Historic Moment for Transylvania IFF: Women Take Home Top Awards

Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha achieved great success with her film “Like a Fish on the Moon” at the Transilvania IFF.22 Awards Gala, held in Cluj-Napoca on Saturday evening. This marked a historic moment for Transilvania IFF.22 as it was the first time that the most prestigious awards were won by women. Alongside Hajiha, Carolina Markowicz received the Best Directing Award for her work, “Charcoal,” and Tia Kouvo was honored with the Special Jury Award for “Family Time.”

Expressing her gratitude, Hajiha stated, “I believe the fear of being compelled to do things we don’t desire is terrifying, regardless of age. I’m delighted that the jury understood the message of this film.” The jury was captivated by the originality of the film’s concept and its intelligent exploration of sensitive issues surrounding parenthood, making it the first Iranian film to win the Transilvania IFF official competition. Sepidar Tari, the lead actress in “Like a Fish on the Moon,” was recognized with the Best Performance Award, sharing it with Nacho Quesada, who portrayed the protagonist in the Argentinian film “The Barbarians.”

Carolina Markowicz, an emerging writer and director, solidified her promising career by winning the Best Directing Award for “Charcoal” from the Transilvania IFF.22 jury. The prize of €3,500, sponsored by Fortech, acknowledged the dynamics of relationships and dry humor in her debut film. Tia Kouvo, representing Finland, received the Special Jury Prize of €1,500 from Cemacon for “Family Time,” which impressed with its captivating portrayal of family dynamics.

In the Romanian Film Days competition, Andrei Tănase was honored with the Debut Award for “Day of the Tiger,” sponsored by Banca Transilvania. Vlad Petri’s “Between Revolutions” was named Best Feature Film, as the jury recognized its ability to evoke strong emotions in viewers. Petri will receive a prize of €1,500 from DACIN SARA, as well as analogue laboratory services worth €10,000 provided by CINELAB Romania.

The What’s Up, Doc competition celebrated its second year with “Anhell69,” a documentary by Theo Montoya, emerging as the grand winner. The film tells the story of a generation grappling with violence in the city of Medelin. The prize of €2,000 for this category was sponsored by TenarisSilcotub.

During the Gala, the 1000 spectators showered American director Oliver Stone and Australian actor Geoffrey Rush with prolonged applause as they received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Romanian actor Horațiu Mălăele was also recognized for his contributions to film and theater, receiving the Excellency Award.

Geoffrey Rush expressed his gratitude, saying, “All the awards I have received thus far, no matter how significant, are overshadowed by the fact that I am here in Cluj-Napoca, in a theater that reminds me of the beginning of my career. The warmth and love I have received in Cluj and its surroundings have always been exceptional, and I am truly honored.” He delivered parts of his speech in Romanian, captivating the audience.

The audience had the final say in two special awards. “Carbon,” directed by Ion Borș, was voted the most popular film in the official competition, while “Freedom,” directed by Tudor Giurgiu, received the Audience Award for the Most Popular Romanian Film – Vodafone Hearts’ Award. Viewers participated in the online voting on the voteazacuinima.ro platform, choosing “Freedom” as the film that evoked the most emotions during the festival.

Transilvania Trophy, worth €10,000 – Like A Fish On The Moon, directed by Dornaz Hajiha

Best Directing Award, worth €3,500, offered by Fortech – Charcoal, directed by Carolina Markowicz

Special Jury Award, worth €1,500, offered by Cemacon – Family Time, directed by Tia Kouvo

Best Performance Award, worth €1.000, offered by Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim – Nacho Quesada, for the role in The Barbarians and Sepidar Tari, for the role in Like a Fish on the Moon

“What’s up, Doc?” Award, worth €2,000, offered by Tenaris Silcotub – Anhell69, directed by Theo Montoya

Special Mention of “What’s Up, Doc?” Jury –100 Seasons, directed by Giovanni Bucchieri

Romanian Film Days – Best Feature Award, worth €1,500, offered by DACIN SARA and analogue laboratory services (16 mm and 35 mm color negative processing, negative preparation, perchloroethylene cleaning, telecine dailies HD Flat, 2 K or 4 K scanning, upload Mediashutle platform) worth €10,000, offered by CINELAB Romania – Between Revolutions, directed by Vlad Petri

Romanian Film Days Award for Best Debut, worth €1,000, offered by Banca Transilvania –Day of the Tiger, directed by ANDREI TĂNASE

Romanian Film Days Special Mention for Feature Film – Eagles From Țaga, directed by Iulian Manuel Ghervas and Adina Popescu

Romanian Film Days Award for Best Short, worth €5,000 in services such as equipment, electrical camera and grip offered by CutareFilm – Our Summer Break, directed by Lara Ionescu

Special Mentions of the Romanian Film Days Jury for Shorts – Berliner Kindl, directed by Lucia Chicoș and Whole Family, directed by Alexandra Diaconu

Audience Award, worth €2,000, offered by MasterCard – Carbon, directed by Ion Borș

The Excellency Award to actor Horațiu Mălăele

FIPRESCI Award, offered by the International Film Critic Federation jury to a film in the Romanian Film Days competition – Between Revolutions, directed by Vlad Petri

Award for the Most Popular Romanian Film of the Festival (Vodafone Hearts’ Award), worth €2,500, offered by Vodafone –Freedom, directed by Tudor Giurgiu. The film was voted online on the voteazacuinima.ro platform

Award for Lifetime Achievement – Geoffrey Rush

Award for Lifetime Achievement – Oliver Stone

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Transilvania IFF Programmes Awards

Transilvania Pitch Stop

Chainsaw Europe Award – post-production services worth €25,000 – Pyrrhic (Romania), directed by Cosmin Nicolae and produced by Velvet Moraru (Icon Production)
UPFAR-ARGOA Award – worth €3,000 – Second Line (Ukraine)

regizat și produs de Olga Stuga.

The Transilvania Pitch Stop Development Award offered by Avanpost worth €5,000 – The Life We Never Had (Bulgaria), directed by Martin Markov, produced by Victoria Mitreva, Vanya Rainova (Portokal)
The Moldova National Film Center Award worth €1,500 – Little Death (Greece), directed by Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis, produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis (Horsefly Films), Anamaria Antoci (Tangaj Production)
VILLA KULT Development Award worth €500 (for development and research expenses for a project from Romania/Moldova) – The Circle (Republic of Moldova), directed by Valeriu Andriuţă, produced by Iulia Andriuţă (Amprenta Films), Carmen Rizac (Avanpost Media)

The CoCo Award offered by Connecting Cottbus Co-Production Market – five-days residency for a project from Romania/Moldova – Pyrrhic, directed by Cosmin Nicolae, Produced by Velvet Moraru (Icon Production)

Drama Room

Best Series Project Award – Development agreement signed with PRO TV – The Kids Are Alright, writer Serghei Chiviriga

Local Competition

Local Competition Award, worth €1,500, offered by Banca Transilvania, and production services worth €15,000 for the director’s next film project, offered by Numa Film –
Special Mention of the Jury, consisting of post-production services worth €7,000, offered by Numa Film

Other awards

The Young Francophone Jury Prize, offered by TV5 Monde, French Institute, RFI Romania – Noémie dit oui, directed by Geneviève Albert

Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship, worth €2,500, offered in partnership with Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim – Revizia de Film: Mihai Păun, Denisa Onisie, Adrian Comănescu, Victor Mihăilescu, Mirel Hagiu.

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