Romania hosts the 23rd TIFF, the country’s largest international film festival

The 23rd Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF.23) has begun in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. This festival is the largest in the country and one of the most significant annual events in Romania’s cultural calendar. Over 11 days, it will feature hundreds of film screenings, exhibitions, concerts, discussions, and special events, attracting over 100,000 visitors, according to Romania Insider.

The festival showcases films by internationally renowned directors as well as Romanian cinema. The gala opening featured Luc Besson’s “Dogman,” a tale of revenge and redemption. On Saturday, Fritz Lang’s expressionist masterpiece “Metropolis” was screened, and on Sunday evening, Nagisa Oshima’s controversial 1976 erotic film “In the Realm of the Senses,” which faced censorship upon release, will be shown.

TIFF.23 will spotlight Japanese cinema and culture. The festival will include workshops on origami, ikebana, and manga. The film program will feature Japanese classics such as Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Sansho the Bailiff,” Shohei Imamura’s “The Ballad of Narayama,” and Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story.” Additionally, three films by contemporary master Ryusuke Hamaguchi and recent Japanese cinema releases will be screened.

The “Romanian Days” section will showcase some of the latest and most relevant Romanian films, with 12 feature films and ten shorts competing for three awards. The program also includes Romanian films awarded last year and several premieres during the festival.

Audiences will have the opportunity to see Emanuel Pârvu’s “Three Kilometres to the End of the World,” selected for this year’s Cannes official competition, Andrei Cohn’s “Holiday Week,” presented in the “Forum” section of the Berlinale, and Claudiu Mitcu’s feature debut “The Mermaid.”

The festival will also feature two Ukrainian films: Dmitry Moiseev’s feature film “Grey Bees,” presented in the “Supernova” section, and Denis Tarasov’s historical drama “DIAGNOSIS: DISSENT,” showcased in the “Larger than Life” section.

The Transylvania International Film Festival is Romania’s first and largest festival dedicated to feature films. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion, it takes place annually in the historical capital of Transylvania. This year’s event runs from 14 to 26 June.