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.

TIFF's Official Competition is dedicated to first and second-time directors and their fiction films. Twelve films 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 includes Irish actor Aidan Gillen.

The festival accepts open submissions through the Eventival platform. International features carry a fee of EUR 30 (early bird) or EUR 50 (regular). Romanian films have no fee. Special guests include Ornella Muti (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 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

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.

Key Sections

Competitive Sections

• Official Competition - 12 first and second feature films by emerging directors, competing for the Transilvania Trophy (EUR 10,000)
• What's Up, Doc? - competitive section for first or second documentaries, 10 titles in competition (EUR 2,000)
• 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)
• Focus - national cinema spotlight (2026: Netherlands)
• Teen Spirit - youth-oriented programming
• Mini TIFF - children's programming

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, making it one of the few European festivals with a competition limited to early-career filmmakers. The Transilvania Trophy of EUR 10,000 is a meaningful sum for a debut filmmaker. The 25th edition includes 12 films from 12 countries.

The Romania premiere requirement is strict: films that have screened in Romania before are ineligible. National premieres are given priority across all sections.

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. The 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. Romanian films have no submission fee. The FIPRESCI jury awards a prize in this section. The TIFF Unlimited Caravan takes selections to Bucharest, Sibiu, Timisoara, and other cities after the main festival.

Industry and Cultural Context

TIFF is the most important film event in Romania, with over 100,000 participants. The Close Up section (2026: Corneliu Porumboiu) provides retrospective context for Romanian cinema, while the Focus section (2026: Netherlands) broadens the international scope. Cannes titles screen in Romanian premiere, including Pedro Almodovar's Bitter Christmas and Radu Jude's Diary of a Chambermaid.

Awards / Accreditation

Official Competition

• Transilvania Trophy for Best Film: EUR 10,000 (split 50-50 between director and majority producer)
• Best Director: EUR 5,000
• Special Jury Prize: EUR 3,000
• Best Performance: EUR 1,000

What's Up, Doc? Competition

• What's Up, Doc? Award: EUR 2,000 (split 50-50 between director and majority producer)

Romanian Days

• Feature Film: EUR 2,000
• Short Film: EUR 1,500
• Debut: EUR 1,500
• Vodafone Heart's Award: EUR 2,000 (most popular film)

Other Awards

• FIPRESCI Award: for a feature film in Romanian Days
• Audience Award: decided by audience vote among Official Competition films
• Excellence Award: outstanding figure of Romanian cinema (2026: Anda Onesa)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: outstanding figure of world cinema (2026: Ornella Muti)

Festival History

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

The festival's growth paralleled the rise of the Romanian New Wave, including Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, and Corneliu Porumboiu. Over two decades, TIFF has grown into Romania's largest film event, with over 100,000 participants and over 250 films programmed. In 2021, Cluj-Napoca joined the UNESCO City of Film network.

Past Winners

2025 (24th Edition)

• Transilvania Trophy (Best Film): To a Land Unknown (dir. Mahdi Fleifel, UK). Premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2024.
• Best Directing Award: Noaz Deshe for Xoftex (Germany), EUR 3,500.
• Special Jury Prize: Debut (dir. Julian Castronovo, USA), EUR 1,500.
• Best Performance: Ghjuvanna Benedetti for The Kingdom (dir. Julien Colonna, France), EUR 1,000.
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Bela Tarr.
• Romanian Days Best Feature: The New Year That Never Came (dir. Bogdan Muresanu), EUR 2,000 plus EUR 10,000 in post-production services from CINELAB Romania.
• Total attendance: 125,000 spectators across 10 days.

2024 (23rd Edition)

• Transilvania Trophy (Best Film): Girls Will Be Girls (dir. Shuchi Talati, India/France). Premiered at Sundance 2024, released on Amazon Prime Video. Won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.
• Best Director: Sebastian Quebrada for The Other Son (Argentina), EUR 3,000.
• Special Jury Prize: The Adamant Girl (dir. Vinothraj Palani, India), EUR 1,500.
• Romanian Days Best Feature: Dismissed (dirs. Horia Cucuta and George ve Ganaeard).

2023 (22nd Edition)

• Transilvania Trophy (Best Film): Like a Fish on the Moon (dir. Dornaz Hajiha, Iran), EUR 10,000. All top awards won exclusively by women for the first time.
• Best Director: Carolina Markowicz for Sepidar Tari, EUR 3,500.

Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up

• Mahdi Fleifel - screened A World Not Ours at TIFF in 2013, returned to win the 2025 Transilvania Trophy with To a Land Unknown (Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2024).
• Shuchi Talati - Girls Will Be Girls won the 2024 Transilvania Trophy after premiering at Sundance. Acquired by Amazon Prime Video, won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.
• Vinothraj Palani - won the 2024 Special Jury Prize with The Adamant Girl. Previously won at TIFF 2021 with Pebbles, which also won the Tiger Award at IFFR.
• Noaz Deshe - won Best Directing at TIFF 2025 with Xoftex. Previously screened White Shadow in TIFF's 2014 competition, which won the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at Venice.
• Cristi Puiu - The Death of Mr. Lazarescu won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes in 2005, launching the Romanian New Wave.
• Cristian Mungiu - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007.
• Radu Jude - screened Kontinental '25 and Diary of a Chambermaid at TIFF. Won the Golden Bear at Berlin for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021).

Submission Tips Specific to This Festival

1. Submit through Eventival, not FilmFreeway. TIFF uses the Eventival platform for all submissions.
2. Target the Official Competition only if you are a first or second-time director. Documentaries should apply to What's Up, Doc? instead.
3. Secure your Romania premiere. Films that have screened in Romania are ineligible for the Official Competition and What's Up, Doc? National premieres are given priority.
4. Submit early to save money. Early bird (December 31, 2025) costs EUR 30. Regular (February 1, 2026) costs EUR 50. Romanian films have no fee.
5. Do not submit foreign short films for competition. TIFF does not have a dedicated section for foreign shorts.
6. Each selected film is screened at least twice. TIFF guarantees a minimum of two screenings per selected film.
7. Consider the Full Moon section for genre films. If your film is genre or midnight programming, Full Moon may be a better fit.

Industry Reputation Notes

TIFF is Romania's largest international film festival, with 125,000 attendees at the 24th edition in 2025. The festival is not FIAPF-accredited and is not Oscar, BAFTA, or European Film Award-qualifying. Its industry value is concentrated in Romanian Days, which founder Tudor Giurgiu describes as the "flagship initiative of the festival."

Romanian Days launched in the mid-2000s alongside the Romanian New Wave. The section became a destination for international programmers, sales agents, and distributors. Over 1,000 guests attend annually.

TIFF is not an acquisitions market. It does not host a film market or sales platform comparable to Cannes's Marche du Film or Berlin's EFM. Its role as a discovery festival for debut and second-feature filmmakers gives it credibility. The TIFF Unlimited streaming platform and Caravan extend the festival's reach beyond the 10-day event.

For filmmakers seeking acquisitions deals, TIFF is better suited for building festival circuit momentum and regional networking than for direct sales.

Watch

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.