Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF)

Overview

The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is Romania's largest international film festival. The 25th edition runs June 12 to 21, 2026, in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania. Founded in 2002, TIFF programs over 250 films across competitive and non-competitive sections, with over 100,000 participants at each edition. Since 2021, Cluj-Napoca is part of the UNESCO City of Film network, the only city in Romania to hold that designation.

TIFF's Official Competition is dedicated to first and second-time directors and their fiction films. Twelve films from around the world compete for the Transilvania Trophy, carrying EUR 10,000 split 50-50 between director and majority producer. The 25th edition competition includes films from Kazakhstan, Hungary, France, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Greece, UK, Serbia, and Chile. The jury for the 25th edition includes Irish actor Aidan Gillen, known for roles in Game of Thrones and The Wire.

The festival accepts open submissions through the Eventival platform. International features carry a submission fee of EUR 30 (early bird) or EUR 50 (regular). Romanian films have no submission fee. The 25th edition also marks a milestone year with special guests including Ornella Muti (receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award), Ben Wheatley, and Sam Riley.

Submission Details

TIFF accepts submissions through the Eventival platform. The Regulations for the 25th edition specify:

Eligibility requirements:

• Official Competition: first and second-time directors, fiction films only
• What's Up, Doc?: first or second documentary by the filmmaker
• World premiere dates for films in competitive programs must be after May 1, 2025
• Films in Official Competition and What's Up, Doc? must not have been screened in Romania
• National premieres are given priority in all sections
• TIFF does not have a dedicated section for foreign shorts
• Each selected film is screened at least twice
• Screenings take place in traditional theaters and unconventional venues

Submission fees (25th edition):

• International features: EUR 30 (early bird, October 10 to December 31, 2025)
• International features: EUR 50 (regular, January 1 to February 1, 2026)
• Romanian films: no submission fee

Deadline:

• February 1, 2026 for all sections: Official Competition, Romanian Days (shorts and features), What's Up, Doc?, Full Moon, Supernova, and No Limit

Submission process:

• Screening rights-holders (producers or distributors) fill in the submission form on Eventival
• Online screener links with usernames or passwords inserted in the submission forms
• Full regulations available at tiff.ro/en/regulations-tiff25

Key Sections

Competitive Sections

• Official Competition - 12 first and second feature films by emerging directors, competing for the Transilvania Trophy (EUR 10,000). 2026 lineup includes films from Kazakhstan, Hungary, France, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Greece, UK, Serbia, and Chile
• What's Up, Doc? - competitive section for first or second documentaries, with 10 titles in competition for the What's Up, Doc? Award (EUR 2,000). Now in its fifth year as a dedicated competition
• Romanian Days - competitive section for Romanian films, with awards for Feature Film (EUR 2,000), Short Film (EUR 1,500), Debut (EUR 1,500), and Vodafone Heart's Award (EUR 2,000)

Non-Competitive Sections

• Supernova - international films outside competition
• Full Moon - genre and midnight programming
• No Limit - experimental and boundary-pushing cinema
• Special Screenings - high-profile films, including screenings at Banffy Castle in Bontida
• Close Up - retrospective dedicated to a filmmaker (2026: Corneliu Porumboiu)
• The Pitch Black Anthology - dark and provocative cinema
• Smart 7 - European festival network competition
• Focus - national cinema spotlight (2026: Netherlands)
• Teen Spirit - youth-oriented programming
• 25 Years Later - classic films revisited (2026: Spirited Away)
• Hungarian Day - Hungarian cinema programming
• Film Food - food-themed screenings with culinary events
• Mini TIFF - children's programming
• Cine-concerts and Concerts - live music and film events

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Debut and Second-Feature Filmmakers

TIFF's Official Competition is exclusively for first and second-time directors presenting fiction films. This makes it one of the few European festivals with a competition explicitly limited to early-career filmmakers. The Transilvania Trophy of EUR 10,000, split equally between director and majority producer, is a meaningful sum for a debut filmmaker. The 25th edition competition includes 12 films from 12 different countries, demonstrating the festival's international reach.

The Romania premiere requirement is strict: films that have screened in Romania before are ineligible for the Official Competition or What's Up, Doc? National premieres are given priority across all sections, so films with stronger premiere status have a competitive advantage.

For Documentary Filmmakers

The What's Up, Doc? section is a dedicated competitive section for first or second documentaries. The 2026 edition includes 10 titles spanning the full range of documentary forms, including a coyote animation, a poetic hybrid, an investigative journalism piece, and a tongue-in-cheek B-movie series. The What's Up, Doc? Award carries EUR 2,000 split 50-50 between director and majority producer.

