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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mahdi Fleifel
scheda film], a raw refugee drama set in Athens; Noaz Deshe’s visually arresting Xoftex [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Noaz Deshe
scheda film], situated in a purgatory-like migrant detention centre; and Julien Colonna’s Corsican thriller The Kingdom [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Julien Colonna
scheda film]. The section also features the biting Austria satire Peacock by Bernhard Wenger and Jeppe Rønde’s Acts of Love [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jeppe Rønde
scheda film], which explores religious trauma within a cult community. Spanish first-time director Eva Libertad competes with Deaf [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eva Libertad
scheda film], 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Peter Hoogendoorn
scheda film]. The line-up also comprises Gala del Sol’s psychedelic Colombian parable Rains Over Babel [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]; Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s Hysteria [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Devrim Lingnau
intervista: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
scheda film], which investigates moral boundaries in art; and José Manuel Carrasco’s Myocardium [+leggi anche:
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intervista: José Manuel Carrasco
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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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antón Álvarez
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scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
scheda film], 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 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Andra MacMasters, which revisits a surreal episode of socialist diplomacy through archival footage from North Korea. The New Year That Never Came [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Radu Jude, Christian Feren…
scheda film], 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 [+leggi anche:
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