www.business-review.eu Business Review | July 2021
34 FILM
What’s on at Transilvania International Film Festival 2021 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 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
F
Unirii Square is going to be the hugest cinema hall in the country
Unidentified/Neidentificat, a thriller about an unsolved crime and an obsessed cop
or 20 years now, TIFF has been one of
while watching Sergiu Nicolaescu’s 1966 The
by Bogdan George Apetri – are also in the
the best cultural products Romania
Dacians projected on the mysterious alien
international competition for the Transilvania
has to offer to the entire world, not
monolith borrowed from Kubrick’s 1968
Trophy. Candidates for best Romanian feature this
just to locals. Last year, it was the first major
2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s our way of saying
festival in Europe to take place in an offline
that TIFF itself landed like a UFO in the Cluj
year include Ruxandra Ghitescu’s debut Otto
format and it continues to surprise audiences
of 2002,” says TIFF Artistic Director Mihai
the Barbarian/Otto Barbarul, about a teenage
with its programme. Under strict restrictions,
Chirilov.
punk trying to deal with the suicide of his girlfriend, Daniel Sandu’s The Father Who
45,000 participants watched 159 films at 14
Moves Mountains/Tata muta muntii (Shang-
year’s 10-day festival programme will include
RECORD NUMBER OF ROMANIAN WORLD PREMIERES
some 150 features, live performances, talks,
Romanian Cinema is the highlight of the 20th
ligence officer in his 50s who finds out that
exhibitions, and special events for families.
edition of TIFF, with an impressive selection
his son has gone missing in the mountains,
“It’s a time of re-writing history (some-
of 45 Romanian productions — 32 features and
Andrei Hutuleac’s debut #dogpoopgirl (Best
thing historical films have always done any-
13 shorts – selected in this year’s programme.
Film at Moscow 2021), a tragicomedy inspired
venues in Cluj and its surroundings. This
way), and since any kind of time travel invites
13 feature films will have their world
hai 2021), an arresting story of a retired intel-
by a real incident, but also four documen-
anachronism, we dared to imagine a differ-
premieres during the festival, mostly directed
taries like Andrei Dascalescu’s Holy Father
ent, more playful, cinephile beginning to the
by newcomers who are ready to be discovered
(Sarajevo 2020) and Andra Tarara’s personal
festival: an ancient origin story like those told
by the audience and by the film industry. The
and moving Us Against Us/Noi impotriva
by Romanians themselves, but with Dacians
overall selection of the 20th edition compris-
noastra (Jihlava 2020), about her father who
eating popcorn out of Hungarian kürtőskalács
es more than 170 titles.
was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
