27/05/2025 - The 24th edition of the Romanian gathering will present 12 features in the Official Competition and ten titles in What’s Up, Doc?, along with eight local films in the Romanian Days competition

The 24th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (13-22 June, Cluj-Napoca) has announced the 12 contenders in its Official Competition, which showcases debut and sophomore works by filmmakers from around the globe. Artistic director Mihai Chirilov describes this year's line-up as “a strange yet fascinating Babel, where people don’t understand each other and are at odds with the world”, reflecting the chaos of our time while underlining the potential of art to restore empathy and authenticity.

Among the selected titles are Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahdi Fleifel
film profile], a raw refugee drama set in Athens; Noaz Deshe’s visually arresting Xoftex [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile], situated in a purgatory-like migrant detention centre; and Julien Colonna’s Corsican thriller The Kingdom [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Julien Colonna
film profile]. The section also features the biting Austria satire Peacock by Bernhard Wenger and Jeppe Rønde’s Acts of Love [+see also:
film review
interview: Jeppe Rønde
film profile], which explores religious trauma within a cult community. Spanish first-time director Eva Libertad competes with Deaf [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Eva Libertad
film profile], an intimate portrayal of an inter-abled couple anticipating life-changing news, while Peter Hoogendoorn contributes the quietly emotional father-son tale Three Days of Fish [+see also:
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interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile]. The line-up also comprises Gala del Sol’s psychedelic Colombian parable Rains Over Babel [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s Hysteria [+see also:
film review
interview: Devrim Lingnau
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile], which investigates moral boundaries in art; and José Manuel Carrasco’s Myocardium [+see also:
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interview: José Manuel Carrasco
film profile], a surreal narrative of emotional self-discovery. Dimitri Verhulst’s road movie The Weeping Walk [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] delivers darkly comedic undertones, while Julian Castronovo’s Debut, or Objects of the Field of Debris, as Currently Catalogued blurs the line between crime and creativity.

The Official Competition jury includes Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra, producer-screenwriter Paula Vaccaro, Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz, writer-director Bogdan Mureșanu and Uruguayan producer Agustina Chiarino.

Meanwhile, the What’s Up, Doc? competition enters its fourth year with ten titles that boldly stretch the definition of documentary film. “We searched for perfectly incompatible pairings,” says section curator Crăița Nanu, who was aiming to explore distance in its many forms – be it physical, emotional, ethical or social.

The competition includes Arjun Talwar’s poetic Letters from Wolf Street [+see also:
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film profile], Antón Álvarez’s musical tribute The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortes [+see also:
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interview: Antón Álvarez
film profile], Daniel Tornero’s claustrophobic family drama Saturn, and Tova Mozard’s haunting ILOVERUSS, chronicling two decades of unfulfilled dreams in Hollywood. Orkhan Aghazadeh’s The Return of the Projectionist [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] revives nostalgia and lost cinema in rural Azerbaijan. Other highlights include Elizabeth Lo’s widely acclaimed Mistress Dispeller, a riveting look at China’s secret mistress-removal industry, and Seth and Peter Scriver’s Endless Cookie, a Canadian animated documentary on indigenous heritage and love. Courtney Stephens’ Invention plays with found footage and memory, while Miguel Calderón’s Loss Adjustment creates a surreal blend of art and insurance, and Danial Shah’s Make It Look Real peels back layers of illusion in Pakistan’s beauty industry.

This year’s What’s Up, Doc? jury consists of producer Christine Camdessus, Montenegrin filmmaker Ivan Bakrač, and VP and executive producer for Documentaries at Warner Bros Discovery in Europe Hanka Kastelicová.

Romanian cinema will take centre stage once again, as the Romanian Days section offers a compelling snapshot of the country's most vital recent productions. With a line-up of eight feature films and 20 shorts in competition, the section reflects both the diversity and the urgency of contemporary Romanian storytelling. This year, six out of the eight features are documentaries, and they explore everything from historical memory and social injustice to personal trauma and collective reckoning.

Among the standouts is Traffic [+see also:
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film profile] by Teodora Ana Mihai, a hybrid of heist thriller and migrant drama; Tata [+see also:
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interview: Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
film profile], co-directed by Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc, which turns the lens on a deeply personal family reunion shaped by economic exile; and Bright Future [+see also:
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film profile] by Andra MacMasters, which revisits a surreal episode of socialist diplomacy through archival footage from North Korea. The New Year That Never Came [+see also:
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interview: Bogdan Mureşanu
film profile] by debutant Bogdan Mureșanu is a tragicomic ensemble piece set over the course of a single day just before the 1989 Revolution. Ana Lungu’s Merman offers a witty essay on Romanian history, cut from decades-old reels, and Love Hurts by Alexandru Mavrodineanu captures the turbulence of long-term relationships with rare intimacy. Meanwhile, Beyond the River by Endre David and A Rebel Edge by Bogdan Pușlenghea bring visibility to voices on the margins – a Roma community cut off from the world, and a forgotten poet whose legacy spans continents.

The Romanian Days jury features Fatima Djoumer, Europa Cinemas CEO; Lenka Tyrpáková, artistic director of the Finále Plzeň Festival; and Tomasz Żygo, a festival coordinator, programmer and distributor.

Out of competition, Romanian Days also includes some high-profile premieres and festival favourites. Radu Jude is back with Kontinental ’25 [+see also:
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film profile], rewarded in Berlin, and Sleep #2 [+see also:
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interview: Radu Jude, Christian Ferenc…
film profile], a playful webcam collage paying homage to Andy Warhol. Tudor Giurgiu’s The Spruce Forest delves into the dark legacy of the Fântâna Albă massacre, while Comatogen by Igor Cobileanski experiments with fractured moral storytelling. Other highlights include Tooth and Nail by Mihai Dragolea and Radu Mocanu, a fierce and funny portrait of activism in Romania; Caliu. Nothing Else. What More Could I Do? by Simona Constantin, a tribute to the Clejani fiddler king; Little Syria by Reem Karssli and Mădălina Roșca, a moving co-production on exile and belonging; and TWST – Things We Said Today [+see also:
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film profile], the latest work by Andrei Ujică, who is also the recipient of this year’s TIFF Excellence Award.