The prizes of the 16th edition of Transilvania International Film Festival were awarded Saturday, June 10th, at the National Theatre of Cluj

This year, The Transilvania International Film Festival welcomed a bigger public than in its preceding editions, becoming a must-go cultural event, for any movie goer. TIFF.16’s programme has reunited more than 200 films, special screenings and events.

Alain Delon, the special guest of TIFF.16, attended the closing gala on Saturday evening, where he was granted the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1995 the actor received the Honorary Golden Berlin Bear at the 45^th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Alain Delon appears on the cover of The Smiths’ album from 1986, called The Queen is Dead. Also, the song Beautiful Killer from Madonna’s 12th album is a tribute to the famous actor.

Here is the full list of the 2017 TIFF Awards:

Transilvania Trophy, worth 15.000 Euros, awarded by Staropramen – My Happy Family (dir: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross / Georgia)

Best Director, worth 5.000 Euros – Heartstone (dir: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson / Iceland)

Special Jury Award, worth 1.500 Euros, sponsored by HBO – God’s Own Country (dir: Frances Lee / UK)

At the end of the screening of his film, Frances Lee declared at TIFF.16 that his dad “is a sheep farmer and lives ten minutes away from that farm (…). I wanted to get the authenticity of that world and I wanted to really make sure I get it right. I sent Alec and Josh there for some time and they learned how to be comfortable around the animals. I didn’t want any stunts.”

Best Actor or Actress, worth 1.000 Euros, granted by Vitrina Advertising – Actress Ia Shugliashvili (My Happy Family)

Special Mention of the Jury – Glory (D: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov / Bulgaria)

FIPRESCI Award, offered by the members of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) to a feature film from the Alt.Rom.Com section – Afterlov (D: Stergios Paschos / Greece)

Audience Award, sponsored by Mastercard – Heartstone (D: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson / Iceland)

Excellence Award, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz – Romanian actress Tora Vasilescu

Lifetime Achievement Award – actor Alain Delon, special guest of TIFF.16

Lifetime Achievement Award – Romanian actress Violeta Andrei

Romanian Days Awards: Feature Film, in amount of 6.000 Euros (in post-production services) granted by Cinelabs Romania – Scarred Hearts (dir: Radu Jude)

Romanian Days Awards: Best Debut, in amount of 1.000 euro, offered by Raiffeisen Bank – The Last Kalderash (dir: Elena Stancu / Cosmin Bumbuț)

“We weren’t expecting to win anything at TIFF, especially because we aren’t filmakers, but a journalist and a photographer. Initially we wanted to make a ten minute short about the kalderash community in Corcova, that slowly looses its traditions and identity, but after a few weeks spent with them we realised how complex their story is. That’s how we got to the one hour documentary you see today. And it was just the two of us: no production houses, no distribution. We had 6 months of shooting and a budget of only 1.200.” – Elena Stancu & Cosmin Bumbut for ADFR

Romanian Days Awards: Short Film in amount of 1.500 euro, sponsored by Jameson and equipment services, offered by R3 Film Rental, worth 4.000 euro – Written/Unwritten (dir: Adrian Silișteanu)

A few months ago, we talked with Adrian Silișteanu about his short film debut. You can read the full interview here.

Special Mention of the Romanian Days Short Film Jury – Offstage (dir: Andrei Huțuleac)

“I tried to write a script because I wanted to prove that the cinema can sustain a type of fiction inspired by reality, not a fiction that is a tribute for reality. For me, as an actor, it was interested to approach this kind of script so I decided to write something that would provoke me if I was part of the cast. The prize received at TIFF.16 is the first one in my directing career and encourages me to continue to make films. I hope that “Offstage” is not the beginner’s luck, but the first step in discovering the role of director, which complements my job as an actor.” – Andrei Huțuleac for ADFR

Cinepub Audience Award, for the most popular film from Romanian Days Section, in amount of 1.500 Euros, offered by Cinepub – Planet Petrila (dir: Andrei Dăscălescu)

Best Shadows Shorts, in amount of 500 de Euros, offered by Shorts TV – Curve (dir: Tim Egan / USA)

Special Mention in the Shadows Shorts – I am the doorway (dir: Robin Kasparik) and Behind (dir: Ángel Gómez Hernández)

Romina Banu

Photographer and editor; she co-founded Dissolved Magazine together with Melissa. For Films in Frame she gathers film and TV series recommendations for lazy weekends and she writes about interesting projects from the film industry. Other than that, she likes traveling, chilling with her cats and sleeping.