The twenty fourth version of the Transilvania International Film Festival has wrapped up in Romania.
During Saturday Night’s closing gala on the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca, British director Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown took house the Transilvania Trophy, the competition’s 10,000-euro prime prize.
The movie is described as an intense drama about two Palestinian refugees dwelling in Athens, caught between petty scams and the hope of a greater life in Germany. Amid a local weather of despair and ethical compromise, one spirals deeper right into a cycle of manipulation and exploitation of these round him.
“It was more about survival than storytelling. We struggled for nearly ten years to make it,” stated Fleifel, including of the continued Israel-Palestine battle: “The problem in Palestine is not the Palestinians, it’s the occupation—and that must end.”
German director Noaz Deshe’s Xoftex gained the €3,500 Best Directing Award, sponsored by the Romanian Cultural Institute. The €1,500 Special Jury Prize went to US director Julian Castronovo’s Debut (or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued).
Here are all of the winners of the twenty fourth Transilvania International Film Festival.
Transilvania Trophy (quantity of 10,000 euros)
To a Land Unknown (dir. Mahdi Fleifel, United Kingdom)
Best Directing Award (quantity of 3500 euros, supplied by ICR)
Noaz Deshe — Xoftex (Germany)
Special Jury Award (quantity of 1,500 euros, supplied by ICR)
Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued (dir. Julian Castronovo, United States)
Best Performance Award (quantity of 1,000 euros, supplied by Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim)
Ghjuvanna Benedetti — The Kingdom (dir. Julien Colonna, France)
‘What’s up, Doc?’ Award (quantity of two,000 Euros, supplied by Tenaris Silcotub)
Saturn (dir. Daniel Tornero, Spain)
Special Mention of the ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ Jury
The Return of the Projectionist (dir. Orkhan Aghazadeh, France)
Special Mention of the ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ Jury
Letters from Wolf Street (dir. Arjun Talwar, Poland)
Romanian Days: Best Feature Film (quantity of 1500 Euro, supplied by DACIN SARA and grip and tools providers price 10,000 Euro, supplied by CINELAB România)
The New Year That Never Came (dir. Bogdan Mureșanu, Romania)
Romanian Days Award for Best Debut (quantity of 1,500 de euro, supplied by Banca Transilvania)
Bright Future (dir. Andra MacMasters, Romania)
Romanian Days Award for Best Short Film (quantity of 1,500 and 5,000 euro [camera & electric & grip equipment services], supplied by CutareFilm)
Aid (dir. Valentin-Rareș Fogoroș, Romania)
The Audience Award (quantity of two,000 euros, supplied by MasterCard)
Deaf (dir. Eva Libertad García López, Spain)
Most Popular Romanian Film within the Festival (Vodafone Hearts’ Award) (quantity of two.500 euros, supplied by Vodafone)
The New Year That Never Came (dir. Bogdan Mureșanu, Romania)
Excellency Award: Director (supplied by Nova Power & Gas)
Andrei Ujica
Excellency Award: Actor
Florin Piersic
Lifetime Achievement Award: Director
Béla Tarr
Lifetime Achievement Award: Actress
Emila Dobrin
Lifetime Achievement Award: Film Critic
Valerian Sava
Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema: Actress
Maria de Medeiros
FIPRESCI Award (supplied by the Jury of the International Federation of Film Critics for a movie from the Romanian Film Days part)
Merman (dir. Ana Lungu, Romania)
Youth Award (TEEN Spirit) (quantity of 1,500 euros, supplied by McDonalds)
Little Trouble Girls (dir. Urška Djukić, Slovenia)
Special Mention of the Teen Spirit Jury
The Girls on the Station (dir. Juana Macías, Spain)
Ecumenical Jury Award (quantity of 1,000 euros, supplied by SIGNIS and INTERFILM, for a movie from the Festival Competition)
Peacock (dir. Bernhard Wenger, Germany)
Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury
Rains over Babel (dir. Gala del Sol, Colombia)
SIGNIS Award (quantity 500 euros, supplied by SIGNIS Romania, to a brief movie from the Romanian Days Section)
Grandpa Is Sleeping (dir. Matei Branea, Romania)
TRANSILVANIA PITCH STOP
Chainsaw Europe Award (25,000 euros in post-production providers)
Kazimir (dir. Dorian Boguță)
The TPS Development Award (quantity of 5000 euros, supplied by Avanpost)
Horseshoe (dir. Lucia Chicoș)
National Center of Cinematography of the Republic of Moldova Award (quantity of 1,500 euros)
Desire (dir. Nuray Kayacan Sünbül, Turkey)
Connecting Cottbus cocoLAB Award – East-West Emerging Producers Award (collection of a producer from Romania or the Republic of Moldova to take part within the new cocoLAB 2024 program devoted to rising producers)
Grandparents’ Paradise (dir. Alex Țibu, Șerban Racovițeanu)
DRAMA ROOM
Best Series Project Award (consisting of a improvement take care of PRO TV)
The Accountant (screenwriter: Bogdan Drumea, Romania)
Creative Residency at Bethlen-Haller Castle (for a challenge from the Drama Room, supplied by Jidvei)
ReGYM (screenwriters Alex Pintică, Alberto Nicolae, Romania)
LOCAL COMPETITION
Local Competition Award (quantity of 1,000 euros, supplied by Banca Transilvania and post-production providers price 10,000 euros for the director’s subsequent movie challenge, supplied by Numa Film)
Concluzia (dir. Bîrza Vlad)
The Unusual Award (supplied by Komiti, consisting of consultancy and manufacturing providers, together with help throughout the pre-production part [planning, organization, call sheet] and three days of filming with a technical crew {and professional} tools])
Posibilitățile unei evadări (dir. Lehel Fazakas și Antal Bence)
Special Mention of the Jury (scholarship supplied by the Film School, guaranteeing participation in one of many introductory programs in screenwriting or directing, relying on the winner’s place of residence on the time of claiming the prize, in addition to colour grading providers in quantity of 5,000 euros for the director’s subsequent movie challenge, supplied by Numa Film)
Apele în care ne scăldăm (dir. Răzvan Dima)
Făclia Award (diploma and sculpture made by Ovidiu Guleș)
Ole (dir. Ambrozie Pură)
OTHER AWARDS
Young Francophone Jury Award (supplied by TV5 Monde and the French Institute, consisting of the acquisition of the movie’s distribution rights in Romanian cinemas)
Block Pass (dir. Antoine Chevrollier, France)
Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship (quantity of two,500 euros, supplied in partnership with Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim)
Milionarul gunoaielor (dir. Radu Stroie)
Special Mention inside the Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship (quantity of 1,000 euros, supplied in partnership with Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim for a younger Romanian actor who has made a notable success in a brief movie or characteristic movie premiered in 2024 or 2025)
Ștefan Mihai