The 22nd edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival kicked off Friday evening in the city of Cluj-Napoca with the international premiere of northern comfort, a comedy directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, and featuring a tribute to the film’s star, Timothy Spall.
The famous British actor, known for his roles in Mike Leigh’s Topsy Turvy And Mr TurnerCameron Crowes Vanilla airEdward Zwicks The last samuraiTom Hoopers The speech of the king and the Harry Potter films, received this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival’s opening gala.
The Icelandic-British-German co-production Northern convenience is part of the huge Nordic Focus at the festival this year, featuring more than 40 films from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as live music performances and cinema concerts. Some of the Scandinavian highlights include Ruben Östlund’s Palm d’Or winner in 2022 Triangle of sadnessLars von Trier’s fantasy horror series The Kingdom Exodusthe third and final season of the iconic Danish TV series and winner of the 2021 Cannes Grand Prix from Juho Kuosmanen, Finnish drama Compartment No. 6.
“Although the burning social themes such as class differences, inter-ethnic conflict, migration, drug use and prostitution are unavoidable, the filmmakers achieve the increasingly rare feat in contemporary cinema of not misusing them, creating an admirable economy of resources, subversive narratives with a high impact and a sophisticated storytelling, the real stakes of which lie elsewhere,” says Artistic Director Mihai Chirilov of the Transilvania International Film Festival about the official line-up of the competition. Of the twelve films by new and second directors, the first entry is also from the Republic of Moldova: Carbon by Ion Bors, a clever farce about the turbulent years of the Transnistrian conflict in the early 1990s, which premiered last year in San Sebastian. Some other titles competing for the Transylvania Trophy are Croatian surreal drama The uncle by David Kapac and Andrija Mardesic, showing the influence of Michael Haneke’s and Yorgos Lanthimos; Brazilian comedy Charcoal by Carolina Markowitz, which premiered last year at the Toronto Film Festival; the Argentinian thriller The Barbarians by Andrew Sala; Canadian play Noémie says yes by Geneviève Albert and Czech explosive drama stunner by Adam Sedlák, which was shot entirely with an iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The festival’s new documentary sidebar What’s wrong, doctor?which was introduced last year, screens ten documentaries, nine of which are European productions and one American entry: Crows are white about a Muslim who goes on a spiritual journey to a Buddhist monastery.
“Regardless of the path they take, which can be puzzling at times, breaking the rules of the genre, the ten documentaries each get to the truth in their own way, whether they are anti-heroes with larger than life ambitions, personal quests that never really end, or real portraits of niche communities, constructed with the weapons of experimental film or fiction,” notes Mihai Chirilov.
The Transilvania fest will also pay special tribute to the late masters of cinema Sidney Lumet and Jean-Luc Godard. One of the most prolific American filmmakers, Lumet has worked with screen icons including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Network and Dog Day Afternoon. French New Wave legend Godar is being honored with a tribute from eight films, including Godard classics like Breathless, Alphaville And Pierrot-le-Fou.
In addition to Timothy Spall, the organizers are also honoring acclaimed Australian actor Geoffrey Rush and controversial American director and screenwriter Oliver Stone with lifetime achievement awards. The festival wants to show Stone’s Natural killersbased on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, and Born July 4 , starring Tom Cruise, honoring Stone. The director also presents his latest film, the documentary about nuclear energy Nuclear nowwhich premiered in Venice last year.
The full Transilvania International Film Festival competition and documentary lineups are below.
Official competition
stunner (Czech Republic)
Directed by Adam Sedlak
Carbon (Republic of Moldova, Romania)
Directed by Ion Bors
Charcoal (Brazil)
Directed by Carolina Markowicz
Daughter of Anger (Nicaragua)
Directed by Laura Baumeister
Family time (Finland)
Directed by Tia Kuovo
Like a fish on the moon (Iran)
Directed by Dornaz Hajiha
Noémie dit oui (Canada)
Directed by Geneviève Albert
Silence in the storm (Spain)
Directed by Alberto Gastesi
The Barbarians (Argentina)
Directed by Andrew Sala
The Cake Dynasty (Denmark)
Directed by Christian Lollike
The uncle (Croatia, Serbia)
Directed by David Kapac, Andrija Mardesic
At arrival (Spain)
Directed by Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastian Vasquez
What is going on? Competition
100 seasons (Sweden)
Directed by Giovanni Bucchieri
Anhel69 (Colombia, Romania, France, Germany)
Directed by Theo Montoya
Crows are white(US)
Directed by Ahsen Nadeem
Dog guard (Greece, France)
Directed by Gregoris Rentis
Knit’s Island (France)
Directed by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’Helgouac’h
Like an island(Switzerland)
Directed by Tizian Buchi
Smoke sauna Sisterhood(Estonia, France, Iceland)
Directed by Anna Hints
The cathedral (Slovakia)
Directed by Denis Dobrovoda
The country you belong to(Italy, Belgium, Romania)
Directed by Elena Rebeca Carini
The outliers(France)
Directed by Raphael Mathie
