Theo Montoya’s Anhell69, a coproduction between Columbia, Romania, France and Germany, won the What’s Up, Doc? competition.
Another documentary, Between Revolutions / Între revoluții by Vlad Petri, received the award for Best Long Film in the Romanian Days competition. The film is a coproduction between Romania, Croatia, Qatar and Iran.
The Audience Award went to the Moldavian/Romanian coproduction Carbon directed by Ion Borș, while Tudor Giurgiu’s new feature film Freedom / Libertate, a Romanian/Hungarian coproduction, received the award for the most popular Romanian film in the festival.
British actor Timothy Spall, Australian actor Geoffrey Rush and American director Oliver Stone received lifetime achievement awards and were special guests of the festival alongside Mexican director Michel Franco, who was a member of the main jury.
This year the festival put up a Focus Nordic with almost 40 films, concerts and cine-concerts from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
Starting with 2023, all the TIFF initiatives aimed at children, teachers and family have been gathered under the TIFF Education umbrella. A big selection of films, acting and animation workshops, as well as weekend activities took place in Cluj-Napoca and Floresti 9 – 18 June 2023.
It was also the first year when TIFF screened films from the newly established SMART7 initiative, a network which also includes the New Horizons IFF from Wrocław, the Vilnius IFF Kino Pavasaris from Vilnius, IndieLisboa IFF, FILMADRID IFF and the Thessaloniki IFF.
The main award in the Transilvania Pitch Stop industry section was presented to the Romanian project Pyrrhic directed by Cosmin Nicolae.
TIFF also announced the launch of the Full Moon Creative Lab, a project designed for scriptwriters from all EU member countries specialising in genre TV series: thriller, fantasy and horror. The programme, supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, consists of creative residencies taking place in Transylvania (Romania) until 2025 and ending with a pitching session at the Transilvania IFF. The first call for projects is scheduled for early July 2023.
The Transilvania International Film Festival is organised by the Association for the Promotion of Romanian Cinema and the Association Transilvania Film Festival.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
Main Competition:
Transilvania Trophy:
Like a Fish on the Moon (Iran)
Directed by Dornaz Hajiha
Best Director:
Carolina Markowicz for Charcoal (Brazil)
Jury Special Prize:
Family Time (Finland)
Directed by Tia Kuovo
Best Acting:
Nacho Quesada for The Barbarians (Argentina) directed by Andrew Sala and Like a Fish on the Moon (Iran) directed by Dornaz Hajiha
What’s Up, Doc? Competition:
Main Prize:
Anhell69 (Columbia, Romania, France, Germany)
Directed by Theo Montoya
Produced by Desvio Visual, Monogram Film, Dublin Films
Coproduced by Amerikafilm
Supported by El Fondo Mixto de Promoción Cinematográfica o Proimágenes Colombia, the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), IDFA Bertha Fund (supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme), Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the World Cinema Fund, the Romanian National Television (TVR), Comision Filmica de Medellín, Tribeca All Access, Avanpost, TV7 Bordeaux, KANALDUDE
Special Mention:
100 Seasons (Sweden)
Directed by Giovanni Bucchieri
Romanian Days Competition:
Best Long Film:
Between Revolutions / Între revoluții (Romania, Croatia, Qatar, Iran) Documentary
Directed by Vlad Petri
Produced by Activ Docs
Coproduced by Restart
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the Doha Film Institute, Avanpost Romania, Chainsaw Europe Studio, Dacin Sara, UPFAR ARGOA, the Romanian Film Institute (ICR) and the Romanian Filmmakers Union (UCIN), in collaboration with the Romanian public television (TVR)
Best Debut:
Day of the Tiger / Tigru (Romania, France, Greece)
Directed by Andrei Tănase
Produced by Domestic Film
Coproduced by Altamar Films, Graal
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde CNC - Institut français, the Greek Film Centre, ERT, Eurimages, the Creative Europe - MEDIA Sub-programme, TorinoFilmLab
Special Mention for a Long Film:
Eagles from Țaga / Vulturii din Țaga (Romania, Slovakia) Documentary
Directed by Adina Popescu and Iulian Ghervase
Produced by Wearebasca
Coproduced by Two Doc, Adjust Media
Best Short Film:
Our Summer Break / Exercițiu de concediu (Romania)
Directed by Lara Ionescu
Special Mentions for a Short Film:
Berliner Kindl (Romania)
Directed by Lucia Chicoș
Whole Family / Toate neamurile (Romania)
Directed by Alexandra Diaconu
Audience Award:
Carbon (Republic of Moldova, Romania)
Directed by Ion Borș
Produced by Youbesc
Coproduced by Kantora Film Production, Pascaru Production, Maya Film Studio, Badeamic
Supported by the National Film Center Moldova
Most Popular Romanian Film in the Festival:
Freedom / Libertate (Romania, Hungary)
Directed by Tudor Giurgiu
Produced by Libra Film Productions
Coproduced by Mythberg Films
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the National Film Institute – Hungary
Excellency Award:
Romanian actor Horațiu Mălăele
FIPRESCI Award (for a film in the Romanian Days section):
Between Revolutions / Între revoluții (Romania, Croatia, Qatar, Iran)
Directed by Vlad Petri
Lifetime Achievement Awards:
British actor Timothy Spall
Australian actor Geoffrey Rush
American director Oliver Stone
INDUSTRY Awards:
Transilvania Pitch Stop:
Grand Prix Offered by Chainsaw Europe:
Pyrrhic (Romania)
Directed by Cosmin Nicolae
Produced by Icon Production
UPFAR-ARGOA Award:
Second Line (Ukraine)
Directed by Olga Stuga
TPS Development Award Offered by Avanpost:
The Life We Never Had (Bulgaria)
Directed by Martin Markov
Produced by Portokal
CNC Moldova Award:
Little Death (Greece, Romania)
Directed by Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis
Produced by Horsefly Films
Coproduced by Tangaj Production
VILLA KULT Development Award (for a project from Romania/Moldova):
The Circle (Republic of Moldova, Romania)
Directed by Valeriu Andriuţă
Produced by Amprenta Films
Coproduced by Avanpost Media
CoCo Award Offered by Connecting Cottbus Co-Production Market for a project from Romania/Moldova:
Pyrrhic (Romania)
Directed by Cosmin Nicolae
Drama Room:
Best TV Series Project:
The Kids Are Alright
Written by Serghei Chiviriga
Local Competition:
Main Award:
Oedipe’s Morning (Romania)
Directed by Eszter Tompa
Special Mention:
Să nu mergi prin mărăcini (Romania)
Directed by Dragoș Bota
Other Awards:
Young Francophones Jury Award:
Noémie dit oui (Canada)
Directed by Geneviève Albert
Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship:
Revizia de Film: Mihai Păun, Denisa Onisie, Adrian Comănescu, Victor Mihăilescu, Mirel Hagiu
Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship Special Mention:
Rara Avis (Romania)
Directed by Octav Chelaru
Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship Special Mention for a Young Romanian Actor:
Sergiu Smerea in A Higher Law / Balaur (Romania, Germany, Serbia)
Directed by Octav Chelaru
Produced by deFilm
Coproduced by 42Film, Eed Productions
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC)
Click HERE for more details about the Industry Events Awards.
