Over 5,000 spectators participated in the screenings and events of the 11th edition of the Ceau, Cinema! Film Festival in Timisoara, which took place between July 17-21.
The festival meant almost 40 films, many of which premiered in Romania, three exhibitions, workshops for children and young people and debates.
Ceau, Cinema! “Razvan Georgescu” Trophy for the best film in the competition was won by “Ivo” (Germany, 2024), directed by Eva Trobisch.
“The way in which at some point we face the proximity of the death of loved ones, due to old age or a serious illness, is a difficult subject even in discussions. All the more we appreciate the making of a film that surgically describes, without sliding down the slope of emotion or thesis, a situation in a prosperous and super-technological society, in which you are forbidden to die whenever you want, no matter how much you suffer” – this was the decision of the jury made up of actresses Ilinca Manolache and Olga Török and director Adrian Sitaru.
The audience award went to the Polish film “Woman of…” 2023), directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert.
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.
Along with the opening gala with the French production “Out of Season” (2023, directed by Stéphane Brizé), films from the Banat region enjoyed the greatest success. The 500 seats of Timis Cinema were occupied at the screenings of the films “Clara” (2023), by Sabin Dorohoi, and “The run of your life” (2024), by Mircea Gherase and Lucian Mircu, both in the presence of the teams. The short films from Banat also filled the Victoria Cinema.
The screenings of the films from the retrospective dedicated to French cinema, at the Capitol Summer Garden, also attracted hundreds of spectators each, as did the restored version of one of Andrei Tarkovski’s masterpieces, “The Sacrifice” (1986), screened at Timis Cinema. The open-air screenings in Traian Square were also appreciated, as well as the special screening of “Parasite” (2019, dir. Bong Joon-Ho).
In this edition, the Hungarian filmmaker Judit Elek (b. 1937) was celebrated – she received, in Budapest, from the Ceau, Cinema! team, the honorary trophy of the festival and had a focus of three films. The retrospective was organized in partnership with the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center in Bucharest.
Apart from the screenings, the spectators were able to enjoy three exhibitions.
One belonged to the Bulgarian artist Boryana Ilieva, creator of the Floor Plan Croissant project and special guest of the festival, and included works of art illustrating houses from 12 famous films.
At the Pygmalion Gallery at the House of Arts, the exhibition “Sequences” can still be discovered, until August 8, which contains over 50 posters of Romanian films from the ’70s and ’80s, from the private collection of writer, translator and film critic Marian Radulescu.
Also, three young students, Ioana Satmari, Eric Szilveszter and Fabian Leiba, recently joined the festival team, proposed an interactive exhibition, entitled “Counting Ceau, Cinema!”.
The workshop was dedicated to film analysis and criticism and was coordinated by the critic Victor Morozov. Ten young people from Timisoara and other cities participated.
This year’s international partner was 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. A team from Tribute to a Vision was present in Timisoara.
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.