The best films of the edition and the filmmakers of the moment were applauded on Saturday evening (August 8, 2020) at the Awards Gala of the Transilvania International Film Festival, organized as an open-air event for the first time in the
festival history, in the Unirii Square, in Cluj-Napoca.
The Australian director Shannon Murphy`s directorial debut, Babyteeth: First Love starring Eliza Scanlen, was chosen the big winner of the 19th edition of TIFF and it received the 10,000 Euros Transilvania Trophy, for “the joy of life told through the experience of our passage beyond.”
The Audience Award voted on by all TIFF ticket-holders and offered by Mastercard, also went the same film as the jury award: Babyteeth. Both awards were picked up by the films Romanian distributors, Bad Unicorn.
The official competition jury, made up of producer
Ada Solomon, film director
Adina Pintilie, actor
András Hatházi, playwright Csaba Székely and writer Philip O Ceallaigh also picked the ex-aequo winners for the Best Directing Award, worth 3,500 euros: Tim Mielants’s
Patrick impressed the jury with a story that “managed to create a wonderful yet strange world with the most natural ease” and Zheng Lu Xinyuan, for
The Cloud In Her Room, “this cinematic/ cinephile delight reveals a remarkable emerging talent to watch”.
For its “for the incisive foray into the private life of a woman in crisis,” actor Evgeniya Gromova, the star of
Fidelity, received the Best Performance Award, consisting valued at 1,000 euro and offered by Conceptual Lab. “I am happy to see that life hasn’t stopped just like that and that this festival does take place, and I am grateful to be among the winners,” she said in a video message.
The Special Jury Award worth 1,500 euro and offered by HBO, went to Svetla Tsotsorkova’s Sister, “a strange, surprising, comic tale in which a trail of lies leads to the truth.”
500 guests, audience members, and journalists were at the gala hosted by Festival
President
Tudor Giurgiu, together with TV star Amalia Enache, and broadcast life.
The event, which was organized according to social distancing regulations and taking all relevant safety precautions, started off with a musical moment from the Osoianu Sisters. A special guest at the event, beloved pop artist Marina Voica sang two popular pieces from her long-running repertory.
And, in honor of her 40 years in theater and film, actor
Maria Ploae, a “paragon of sensitivity without whom the history of Romanian film would have looked very different,” also received the Excellence Award, offered by Mercedes-Benz and handed by television journalist Cătălin Ștefănescu.
Present at the event, Minister of Culture Bogdan Gheorghiu handed the Romanian Days Award for Best Feature Film, valued at 10,000 euros in film stock and production services offered by CineLabs Romania, to
Radu Ciorniciuc, the director of
Acasă. “We hope that the film is a springboard for discussion about the necessity of individual involvement,” said the film’s producer
Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan.
The Romanian Days Award for Best Debut, valued at 1,000 euros and offered by
the Transilvania Bank, went to
Dorian Boguță's
Urma / Legacy.
A special mention went to
Ivana Mladenović for
Ivana the Terrible, “for bravely exposing a wounded soul in a charming, tender and uniquely personal way.” Not being able to attend the event due to the international travel restrictions, the director dedicated the award to Anca Popa, one of the artists who featured in her film, who tragically lost her life when the film was in post-production.
Kaïmós, directed by
Sarra Tsorakidis, won the Romanian Days Award for Best Short Film, in amount of 1,500 euros, offered by UCIN and camera & electric & grip equipment services, offered by CutareFilm, in amount of 5,000 euros. The jury also awarded
Journalist Alexandra Tănăsescu won the Alex. Leo Șerban Scolarship this year; the 2,500 euro award offered in partnership with Conceptual Lab will support the development of the online portal Cultura la dubă. A Special Mention valued at 500 euros went to film critic
Victor Morozov for his volume
Cross-border. Romanian Cinema in a Transnational Context. And for his role in
Monștri. / Monsters., actor
Cristi Popa received the other special mention, valued at 1,000 euro and offered in partnership with Conceptual Lab to a young actor who played a notable role in a film launched in the previous year.
The Transilvania Pitch Stop platform awarded the Eurimages Co-production Development Award, valued at 20,000 euros, to the project
Kretsul, directed by Alexandra Likhacheva and produced by Anna Shalashina. Post-production services valued at 25,000 euros and offered by Chainsaw Europe, went to the project
Panopticon, directed by George Sikharulidze and produced by Vladimer Katcharava. The Transilvania Pitch Stop Award, valued at 3,500 euro and presented by Dacin Sara, went to
Blue Banks, directed by
Andreea Cristina Borțun and produced by
Gabriela Suciu-Pădurețu. And the Transilvania Pitch Stop Workshop gave the Transilvania Pitch Stop CoCo Award, offered by the Connecting Cottbus Co-Production Market, to the project
Sep & Ana, directed by
Paul Cioran and produced by
Claudiu Mitcu.
Finally, the The Young Francophone Jury Prize, offered by TV5 Monde, Institut Français, and RFI Romania, went to
Adoration, Belgian director Fabrice du Welz’s “asymmetrical, atypical love story.”
The Transilvania International Film Festival is organized by the Romanian Film Promotion Associations and the TRansilvania Film Festival Association. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Film Centre, Cluj-Napoca Mayor
House and Local Council, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Presented by: Transilvania Bank. Main partner: Mastercard. Official car: Mercedes Benz. Official coffee: Nespresso. Main insurance company: Groupama. Sponsors: Orange, Lidl, CEMACON, Kronenbourg Blanc, HBO GO, Regina Maria, Tenaris Silcotub, E-ON, Compania de apă Someș, IQOS, Tazz by Emag, McDonalds, Conceptual Lab, Farmec, JTI, Promelek, PMA, Lecom, BDG, Aqua Carpatica, Domeniile Sâmburești, Via Viticola Sarica Niculițel, Zetea, Crama Lechburg, Coca Cola HBC. Recomanded by: Europa FM. Media parteners: Adevărul, Dilema Veche, OK! Magazine, TV5, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Femeia.ro, Cinemagia, Radio România Cultural, Cineuropa, Film New Europe, Observator Cultural, Business Review, Sinteza, Agerpres, VICE, Life.ro, Films in Frame, Zile și Nopți, Cinemap, AaRC.ro, LiterNet Local media partners: EBS Radio, Făclia, Filmtett, InfoTrafic, Maszol, Monitorul de Cluj, Radio Cluj, Transilvania Reporter, Transindex, afaceri.news.
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