American actor Armand Assante said he has been trying since the years 2000, after his first visit to Romania, to come to the country and invest in the local film making industry, Mediafax reported.

Assante was in Cluj-Napoca, in Western Romania, on June 5, to attend the world premiere of the film The Wanderers at the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF). The film starring Assante is directed by Romanian Dragoş Buliga.

“I like being here. We have a film that is premiering, The Wanderers. I like your country for very many reasons, especially for the generosity of its people. I have known Romania since the years 2000, when I was invited here to a beauty pageant. Ever since, I have been trying to convince people to come to Romania and invest in the local film making industry. Romania is a complex country, it resembles Italy. The temperaments here are similar, the intellect of the people is similar. I have found writings by some Romanians to be very interesting, particularly [e.n. Emil] Cioran, who amazed me with the way his mind worked,” Assante said, quoted by Mediafax.

The actor praised the TIFF festival, saying that 10 years ago, when he was first invited to attend, it was a small festival, but now it has become a large one.

TIFF opened on June 2, with a screening of King of the Belgians, when a record 3,200 viewers watched the film on the largest screen in the history of the festival: 23 x 14 m. The film was screened in Unirii square in Cluj-Napoca.

Between June 2 and June 11, the ten films in the open-air screenings in Unirii square in Cluj-Napoca will be shown in Bucharest as well. The films are screened at Cinema City in AFI Cotroceni, starting 21:45.

Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu, the president of TIFF, said, at the opening of the festival, that the event will set a new record this year as 1,300 guests will come to Cluj-Napoca to attend it. Among them is French film icon Alain Delon, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at TIFF. He will attend the screening of his 1981 film For a Cop's Hide, for which 1,700 tickets have already been sold.

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editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo: Marius Maris, tiff.ro)