Some 3,500 viewers were in Unirii Square in central Bucharest for the start of the 11-day festival, which runs through June 24.

The biggest film extravaganza in Romania, the festival is one of the premier events on the Eastern European industry calendar, with more than 200 films, exhibitions, concerts, talks and special events scheduled, and around 1,000 industry professionals expected.

Twelve films by first and second-time directors will compete for the Transilvania Trophy and other awards in the main competition.

“The films of the Official Competition tell stories about atypical characters, their reactions to social pressures and the need for connection, affirmation, or independence. Intimate dramas, absurd comedies, unconventional melodramas or family chronicles of different calibers, with a slight predilection for stories of young people at crossroads”, notes Transylvania Film Fest artistic director Mihai Chirilov.

This year’s main competition has only 5 European titles: Swedish dramedy The Hypnosis by Ernst De Geer, French romantic drama The Dreamer by Anaïs Tellenne, dark comedy-drama Where Elephants Go by Romanian filmmakers Cătălin Rotaru and Gabi Virginia Șarga, and two debuts: The drama Summer Brother by Dutch director Joren Molter and the comedy melodrama The Permanent Picture by Catalonian filmmaker Laura Ferrés.

There are 4 competition entries from Asia: The Old Bachelor by Iranian director Oktay Baraheni, Day Tripper from China by Tanqi Chen, and two Indian films: The Adaman Girl, directed by Vinothraj Palani, and Girls Will Be Girls by director Shuchi Talati.

Some of the highlights in the sidebar sections include Danish superstar Mads Mikkelsen historical drama The Promised Land;

Yorgos Lanthimos Cannes entry Kinds of Kindness, which earned Jesse Plemons best actor award;

German director Tilman Singer’s horror thriller Cuckoo with Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens;

South Korean box-office smash Exhuma directed by Jang Jae-hyun; German dramedy Dying by Mathias Glassner who won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the Berlinale;

the queer fantasy romantic drama All of us Strangers with Paul Mescal directed by Andrew Haigh.

Focus Japan

TIFF is paying special tribute to Japanese cinema through Focus Japan showcasing contemporary and classic Japanese films and anime and documentary stories.

Among other titles the lineup includes 3 films by the celebrated contemporary Japanese filmmakers Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Evil Does Not Exist, Drive My Car and The Passion), masterpieces from Japanese masters Kenji Mizoguchi (The Governor of Sansho), Shohei Imamura (Ballad of Narayama) and Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story).