TRANSILVANIA IFF, TH LARGEST FILM FESTIVAL IN ROMANIA ... by Stefan Dobroiu - from CINEUROPA News.

Transilvania IFF, the largest film festival in Romania, kicks off in Cluj, on Friday, 27 May, for 10 days. At its 15th edition, 248 films from over 64 countries will be screened and accompanied by concerts, special screenings, master classes, workshops and parties. Roughly 850 guests are expected - including Sophia Loren, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith, Lithuanian director Šarūnas Bartas, Japanese director Sion Sono and many more. Romanian directors will present six world premieres during the Romanian Days (2-4 June).
Transilvania IFF announces its 12 titles in competition.

11/05/2016 - Most of the competitors are first features and also European productions
The 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival will kick off on 27 May, and the organisers have just announced the 12 titles that will be competing for the Transilvania Trophy. Nine of the competitors are first features, and nine represent European countries.
After several years with no Romanian film in competition, the 15th edition will host the domestic debut of Bogdan Mirică’s Dogs, which has also been selected in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes. Described by TIFF artistic director Mihai Chirilov as “a genuine Balkan anti-western”, Dogs may snatch some of this edition’s awards. Another Romanian in with a chance of winning a prize is actress Cosmina Stratan, who plays one of the main characters in Ali Abbasi’s Shelley (Denmark).
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The festival has also announced four of the five jury members who will decide on the winners: Wieland Speck, curator of the Berlinale Panorama section; Bill Guentzler, artistic director of the Cleveland International Film Festival; Bulgarian actress Margita Gosheva; and Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski, whose Berlinale-awarded United States of Love will be shown in the Supernova sidebar.
The remaining TIFF competition titles are As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid (France, Tunisia, Belgium, United Arab Emirates), Fado by Jonas Rothlaender (Germany), Island City by Ruchika Oberoi (India), The Open Door by Marina Seresesky (Spain), Remainder by Omer Fast (UK), Sparrows by Rúnar Rúnarsson (Iceland, Denmark), Tanna by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler (Australia, Vanuatu), Thirst by Svetla Tsotsorkova (Bulgaria), Tikkun by Avishai Sivan (Israel) and Where There Is Shade by Nathan Nicholovitch (France, Cambodia).
The 15th edition of Transilvania IFF ready to kick off.

27/05/2016 - Sophia Loren is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing gala
The first screenings have already begun at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (27 May-5 June, Cluj-Napoca), but the festival’s organisers are waiting till this evening to kick off the gathering with a bang. Hosted by the vast Unirii Square in the centre of Cluj-Napoca, the opening gala will show Nae Caranfil’s 6.9 on the Richter Scale as a world premiere, to an audience of more than 1,000.

With over 215 features from 64 countries, TIFF reconfirms its status as Romania’s biggest film event. The 15th edition also has one of cinema’s greatest as a special guest: Italian actress Sophia Loren, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing gala.
Among the festival’s attractions there are sections dedicated to directors and certain countries. Lithuania benefits from particular attention, with director Sharunas Bartas invited in the 3x3 sidebar, and ten classic or recent films selected in Focus Lithuania. Two other Focuses will present new films from Croatia and Lebanon, while late Belgian director Chantal Akerman and Turkish filmmaker Zeki Demirkubuz will also be presented in the 3x3 sidebar.
Besides the main competition (read the news) and the Romanian Days competition (read the news), this edition also has ten films vying for the FIPRESCI Prize, all grouped into the #Animal section, as they feature animals as the triggers or the heroes of the story.
The Supernova sidebar will show 25 recent award-winning movies, while the titles selected in the Shadows and No Limit sidebars seem determined to scare or shock the audience.
Scottish producer Iain Smith will receive the Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema, while Romanian actresses Carmen Galin and Lujza Orosz will receive the Honorary Awards.

Tanks CINEUROPA!