After its release, The First Slam Dunk quickly reached number one at the Japanese box office and secured the fifth spot among the highest-grossing anime films in history. The film is an adaptation of one of the most popular manga series of all time. The 31 volumes of Slam Dunk were published between 1990 and 1996, and the anime series began airing in 1993. Twenty years later...
Focus Japan will be completed at Transilvania IFF by a series of experiences supported by the Center for Romanian Japanese Studies: a MANGA workshop presented by illustrator Anca Toma Noctis Art, an Origami workshop by artist Alexandra Baranyi, and an IKEBANA workshop by Andreea Georgescu. Demmers will demonstrate the Tea Ceremony. NEZUMI by Nemira, the first MANGA imprint i...
In random order: The Old Bachelor, the Iranian film in the Competition – a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions (and I'm not talking here about its mammoth 195-minute duration, which I swear you do not feel), with a pulverizing ending; Seven Hills Seven Seas – a visual feast of rare inventiveness, in which the rat’s fate will have you bawling even if your heart is made of...
I tend to remain equally reserved in relation to Romanian cinema as a whole. More and more films are being produced (which is very good), but the percentage of success and recognition of value remain the same as when much fewer was being produced. What I find commendable is that independent films are being made, especially in the documentary field. I really liked what Alexan...
I've been stalking Claude Sautet ever since the retrospective dedicated to him at last year's San Sebastian festival, and I took advantage of the fact that 2024 marks the centenary of his birth. He may not be as coddled a filmmaker as Godard, Rohmer, Truffaut or Chabrol, but his work is solid and has a distinctiveness and musicality worth discovering. Plus, if you're a Lea Seyd...
Let's make it clear from the start: this is the theme of this year's image campaign, not necessarily the theme of the festival selection. Although, probably, if I were to close my eyes and randomly put my finger on one of the almost 200 films in the program, there’s an 85% chance I'd land on a film about relationships (whether they're platonic, amorous, familial, couples’ or ho...
It's impossible not to think of him, at least at the beginning of the new film by Luc Besson. The smeared makeup, the wig, the first glances between him and the police officer who stops him, the naive gesture with which he lights a cigarette while refusing to show his papers. Besson's Joker is dressed as a woman, specifically Marilyn Monroe. He drives a truck full of dogs of al...
Wenders manages to transform the life of an apparently simple and banal character into a story that we end up watching with bated breath, fascinated by the unpretentious way in which he lives his small joys. Watching the screen, we might think that some people don't need much to be happy and content. The idea from which director Wim Wenders starts is precisely that each day...
In the heart of Cluj, where the city's pulse beats the strongest, you can find a new temporary conceptual installation: The Heart of the Festival. Inspired by a creation from Anca Boeriu (artist, professor and cultural manager) and Andreea Sandu (curator, cultural manager and founder of NAC/Galateca), this reconfiguration transforms the original Heart of the City* installation...
On Wednesday, June 19, the most important cinemas in Cluj will host Hungarian films, featuring 10 productions and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. In Free Fall (dir. András Fésős) stars Bogdan Dumitrache as a firefighter who begins to lose himself and, more importantly, his son. The screening will be at 9:00 PM at the Student Culture House, with the director and actress And...
Among the TIFF.23 special guests, Romanian director Paul Negoescu (Two Lottery Tickets, Men of Deeds) and Markéta Šantrochová, president of European Film Promotion are part of the Official Competition jury. The What's Up, Doc? competition jury includes editor and director Dana Bunescu, Bulgarian producer Mira Staleva, and Italian film critic Giuseppe Gariazzo. Known for l...
Jojo T. Gibbs, one of the most promising emerging actresses, is a special guest at the 23rd edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 14-24, 2024, Cluj-Napoca). She will also attend the festival's Opening Gala, where the latest film directed by Luc Besson, Dogman, will be screened. An actress and comedian, Jojo T. Gibbs first gained attention in Twenties,...
The action in Milky Way (r. Vasilis Kekatos, Greece, 2023) takes place in a mountain town where residents oscillate between frustration and the desire to escape. The protagonist is Maria, a high school student with aspirations of becoming a dancer, whose plans are thwarted when she becomes pregnant. Renars, a rebellious young man trying to escape the strict rules of late 197...