Transilvania IFF.25 Announces Its Winners

The most important awards of the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival were presented on Saturday evening during the Closing Gala at the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca.

The festival’s top prize, the Transilvania Trophy, worth €10,000 and presented by Banca Transilvania, was awarded to Lionel (Spain, France). The distinction was presented on stage by Irish actor Aidan Gillen, a member of the Official Competition jury. Directed by Carlos Saiz, the feature follows a young man who embarks on a journey with his father, attempting to repair a relationship marked by years of absence and misunderstanding.

In an emotional moment, director Carlos Saiz stated on stage: “This is a film about family and second chances, but above all, it is a film that brings to the forefront people whose stories rarely make it to the screen. Thank you for helping us give them visibility and for honoring them with this award.”

The Best Director Award, worth €3,500 and presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute, went to director Konstantina Kotzamani for Titanic Ocean, a fantastical pop odyssey about adolescence, love, and the freedom to imagine other worlds. The Special Jury Award, worth €1,500, was presented to Our Father (Serbia, Croatia, Italy, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina), a story about addiction and rehabilitation.

The Best Performance Award, worth €1,000, was presented to the entire cast of Truly Naked (Netherlands, Belgium, France) — Caolán O’Gorman, Andrew Howard, Alessa Savage, and Safiya Benaddi — for a film that explores vulnerability, intimacy, and the ways people try to reconnect with one another.

In the Romanian Days competition, the Best Feature Film Award, worth €2,000 and presented by DACIN SARA, was won by Y, directed by Maria Popistașu and Alex Baciu. The Best Debut Award, worth €1,500 and presented by Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim, went to Back and Forth (Dus-întors), directed by Cristian Bota.

The winner of the What's Up, Doc? section this year was Memory (France, the Netherlands), directed by Vladlena Sandu. The €2,000 award recognizes a deeply personal hybrid documentary in which the filmmaker revisits her childhood experiences during the Chechen War and the traces they have left on the present.

The Transilvania IFF audience also chose its favorites: Feels Like Home (dir. Gábor Holtai, Hungary) received the Audience Award, worth €2,000 and presented by Mastercard, while Wild Delta (dir. Dan Dinu) was named the Most Popular Romanian Film in the festival, receiving the Vodafone Hearts’ Award, worth €2,500.

The 25th edition also brought a series of special distinctions. The Transilvania IFF.25 Trophy was awarded to Corneliu Porumboiu, the most awarded Romanian filmmaker in the history of Transilvania IFF. The Janovics Jenő Award went to Polish producer and distributor Roman Gutek. The Excellence Award, presented by Nova Power & Gas, was awarded to actress Anda Onesa, while the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Regina Maria Health Network, was given to Italian actress Ornella Muti. The award was handed to her by Gabriel Spahiu in a memorable moment that drew both applause and laughter from the audience.