Two Romanian directors in official competition of Transylvania International Film Festival

Nine debuts, of which two signed by Romanian directors, will compete for the Transylvania Trophy along with three other films made by the authors at their second feature film.

According to the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) organizers, presented in national premiere on the big screen, the 12 films in the Official Competition of the 17th edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival feel the pulse of the new generation of film-makers from all over the world.

"Formal bets are in a good relationship with ambitious and profound human stories, the all-embracing political turmoil in the contemporary world leaves room for intimate personal dramas - in a balanced selection that does not lack original approaches, radical proposals, knife-edge conflicts, black humor and pure emotion," says art director Mihai Chirilov about this year's programme of the competition.

At the boundary between fiction, documentary and visual art, "Nu ma atinge-ma" (Touch Me Not) is the first feature film of director Adina Pintilie and the double winner of the Golden Bear and the Debut Award at the Berlin Festival. A fearless exploration of the idea of intimacy and the human need of authentic contact, the film "shocks through intelligence, self-esteem and originality" (The Hollywood Reporter) and has already stirred up controversies in the world of film. The second Romanian debut in the international competition, "Charleston," directed by Andrei Cretulescu, had the world premiere at Locarno and is the bitter-sweet story of an unusual amorous triangle. 

The first names confirmed in the official jury of the TIFF 2018 are Dagur Kari, the Icelandic winner of the Transylvanian Trophy in 2003, Stephane Foenkinos, a French casting director but also director and scriptwriter of the film ‘Gelozia' (Jealousy) included in the TIFF 2018, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, British playwright and co-scriptwriter at ‘Ida' and ‘Nesupunere' (Disobedience, directed by Sebastian Lelio), and Vlad Ivanov, one of the most prolific Romanian actors of the moment, known from ‘Four months, 3 weeks and 2 days (directed by Cristian Mungiu), ‘Dogs' (directed by Bogdan Mirica) and ‘One Step Behind the Seraphim' (directed by Daniel Sandu).

This year's TIFF edition will take place between May 25 and June 3.