Romania’s biggest film event, the Transilvania International Film Festival, kicks off today (31 May-9 June, Cluj-Napoca). This will be the gathering’s 18^th edition, a number that has prompted many in the festival’s team to talk of maturity and reminisce about the times when the TIFF was just an infant. More than 400 screenings of approximately 180 features are scheduled to take place over the next ten days, with Tudor Giurgiu’s new film Parking [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tudor Giurgiu
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Besides Nicolas Cage, who is the main guest at this edition, French director Michel Gondry is also expected to introduce 100% Michel Gondry, a retrospective including all his features, but also his programme Home Movie Factory. Ten new French films are being shown in the Focus France sidebar, and this year, all three directors in the 3X3 sidebar are European: Agnés Varda, Fatih Akin and Veit Helmer.

As every year, the most eagerly awaited sidebar is probably Romanian Days, with a selection boasting the newest local features. There are only three films being shown as world premieres: Andrei Cohn’s Arrest [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrei Cohn
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intervista: Radu Dragomir
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Other films, some of them already selected or awarded at bigger festivals, will be shown out of competition. Among them are Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Corneliu Porumboiu
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The award winners will be announced during a gala on 8 June.