Attended by well over 800 guests, the Closing Gala of the 12th edition was presented by Tudor Giurgiu, the director of the festival. The starts of the night, protagonists of unforgettable TIFF moments were actress Luminița Gheorghiu, the recipient of the Excellence Award, and famed Czech director Jiří Menzel, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Before the ceremony, actresses Franziska Petri, Ioana Flora, Ioana Blaj, Crina Semciuc, directors Nae Caranfil, Cristi Puiu, György Pálfi, producers Lynda Myles, Ada Solomon, Anca Puiu, Oana Giurgiu, the artistic director of the Tribeca Film Festival, Frederic Boyer, the director of the Making Waves Festival, Corina Șuteu and the HBO România CEO, Carmen Harabagiu. Tudor Giurgiu and Cristian Hordilă, the manager of TIFF, were created by Tudor. Personal Tailor.
The Transilvania trophy, of 15.000 Euro, went to a first time director, Anand Gandhi, who impressed the jury with his feature film Ship of Theseus (India). „We salute a new major talent in world cinema”, said the jury. The trophy has handed to the sound designer of the film, Erdélyi Gábor, by director Jiří Menzel and actress Luminița Gheorghiu. „I’ve learned a lot from Anand Gandhi, he is very talented. Please watch this film, it will change your lives”, said Erdélyi Gábor.
Ship of Theseus also received the Best Cinematography award, of 3.500 Euro (digital post-production services offered by Cinelabs). Director of Photography Pankaj Kumar received the award for „the fluidity of the images and his excellent manner of surprising contemporary India’s vibrating and colorful life”. The film is a meditation about identity, doing what is right, beauty and death told through the three apparently unconnected stories of an experimental photographer, a monk and a stock broker.
The audience gave a huge hand to Luminița Gheorghiu, the recipient of the TIFF Excellence Award, offered by Mercedes-Benz. „I’m so humbled by you, by this award. Excellence? It means that, starting tomorrow, I won’t be allowed to make mistakes, which is impossible. I wish to share this award with all those I’ve worked with throughout the years.” The very touching moment was presented by actress Cristina Flutur, of Beyond the Hills fame and the artistic director of TIFF, Mihai Chirilov.
„I’ve spent only three days here, but they were three very happy days. I discovered that Romania is not that far from the Czech Republic as it appears on maps. I’ve travelled all over the world, but this is where I felt happy”, said Jiří Menzel, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. TV showman Andi Moisescu presented The Lifetime Achievement Award to composer Adrian Enescu. „This award is important not only for me, but also for all the composers who want to enter this wonderful experience of making film music”, said the musician.
The Best Director award, of 5.000 Euro, offered by BCR, went to another first time director, the Japanese Rikiya Imaizumi, for I Catch a Terrible Cat, „an excellent romantic comedy mixed with dark humor and which explores the nature of feelings in contemporary Japan”. Young directors Ana Guevara Pose and Leticia Jorge Romero, from Uruguay, received the Jury Special award, of 1.500 Euro, offered by Vodafone, for Tanta agua, a film that manages to „identify the essence of family”. The award was presented by Cristi Puiu, member in the competition jury.
The Best Actor/Actress Award, of 1.000 Euro, offered by Vitrina Advertising, went to the amateur Danish actor Gustav Dyekjaer Giese, for his role in Nordvest (by Michael Noer, Denmark). The winner was announced by a new Cluj favorite, the protagonist of Betrayal, actress Franziska Petri. The FIPRESCI award for the best film of the This Is the End section was El limpiador (by Adrian Saba, Peru).
The Audience Award offered by Mastercard went to the Middle East, to a first time feature entirely shot in Saudi Arabia which is also the first Saudi Arabian film made by a woman: Wadjda (by Haifaa Al-Mansour). The Romanian distribution rights for this film will be secured by Transilvania Film. The award was presented by the ten actors from the 10 for FILM program: Claudia Ardelean, Balázs Bodolai, Eliza Noemi Judeu, Nicoleta Lefter, Călin Stanciu Jr., Rareș Florin Stoica, Silvia Török, Mihaela Trofimov, Cătălin Vieru and Irina Wintze.
The Romanian Days winner is the documentary Here... I Mean There (by Laura Căpățână Juller), which received the Best Feature Award, of 5.000 Euro in post-production services offered by Abis Studio. „I am very happy for this film, which encompasses four years of hard work. It was made without money”, said producer Ada Solomon. The Romanian Breakthrough Award went to Paul Negoescu, for A Month in Thailand. The 1.000 Euro prize offered by URSUS, was presented by actress Mihaela Sîrbu to the film’s protagonist, Andrei Mateiu.
The Best Short Award went to Shadow of a Cloud, by Radu Jude, a film presented earlier in May within the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section of Cannes. The award consists of 1.500 Euro and a day of shooting at the MediaPro Studios. The jury also handed two special mentions, to the short films Claudiu and the Fish (by Andrei Tănase) and The Pill of Happiness (by Cecilia Felmeri).
The winner of the Shadows Shorts section, Death of a Shadow (by Tom van Avermaet, Belgium), which, earlier this year, was nominated for an Oscar, was presented by the three members of the jury, Freddy Bozzo, Tomi Malkki and Pau Teixidor.
Teens Teona Galgoțiu, Marc Solomon and Eva Todică, directors of Pentru Carlo, within the Let's Go Digital! workshop, won the award offered by UPC. The Local Competition Award of 1.500 Euro, offered by Terapia Ranbaxy, went to Eleven töredék (by Bántó Csaba, Iszlai József) and Édes otthon (by Ábel Visky). The Special Mention of the Local Competition offered by Fabrica de Pensule, went to Clubul de bridge (by Ana-Maria Vîjdea, Cristina Haneș).
Carmen Harabagiu, the CEO of HBO Romania, announced the winners of the HBO/TIFF National Script Contest: the Best Feature Screenplay award (3.000 dollars) went to Toma Bogdan, for „Reparaţia”, the Best Documentary Screenplay award (2.000 dollars), went to Marius Iacob, for „Despre starea de bine”, and the Best Short Screenplay award (1.500 dollars) went to Radu Bărbulescu, for „Dispozitivul 0068”.
The outfits of the actors and actresses within the 10 for FILM program were offered by Ana Mischin, Tudor. Personal Tailor, Social Plum, Maria Daniela Burnette, Bianca Popp, Campan Istvan, Calina Langa și Essentza Shoes.
