Romanian productions in the spotlight at dedicated Transilvania Film Festival section

The 24th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Cluj-Napoca is set to spotlight the most powerful Romanian films of the year, with the Romanian Days section showcasing a record number of documentaries and high-profile premieres. Eight feature films — six of them documentaries — and 20 short films will compete for the festival’s top national honors, including Best Feature Film, Best Debut, and Best Short Film.

Among the standout titles in competition is Traffic, directed by Teodora Ana Mihai and written by Cristian Mungiu. Inspired by the notorious 2012 art heist at the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, the film goes beyond crime drama to explore the harsh realities faced by migrant workers in Western Europe.

Featuring Anamaria Vartolomei and cinematography by Marius Panduru, Traffic won the Grand Prize at the Warsaw Film Festival.

Also drawing international acclaim is Father, a deeply emotional documentary by Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows a Moldovan journalist as she reconnects with her estranged father in Italy and unearths buried trauma from his past as a migrant laborer.

Two more documentaries rely entirely on archival material: Bright Future by Andra MacMasters examines Romania’s participation in the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students in North Korea, while Merman by Ana Lungu weaves three stories from WWII to the end of communism into a reflective essay film.

Premiering at TIFF, Love Hurts by Alexandru Mavrodineanu offers a raw look at long-term romantic relationships through the lens of two real couples, while Beyond the River, directed by Endre David, documents the social and physical isolation of a Roma community in rural Transylvania.

In A Rebel Edge, director Bogdan Pușlenghea traces the life of Doru Chirodea, an underground poet whose journey bridges 1980s America and post-communist Romania.

Another highly anticipated entry is The New Year That Never Came, the feature debut of Gopo Award-winning filmmaker Bogdan Mureșanu. Set on the cusp of the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, the tragicomic ensemble film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, winning both the Orizzonti Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.

Out of competition, TIFF will present major new Romanian works, including