For Romanian Filmmakers

Romanian Days is the festival's dedicated Romanian cinema section, with four competitive awards: Feature Film (EUR 2,000), Short Film (EUR 1,500), Debut (EUR 1,500), and the Vodafone Heart's Award (EUR 2,000 for the most popular film). Romanian films have no submission fee. The FIPRESCI jury awards a prize for a feature film in the Romanian Days section, and the Excellence Award honors an outstanding figure of Romanian cinema.

The 25th edition's Excellence Award goes to actress Anda Onesa, a defining figure of Romanian cinema of the 1980s. The TIFF Unlimited Caravan takes a representative selection from the festival program to Bucharest, Sibiu, Timisoara, Oradea, and other cities after the main festival, extending the reach of Romanian films beyond Cluj-Napoca.

Industry and Cultural Context

TIFF is the most important film event in Romania, with over 100,000 participants. The festival's location in Cluj-Napoca, a major city in Transylvania, places it in a region with a deep cultural history. Since 2021, Cluj-Napoca's UNESCO City of Film designation reflects the festival's impact on the city's cultural profile. The 25th edition's special guests include Ornella Muti (Lifetime Achievement Award), Ben Wheatley, and Sam Riley, demonstrating the festival's ability to attract international industry figures.

The Close Up section (2026: Corneliu Porumboiu) provides retrospective context for Romanian cinema, while the Focus section (2026: Netherlands) broadens the festival's international scope. Cannes titles screen in Romanian premiere, including Pedro Almodovar's Bitter Christmas and Radu Jude's Diary of a Chambermaid.

Major Awards

Official Competition

• Transilvania Trophy for Best Film: EUR 10,000 (split 50-50 between director and majority producer, cannot be awarded ex-aequo)
• Best Director: EUR 5,000 (going toward the director)
• Special Jury Prize: EUR 3,000 (going toward the director)
• Best Performance: EUR 1,000 (going toward a male or female actor or ensemble)

What's Up, Doc? Competition

• What's Up, Doc? Award: EUR 2,000 (split 50-50 between director and majority producer, cannot be awarded ex-aequo)

Romanian Days

• Romanian Days Award: Feature Film: EUR 2,000 (split 50-50 between director and majority producer)
• Romanian Days Award: Short: EUR 1,500 (going toward the director)
• Romanian Days Award: Debut: EUR 1,500 (going toward the selected winner)
• Romanian Days Award: Vodafone Heart's Award: EUR 2,000 (for the most popular film)

Other Awards

• FIPRESCI Award: offered by a jury of the International Federation of Film Critics to a feature film in the Romanian Days section
• Audience Award: decided by audience vote among films in the Official Competition
• Excellence Award: dedicated to an outstanding figure of Romanian cinema (2026: Anda Onesa)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: dedicated to an outstanding figure of world cinema (2026: Ornella Muti)

Festival History

TIFF was founded in 2002 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as the first international film festival in the country. The festival emerged during Romania's post-communist cultural rebuilding, over a decade after the fall of the Ceausescu regime in 1989. From its inception, TIFF aimed to bring international cinema to Romanian audiences and provide a platform for domestic filmmaking talent that had been isolated during the communist era.

The festival's growth paralleled the rise of the Romanian New Wave, a movement of Romanian filmmakers including Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, and Corneliu Porumboiu who achieved international recognition in the 2000s and 2010s. TIFF provided a domestic platform for this movement while also programming international debut and second-feature films through its Official Competition.

Over two decades, TIFF has grown into Romania's largest film event, with over 100,000 participants and over 250 films programmed across multiple venues in Cluj-Napoca and beyond. The festival's expansion beyond traditional theaters into unconventional venues, including Banffy Castle in Bontida and open-air screenings in Unirii Square and Iulius Park, has become a defining characteristic. In 2021, Cluj-Napoca joined the UNESCO City of Film network, partly due to TIFF's sustained cultural impact.

The 25th edition in 2026 marks a milestone year. The festival's Close Up section dedicated to Corneliu Porumboiu reflects the festival's connection to the Romanian New Wave, while the Focus on Netherlands and the Cannes titles screening in Romanian premiere demonstrate its international programming reach. The TIFF Unlimited Caravan, which takes festival selections to other Romanian cities, extends the festival's national impact beyond the 10-day event in Cluj-Napoca.

See Also

For festival circuit planning and premiere strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. For Eastern European film markets and distribution, see International Film Markets. To calculate the financial return of festival submissions, see the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For the Warsaw Film Festival, another Central/Eastern European festival, see Warsaw Film Festival. For the Sofia International Film Festival, another Balkan regional festival, see Sofia International Film Festival.