Movie
01 Aug 2020

Transilvania IFF Hits Online on TIFF Unlimited


A few of the most surprising titles from the 2020 program of the Transilvania International Film Festival can be seen online throughout Romania on the festival’s platform TIFF Unlimited (unlimited.tiff.ro). Those who cannot make it to Cluj between July 31-August 9 and those who want to continue their festival experience online will have severals new hits available to them from the SupernovaNo Limit, and What’s up, Doc? sections between July 31-August 16. 48-hour pay-per-view tickets are 20 RON (the equivalent of 4 USD + VAT).

  • Just 6.5 (dir. Saeed Roustaee) is a thriller with an impressive world-wide festival trajectory and a massive box office in Iran. The 6,5 million in the title represents the number of opioids addicts in Iran.
  • Vivere (dir. Francesca Archibugi) comes from Venice for its Romanian premiere at TIFF and follows a family whose routine is disrupted by the arrival of a young Irish au pair.
  • Atlantis (dir. Valentin Vasiànovitx) won the Orizzonti section in Venice and follows the unraveling world of a former soldier with PTSD in a dystopian future.
  • Devil Between the Legs (dir. Arturo Ripstein) in which a legendary Mexican auteur explores the intimate relationship of an elderly couple.
  • Echo (dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson) in which the winner of the 2011 TIFF award for directing for  Volcano returns with a bitter and touching view of modern Icelandic society. Awarded in Locarno and Valladolid.
  • La virgen de Agosto (dir. Jonás Trueba) — late-night talks and summer parties in Madrid are the subject of this youthful, melancholy, and disarmingly tender Rohmerian film which premiered at San Sebastian and received a special mention at Karlovy Vary.
  • The Heist of the Century (dir. Ariel Winograd) is the story of the famous Argentinian robbery that inspired the makers of the La casa del papel series.
  • Le choc du futur (dir. Marc Collin) — the co-founder of the Nouvelle Vague band delves into the beginnings of electronic music in the 1970s, looking at beats and gadgets that anticipated a particular sound long before it became mainstream.
  • The Perfect Patient (dir. Mikael Håfström) tells the story of the most notorious judicial scandal in the history of Sweden.
  • The Painted Bird (dir. Václav Marhoul) scandalized audiences at Venice by recreating wartime Eastern Europe in black and white, through the eyes of a child.
  • The Painter and The Thief  (dir. Benjamin Ree) is a special jury prize-winner at Sundance about a painter who turns the man who robbed her of paintings into her muse.
  • The Comeback (dir. Patrik Eklund) is an addictive series about a woman seeking to overturn a historic defeat in the 1983 badminton championship.
  • The Twentieth Century (dir. Matthew Rankin) is a political satire inspired by the ascent to power of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. This period piece received the FIPRESCI award at the Berlinale this year.
  • Jawline (dir. Liza Mandelup) follows a 16-year-old who does everything in his power to become an online idol. Special jury prize for documentary at Sundance. 
  • The Unseen (dir. Behzad Nalbandi) is an animated documentary that gives voice to homeless women in Teheran as it follows their removal from the street during the official visit of foreign dignitaries.

Available online and as an iOS and Android (mobile, Android TV and Apple TV) application, TIFF Unlimited has over 140 films in its constantly refreshing catalogue and can be accessed by purchasing a monthly (5.95 EUR, VAT included) or annual (65  EUR, VAT included) subscription, which allows access to   films by David Lynch, Xavier Dolan, Abbas Kiarostami, Claude Chabrol, Stanley Donen, but also to titles awarded at TIFF or other major festivals over the years. TIFF Unlimited subscribers can access all titles, including this year’s selection above.