Since his 2009 debut Daniel & Ana, Franco has brought complex, often shocking stories to the screen: "I like to look at the dark side of human nature, and to do that I have to challenge my characters. I don't believe that when we are put to the test the best will come out of us." Part of the festival programme, viewers will have the opportunity to see the Mexican filmmaker's latest film, Sundown (2021), in which Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg play a couple faced with a life-threatening situation during their holiday in Mexico.
Michel Franco will host a masterclass for film students in Cluj-Napoca.
The Jury of the Official Transilvania IFF.22 Competition also includes:
Serbian actor Darko Perić, known from the Spanish series La Casa de Papel (Netflix).
British actor and director Harry Macqueen. His film Supernova, starring Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth in the lead roles, charmed audiences in Cluj in 2021.
Actress Judith State, winner of the Romanian Gopo Award for her role in Monsters. (d. Marius Olteanu, 2020), selected in the European Shooting Stars programme at Berlinale 2023. Judith is known from Cristi Puiu's films Sieranevada (2016) and Malmkrog (2020) or R.M.N. (d. Cristian Mungiu, 2022).
Nicoletta Romeo, Trieste Film Festival director, film programmer and producer. Her production portfolio includes titles such as The Daughter (dir. Thanos Anastopoulos), which premiered in 2012 at the Berlin Film Festival, and the documentary The Last Resort (dir. Thanos Anastopoulos and Davide Del Degan), which was part of the Official Selection at Cannes 2016.