TIFF opens on Friday evening with record number of spectators

Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) opened on Friday evening with a record number of spectators, being the gala with the most tickets sold of all the 14 editions - 2,500, according to the organisers.

The screening of "Wild Tales" film, which opened the festival, was preceded by a short speech delivered by the festival chairman, Tudor Giurgiu, who thanked the people of Cluj for the support so far.

Giurgiu even talked about two things that occurred before the opening of the festival. Upon entering a barber's shop on Friday, a man from Cluj told him how proud he was that very many people knew Cluj due to the festival and how much this event contributed to increasing the culture level of the city. Giurgiu also met by chance a young local politician, who asked him for an invitation to the gala, although he had never asked him about the festival or its organisation during the entire year. The chairman of the jury said he found it sad to discover this kind of behaviour in a young man.

In the same speech, Tudor Giurgiu made a call on the people living in Cluj and on the authorities to help him prevent the takeover the Film Warehouse, a deserted space of the RomaniaFilm Film Distribution and Exploitation Public Corporation (RADEF), which was discovered two-three years ago jammed with discarded reel of film and then cleaned within a TIFF campaign. The warehouse is now used for screenings and as an event centre for children, but the Interior Ministry, through the voice of a local representative, demanded this space.

Cluj Mayor Emil Boc was invited to the event, as usual, and said that, having reached its 14th edition, one may say that "TIFF has received its definitive identity card." The Mayor brought to mind that TIFF represents the...