Transilvania Film Festival, one of the most important festivals in Romania, will take place this year from 27 May to 5 June, bringing together some of the greatest films from all over the world.

The Official Competition of Transilvania International Film Festival is extremely diverse this year, and includes films which deconstruct the conventions of the horror, thriller, romance, and western genres. Made by first- and second-time directors, the 12 films competing for the Transilvania Trophy come from 16 countries: France, Tunisia, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Australia, India, Bulgaria, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, France, Cambodia, Spain, and, for the first time in the history of the festival, Vanuatu. Nine out of the 12 are first feature films.

The four members of the 2016 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, and also present this year out of competition with United States of Love.

29 productions, some presented as world premieres, will be screened between June 2-4 in the Romanian Days section. 11 features and 16 shorts will be screened in competition, while other 2 films will be shown out of competition. Six feature films will have their world premiere at TIFF, and another two will be seen for the first time ever in Romania immediately after their premiere in Cannes. A large number of foreign and Romanian industry professionals, distributors, curators, and film critics interested in Romanian cinema will attend the screenings and events of Transilvania IFF’s Romanian Days section.

The Romanian Days feature jury is composed of Richard Peña, Columbia University professor and former Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center; Urszula Śniegowska, Artistic Director of Wrocław American Film Festival (Poland) and a former member of the CICAE and Europa Cinemas juries in Venice, Berlinale, Cannes and Sarajevo (2005-2013); and Guillermo Goldschmidt, Manager of the Film and Design department at Fundación Proa of Buenos Aires.

This year, Transilvania International Film Festival (May 27 – June 5, Cluj, Romania) dedicates a themed section titled #Animal to them. The relationship between man and animal, in its most varied forms, from worshipping to exploitation, will be explored in 10 revealing films selected by Transilvania IFF’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov. These films compete for the FIPRESCI prize.

See below the Balkan films screening in all sections of the Festival

6.9 On the Richter Scale by Nae Caranfil

Thirst by Svetla Tsotsorkova

Sparrows by Rúnar Rúnarsson

Dogs by Bogdan Mirica

The Last Day by Gabriel Achim

Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu

Horizon by Marian Crisan

The Magic Mountain by Anca Damian

In Search of the Lost Father by Ionut Teianu

Dream Images by Sorin Luca

Illegitimate by Adrian Sitaru

Discordia by Ion Indolean

Eastern Business by Igor Cobileanski

Two Lottery Tickets by Paul Negoescu

Cinema, Mon Amour by Alexandru Belc

Dogs by Bogdan Mirica

Two Lottery Tickets by Paul Negoescu

6.9 On the Richter Scale by Nae Caranfil

The Waiting Room by Igor Drljaca

Panama by Pavel Vuckovic

Frenzy by Emin Alper

Chevalier by Athina Rachel Tsangari

Holy Cow by Imam Hasanov

Family Film by Olmo Omerzu

Once Upon a Dream – A Journey to the Last Spaghetti Western by Tonislav Hristov

Cinema, Mon Amour by Alexandru Belc

Calamity by Andrei Blaier, Iosif Demian (Romania, 1977)

Love Sick by Tudor Giurgiu

Sand Cliffs by Dan Pita

Nausea by Zeki Demirkubuz

Innocence by Zeki Demirkubuz

Destiny by Zeki Demirkubuz

The Reaper by Zvonimir Juric

You Carry Me by Ivona Juka

These are the Rules by Ognjen Svilicic

Shooting Stars by Ivan-Goran Vitez

On The Other Side by Zrinko Ogresta

Life is a Trumpet by Antonio Nuic

The High Sun by Dalibor Matanic

The Visitor by Jamil Hendi

A Mere Breath by Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Mom and Other Loonies in the Family by Ibolya Fakete (Hungary/Germany/Bulgaria, 2015)

In Your Dreams! by Petr Oukropec

Transilvania International Film Festival (May 27 – June 5, 2016) is organized by Romanian Film Promotion and the Association for the Transilvania Film Festival.