A total of 12 films will compete for the Transylvania Trophy within the Official Competition of the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the biggest such festivals in Romania.

The films, made by first and second-time directors, come from 16 countries: France, Tunisia, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Australia, India, Bulgaria, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, France, Cambodia, Spain, and Vanuatu. Nine of them are debut films.

“The first movie I've invited in the competition of this edition was Island City, while the last confirmed was De l'ombre il y a. The first one is a terribly inventive and carefully calibrated omnibus film where each of the three episodes corresponds to a different film genre. The latter defies narrative conventions and casually evades labeling, thus creating a cinematic experience of visceral beauty and emotion,” said TIFF Artistic Director Mihai Chirilov.

The only Romanian film in competition is Dogs (Caini), the debut feature of director Bogdan Mirica. The thriller, which stars Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, and Gheorghe Visu, follows Roman, a young man who arrives in a remote village in Dobrogea, where he witnesses bizarre events. The film was also selected in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes Film Festival.

The other films to compete for the Transylvania Trophy are Shelley – directed by Iranian Ali Abbasi, As I Open My Eyes – directed by Lyla Bouzid, Sparrows – directed by Icelander Rúnar Rúnarsson, Tanna ­- Bentley Dean and Martin Butler, Fado - Jonas Rothlaender, Thirst - Svetla Tsotsorkova, Tikkun - Avishai Visan, Remainder - Omer Fast, and La Puerta Abierta - Marina Seresesky.

The four members of the TIFF Competition jury are Wieland Speck - curator of the Berlinale Panorama section, Bill Guentzler - artistic director of the Cleveland International Film Festival, Bulgarian actress Margita Gosheva - recipient of the Acting Award for The Lesson at TIFF 2015, and Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski - recipient of the Best Director Award for Floating Skyscrapers at TIFF 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2jfbsjeS9c

The 2016 TIFF will be organized between May 27 and June 5, in Cluj-Napoca. Find out more about the event here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com