The 21st edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), the event that ended this past weekend in Cluj-Napoca, had a public of 102,000 paying for tickets to the 200 films screened, the organizers said. This is 8% more than the 2019 number, the festival’s previous record. 

The free-access events, such as the TIFF family program, the meetings at TIFF Lounge, the exhibitions at the Art Museum, or the Ukrainian Street Food Day, added up to more than 130,000 participants at TIFF 2022.

Among the most watched film at this year’s edition were Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane, Patrice Leconte’s Maigret, Alexandru Belc’s Metronom, Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions, and David Marqués’s The Unemployment Club.

The festival also saw a series of sold-out events, among them the dinners inspired by the films in the program Film Food. Among the sold-out movies were many Romanian productions screened in the Romanian Film Days section, such as Capra cu trei iezi (The Goat and Her Three Kids), the debut of director Victor Canache, Octav Chelaru’s Balaur (A Higher Law), and Sebastian Mihăilescu’s documentary Pentru mine tu ești Ceaușescu (You are Ceaușescu to me).

Among the music events, the concerts of Buena Vista Social Club founder Eliades Ochoa drew 2,000 fans, while the cine-concert Nosferatu attracted a public of 1,800.

TIFF will hold its 2023 edition between June 16 and June 25. Films that were shown at this year’s festival will also be screened in Bucharest, between July 21 and July 24, at Elvira Popescu Cinema. They will also be screened in Sibiu (July 7-10), Reșița (August 5-7), Alba-Iulia (at Alba Iulia Music & Film Festival, between August 19-21), and Oradea (September 2-4).

(Photo: Nicu Cherciu, courtesy of TIFF)

simona@romania-insider.com