Almost 40 films, most of which are premieres in Romania, three exhibitions, a workshop for young people and debates are part of the program of the eleventh edition of the Ceau, Cinema! in Timisoara, which will take place from Wednesday to Sunday at Timis Cinema, Victoria Cinema, Capitol Summer Garden, Traian Square and Faber.
The program and tickets can be found on the festival’s website, ceaucinema.ro.
This year’s edition will open on Wednesday, at 7 p.m., at Cinema Timiş, with the French film “Out of Season” (2023, directed by Stéphane Brizé), a love story starring Guillaume Canet and Alba Rohrwacher.
The festival is also dedicating a retrospective to new French cinema, which also includes “The Empire” (2024, directed by Bruno Dumont), winner of this year’s Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, and the three most recent titles by nonconformist director Quentin Dupieux: “The Second Act” (2024), which opened the Cannes Film Festival, “Yannick” (2023) and “Daaaaaali!” (2023).
A focus is also on the Hungarian director Judit Elek (b.1937), who received, in Budapest, an honorary trophy from the Ceau, Cinema! The festival will feature “The Lady of Constantinople” (1969), “Maybe Tomorrow” (1980) and “Mary’s Day” (1984), three of her most famous films, presented at the Cannes, Locarno or Rotterdam festivals and screened in restored versions.
Six European fiction films with moral dilemmas as their central theme and which had their world premieres at the biggest festivals are part of the competition. The films come from Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Poland, Serbia and Turkey and will compete for the Ceau, Cinema! “Razvan Georgescu” Trophy and the Audience Award.
These are “Blaga’s Lessons” (2023, directed by Stephan Komandarev), “Ivo” (2024, directed by Eva Trobisch), “The Vanishing Soldier” (directed by Dani Rosenberg), “Woman Of…” (2023, directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert), “Working Class Goes to Hell” (directed by Mladen Djordjevic) and “Hesitation Wound (2023, directed by Selman Nacar).
The jury is made up of actresses Ilinca Manolache and Olga Török and director Adrian Sitaru.
Ceau, Cinema! “Razvan Georgescu” Trophy has a value of 1,000 euros, and the Audience Award is 500 euros, both being offered by Groupama Asigurari. The trophies are made by the artist Lia Pfeiffer.
The “Special Screenings” section includes the Romanian film “Holy Week” (2024), screened in the presence of director Andrei Cohn, a Montenegrin comedy, “Forever Hold Your Peace” (2023, directed by Ivan Marinovic), two classic masterpieces, in restored versions: “The Ear” (1970), by Karel Kachyňa, and “The Sacrifice” (1986), by Andrei Tarkovski, a recent cult film, “Parasite” (2019, directed by Bong Joon-Ho), and the Romanian debut “Horia” (2023, directed by Ana-Maria Comanescu), presented in an accessible version for the visually impaired.
In the “Films from Banat” section, the documentaries “The Run of Your Life” (2024), by Mircea Gherase and Lucian Mircu, and “Un mal rebel”, by Bogdan Puşlenghea, the fiction film “Clara” (2023), by Sabin Dorohoi, presented for the first time in Romania, and eight short films will be screened. The screenings will be followed by discussions with the film teams.
Two of the most powerful documentaries of the year come for the first time in Romania from the Berlin Film Festival: “Favoriten” (2024), by the well-known Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann, and “Intercepted” (2024), directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Oksana Karpovych.
The program also contains a series of free outdoor screenings in Traian Square, as well as the Ceau, Junior! section, which proposes some animated films for children and a creative workshop “Timisoara in the box”.
In terms of special events, the 11th edition brings three exhibitions.
A unique exhibition with works of art illustrating houses from famous films can be seen at Timis Cinema. The works are made by the Bulgarian artist Boryana Ilieva, creator of the Floor Plan Croissant project and special guest of the festival.
At the Pygmalion Gallery at the House of Arts you can discover the exhibition “Sequences”, which contains over 50 posters of Romanian films from the ’70s and ’80s, from the private collection of writer, translator and film critic Marian Rădulescu. The exhibition is curated by Dana Stancovici and Andreea Medinschi.
At Cinema Victoria there is an interactive exhibition, “Ceau, Cinema! Counted”, created by three students, newly joined the festival team: Ioana Satmari, Eric Szilveszter and Fabian Leiba.
The workshop is dedicated r to film analysis and is coordinated by the critic Victor Morozov. Eleven young people from Timisoara and other cities were selected for the workshop.
The international partner thi year is the cross-border film festival Tribute to a Vision in Nova Gorica, a Slovenian city on the border with Italy, which will hold the title of European Capital of Culture in 2025.
The poster of the 11th edition was made by the young artist from Timisoara Andreea Dumuta.
Details about the films can be found on ceaucinema.ro, as well as on the festival’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Ceau, Cinema! is a festival dedicated to European film, organized by the Pelicula Culturala Association.
The project is part of the national cultural program “Timisoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023” and is financed through the Legacy Timisoara 2023 program, carried out by the Project Center of the Municipality of Timisoara, with amounts allocated from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Culture.
Sponsors: Groupama Asigurari, Vitas Romania.
Financed by: Romanian Film Center (CNC).
International partners: Tribute to a Vision Film Festival (Slovenia and Italy), Floor Plan Croissant Project (Bulgaria).
Partners: Lipoplast, Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, German Cultural Center in Timisoara, Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, Spanish Embassy, Cervantes Institute in Bucharest, Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, Polish Institute Bucharest, Czech Center Bucharest, French Institute in Timisoara, French Institute in Bucharest.
With the support of: Marele Ecran Association, Timisoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture Association, Timis Cinema, Victoria Cinema, Ceva de Spus Association, Cartea Calatoare Foundation, Carturesti Timişoara, La Doua Bufnite, Cartea de Nisip, Animest, Ibis Timisoara City Center, Porsche Timisoara, Ovride, Faber, Timisoara la cutie, Casa Artelor – Timis County Directorate for Culture, Hungarian Film Archive, West University of Timişoara (UVT), Social Fabrics Research Lab (FabLab), Faculty of Political Sciences, Philosophy and Communication Sciences within UVT, GIS Community Association of Timișoara, F-Sides Cineclub, Eventbook, Aualeu, Pulcinella, Aramic Winery, Timis County Youth Foundation, Claudia Rosu.
Media partners: Gen, revistă, Zile şi Nopţi, Films in Frame, West City Radio, CineFan, Tributary Stu, In Bine.