Horror film Kazimir won the big prize of Transilvania Pitch Stop, part of the RO Days industry platform at the Transilvania International Film Festival.
The second feature by Moldovan-born Romanian actor-director Dorian Boguta won the Chainsaw Europe’s postproduction award, offering €25,000 in postproduction services
Lucia Chicoș’ debut feature project Horseshoe won the TPS development award of €5,000 in services from postproduction house Avanpost’s. It was pitched as a bittersweet portrait of a 40 year- old primary school teacher caught between generations, expectations and an unresolved childhood who becomes pregnant and is faced with a tough decision about becoming a mother herself.
This year’s €1,500 cash prize of the National Centre of Cinematography in Moldova went to Turkish producer-director Nuray Kayacan Sünbül for her debut feature Desire.
The project has already attached international co-producers from Hungary (Andrea Taschler’s Mirage Film) and Georgia (director George Ovashvili’s Wagannet Film).
Romanian producer Maximilian Liford won the East-West emerging producers award presented by the Connecting Cottbus East-West co-production market to a Romanian or Moldovan producer pitching a project at TPS. Liford will now be able to participate in the next cocoLAB programme held in Cottbus during Connecting Cottbus at the beginning of November.
Liford had been joined by co-directors Alex Țibu, Șerban Racovițeanu in an entertaining pitch - that included singing and matching T-shirts - of their bittersweet comedy drama Grandparents’ Paradise to be produced by Visual Walkabout.
The directors described the film as “a Romanian road movie with wrinkles and soul. Grandparents’ Paradise is our way of saying, ‘aging isn’t the end, it’s the sequel’.”
“A wonderful experience”
“There was a remarkable diversity to the projects being pitched this year,” said German producer Christoph Thoke, attending TIFF as a member of the Romanian Days short film jury, He had one to one meetings with all of the 10 TPS projects and revealed he had joined Desire to be involved in packaging the project.
Joseph Hewitt, senior marketing and distribution manager at UK outfit Protagonist Pictures, was back at TIFF this year for a second time, this year accompanying Jan Ole Gerster’s English-language debut Islands playing in the Supernova sidebar.
“[TIFF] is a very relaxed festival and an easy place to meet people,” he said. “You get a real mix of nationalities. It’s fantastic to get to learn about how other countries produce films and, for me, it’s a great way to experience the European film industry outside of festivals like Cannes.
“There are always at least three networking events a day and they are always at beautiful locations. There’s something for everybody - from the industry events to the conversations with the filmmakers -, the Pitch Stop is fantastic to see what projects are working here and what kind of stories are being told in other countries.”
Eva Duriez, festival manager for France’s Gaumont, in town of the first time, described TIFF as a “a wonderful experience”.
“The festival not only offered an impressive selection of films, but was also remarkably well-organised, making it easy to participate in all the industry and networking events,” she said.
Among the highlights for her had been “the chance to attend a memorable screening of Kontinental ‘25 by Radu Jude, filmed in the very city hosting the festival, as well as an outdoor screening in Piața Unirii of the hilarious romantic comedy Follamente.”
Transilvania Pitch Stop had also been for her “a fantastic opportunity to discover exciting new projects from Eastern Europe”.
Arnaud Chevallier, founder of the fledgling Paris/Madrid-based sales agency B-Rated International, emphasised TIFF’s value as a place to discover upcoming Romanian projects.
“The Romanian film industry is full of talent, and felt a new generation is emerging , one with its own distinctive style,” he said. “ There are some very interesting genre projects that are different from the renowned Romanian New Wave which remains a global reference point.”
This year, Chevallier focused particularly on short films as a member of the Romanian Days Short Jury: “I was impressed by the fresh voices in this format. Valentin Fogoroș and Octav Chelaru are definitely ones to watch.”
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