania Trophy.

Candidates for best Romanian feature this year include Ruxandra Ghitescu’s debut Otto the Barbarian/Otto Barbarul, about a teenage punk trying to deal with the suicide of his girlfriend, Daniel Sandu’s The Father Who Moves Mountains/Tata muta muntii (Shanghai 2021), an arresting story of a retired intelligence officer in his 50s who finds out that his son has gone missing in the mountains, Andrei Hutuleac’s debut #dogpoopgirl (Best Film at Moscow 2021), a tragicomedy inspired by a real incident, but also four documentaries like Andrei Dascalescu’s Holy Father (Sarajevo 2020) and Andra Tarara’s personal and moving Us Against Us/Noi impotriva noastra (Jihlava 2020), about her father who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Romanian Days will also feature films from celebrated directors who have already been featured or awarded in major festivals: Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn/ Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlinale), Andrei Gruzsniczki’s No Rest for the Old Lady/După 40 de zile (Moscow 2021), and Marian Crisan’s Berliner (Moscow 2020). Like every year, TIFF audiences will have the opportunity to meet

Romanian filmmakers not just after screenings but also during TIFF Talks and InspiraTIFF events. Crow (directed by Ralph Fiennes), and Simple Passion (by Danielle Arbid). Known as the “bad boy of ballet” on account of his rebellious style, his impulsive departures from renowned companies (including his first, from the London Royal Ballet, at only 21), and his controversial statements, Polunin is the subject of a revealing documentary by Steven Cantor, Dancer.

DANCE SUPERSTAR SERGEI POLUNIN COMING TO ROMANIA

Ballet superstar Sergei Polunin, believed to be the most talented dancer of his generation, will be in Romania for the first time at TIFF 2021. Fans will get the chance to see him on Thursday, July 29, at 8:30 PM at the Bánffy Castle in Bontida, in the special event Sergei Polunin Up, Close and Personal, which consists of the screening of Bolero, which adds new dimension to Ravel’s masterpiece by amplifying the dancer’s movements with visual effects signed by Teun van der Zalm and Sacré, based on Igor Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring and inspired by Vaslav Nijinski’s original vision, and choreographed by Japanese artist Yuka Oishi. The day before, July 28, at 7 PM, at the Students’ Culture House in Cluj, the artist will meet the audience of Dancer, the moving documentary on Polunin’s eventful life, directed by Steven Cantor. Born in 1989 in Ukraine, Sergei Polunin became the youngest lead dancer in the history of the London Royal Ballet at only 19 years old. Appreciated for his artistic genius, his phenomenal technique, and his hypnotic stage presence, Polunin danced at the Bolshoi and the Stanislavsky Theaters, the Scala and the Paris Operas, and is currently a permanent guest of the Bavarian State Ballet in

Munich. He also travels the world with shows produced by Polunin Ink, the dance company he founded. In 2019, he led “Romeo and Juliet” with Alina Cojocaru. His most popular turn to date is David LaChapelle’s video for Hozier’s song “Take Me to Church,” which gathered over 29 million views on YouTube.

In recent years, Polunin also worked in films like Murder on the Orient Express (directed by Kenneth Branagh), Red Sparrow (directed by Francis Lawrence), The White PARTNERSHIP WITH SAN SEBASTIÁN FOR ITS 20TH EDITION

Spanish cinema will be celebrated at the 20th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival in its “Spain Focus,” a wide-ranging program of special screenings, talks and masterclasses, industry initiatives, and exhibitions. The programme includes Carte blanche: San Sebastián, a strong selection of 10 recent Spanish films curated by the San Sebastián Festival selection committee. The feature film La hija de un ladrón (A Thief’s Daughter, Belén Funes, 2019) and the series Antidisturbios (Riot Police, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2020), as well as two titles from the RTVE Screenings: Explota explota (My Heart Goes Boom!, Nacho Álvarez, 2020), and Sentimental (The

People Upstairs, Cesc Gay, 2020) are part of this year selection. Tickets for all films and special events are on sale at tiff.eventbook.ro.