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Cristi Iftime’s “The Fear’s Artist” and Marius Olteanu’s “We Won’t Get Old Together” won big at the industry awards ceremony of the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, with the two Romanian projects from the Works in Progress
program being named dual recipients of the inaugural Transilvania HBO Award.
The prize in the amount of €30,000 ($34,400) was handed to the two projects, which were among seven works in progress that screened for a panel of industry professionals this week in Cluj. The decision was made by a jury comprised of Georges Goldenstern, creator of Arte France Cinéma and former executive manager of Cannes’ Cinefondation; Loreta Gandolfi, a senior curator at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias in Colombia; and Siarhei Samusevich, a film programmer and critic working in content planning and programming for HBO and HBO Max at Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We Won’t Get Old Together,” Olteanu’s sophomore feature, is a pandemic-set drama about a man struggling to rebuild his life from the ground up when everything around him comes crashing down. The director’s first feature, “Monsters.,” premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum strand in 2019, where it won the Tagesspiegel Audience Award.
No details were publicly available for “The Fear’s Artist,” but it marks Iftime’s first feature in nearly a decade, since his debut “Marita” was awarded at Karlovy Vary in 2017.
In the Transilvania Pitch Stop co-production forum, the grand prize, offered by post-production company Chainsaw Europe, went to “Fathers,” directed by Bulgaria’s Martin Iliev and produced by Angel Ivanov (Handplayed). The film follows a young director who’s dealt a life-threatening diagnosis and must face generational trauma when a journey with his father forces them to confront old wounds.
The TPS Development Award offered by post-production house Avanpost went to “Times New Roman,” from Ukrainian director Philip Sotnychenko, which is produced by Valeria Sochyvets (Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema) and Sashko Chubko (Viatel). Sotnychenko’s sophomore feature follows a Ukrainian artist who embarks on a project reenacting political assassinations across Europe, driven by a desire to escape.
The CNC Moldova Award went to “Another Story About My Son,” directed by Adrian Silișteanu of Romania. Produced by Iriana Adnana (Domestic Film) and Maya Vitkova Kosev (Viktoria World Sales and Distribution), it follows a Roma community leader who helps a film crew recreate the ethnic conflict that claimed his son’s life, embarking on a painful journey through grief, memory and acceptance.
The Connecting Cottbus CoCoLab: East-West Award went to Mara Crăcăleanu for the project “Sun Offspring,” directed by Octavian Şaramet. The folk horror film tells the story of two young lovers longing for parenthood who are drawn into a secluded Romanian wellness community anchored in the horrifying belief that you can meet your child before it exists.
Rounding out the Transilvania Pitch Stop prizes, the Luno Award went to “Decebal’s Wedding,” directed by Matei Lucaci-Grünberg and produced by Gabriela Suciu (Atelier de Film). The movie follows a traditional Romanian family’s tech-challenged attempt to attend their son’s New York wedding, which devolves into a hilarious cultural collision with his progressive American in-laws.
In the Drama Room, which looks to nurture original Romanian dramatic series, the best series project award, which includes a development agreement with PRO TV, went to “Stay in School!,” written by Rodica Dominteanu, while a creative residency at Bethlen-Haller Castle was awarded to “The Story of a Lost Boy,” created by Gabriel Corneanu.
In the newly launched Book to Screen program, which brings together authors and filmmakers interested in how contemporary literature can find its way to the screen, a one-year option agreement with PRO TV was awarded to “Greu de pătruns în pădurea de mesteceni,” written by Ruxandra Burcescu, while a Book to Screen Award in the amount of €1,000 ($1,100) went to “Tot ce i-am promis tatălui meu,” written by Ioana Maria Stăncescu.
Finally, two prestigious Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarships were given to Marius Papară, for the project “Ibida,” and Ana-Maria Comănescu, for the project “Paradox.”
The Transilvania Intl. Film Festival runs June 12 – 21.
