The Closing Gala of the 21st edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival took place on June 25, in Unirii Square, Cluj-Napoca. The award ceremony was followed by the screening of Le chêne / Heart of Oak (dir. Laurent Charbonnier, Michel Seydoux).

12 productions from all over the world, including two Romanian films, competed for the Transilvania Trophy. Actress Maia Morgenstern was honored with the Excellence Award, a crowning achievement of four decades dedicated to the stage and the big screen.

The banner under which the festival took place was “Make Films, Not War”, meant as a message of creation, firmly opposing war and the irresponsible fuelling of the state of conflict.

The grand prize went to Utama (dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi).

Here are the winners of TIFF.21:

Transilvania Trophy

Utama (dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi)

Best Directing Award

Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Beautiful Beings)

Special Jury Award

Feature Film About Life (dir. Dovile Sarutyte)

Best Performance Award

Laura Müller and Schemci Lauth (The Night Belongs to Lovers)

Special mention of the jury

Eszter Csonka (Gentle)

“What’s up, Doc?” Section Award

You Are Ceauşescu to Me (dir. Sebastian Mihăilescu)

Special Mention of “What’s up, Doc?” Jury

Atlantis (dir. Yuri Ancarani)

FIPRESCI Award

Immaculate (dir. Monica Stan, George Chiper-Lillemark)

Audience Award

Utama (dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi)

The Audience Award for the most popular Romanian film

The goat and her three kids (dir. Victor Canache)

Excellency Award

Maia Morgenstern

Romanian Days: Best feature film

Miracle (dir. Bogdan George Apetri)

Romanian Days Award for Best Debut

Blue Moon (dir. Alina Grigore)

Romanian Days Special Mention, Feature Film

Man and Dog (dir. Ștefan Constantinescu)

Romanian Days Award for Best Short Film

Aurică, a dog’s life (dir. Mihai Dragolea)

Romanian Days Special Mention, Short Film

The Inheritance (dir. Marian Fărcuț)

Romanian Days Special Mention, Short Film

Fragmentations (dir. Miruna Minculescu)

“Full Moon Script Contest” Award

Squash a bug for me (dir. Alex Olteanu)

Chainsaw Europe Award

Avanos (dir. Panagiotis Charamis)

The Transilvania Pitch Stop Development Award

40, Maria Luisa Boulevard (dir. Kristina Spassovska)

The Moldova National Film Center Award

As Shadows Fade (dir. Burcu Aykar)

The CoCo Award

Where Elephants Go? (dir. Gabi Sarga, Cătălin Rotaru)

VILLA KULT Development Award

Light (dir. Maxim Baraliuc, producer Ana Volosinovici)

Local Competition Award

Emilia Hosu are H.I.V (dir. Ioana Păun)

Special Mention in the Local Competition

Dragoste în vremea coronei (dir. Szucher Ágnes-Bernadett)

Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship

Don’t Let Me Die (dir. Andrei Epure, Ana-Maria Gheorghe)

Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship Special Mention

Cinefilia (dir. Andreea Alexandra Vraja)

Alex. Leo Șerban Scholarship Special Mention

Conrad Mericoffer (Poppy Field)

The Young Francophone Jury Prize

L’Événement (dir. Audrey Diwan)

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.