The 7th edition of the American Independent Film Festival will take place between April 21-24 at the Elvire Popesco Cinema and Eforie Cinematheque in Bucharest, and between April 21-23 at the Arta and Victoria Cinemas in Cluj-Napoca. Additionally, several outdoor screenings will be held between June 23-25 at Roaba de Cultura in Herăstrău Park.

AIFF.7 presents in preview the first episode of the HBO Europe miniseries SPY/MASTER. Based on a script developed within the festival’s workshop WRITE A SCREENPLAY FOR…, Spy/Master premiered in this year’s Berlinale Series selection as the first project from Central and Eastern Europe in the section.

The production follows a week in the life of Victor Godeanu, Nicolae Ceaușescu’s right-hand man and his most important advisor, and an undercover KGB agent who must escape Romania before his cover is blown.

Starring Alec Secăreanu, Parker Sawyers, Ana Ularu, Iulian Postelnicu, Claudiu Bleonț, Elvira Deatcu, and Alexandra Bob, the miniseries is written by Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the team.

The audience will have the opportunity to watch in national premiere two Oscar-winning films, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking (Best Adapted Screenplay) and Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale (Best Actor in a Leading Role – Brendan Fraser), as well as the latest effort by Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar), Beau is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Described by the director as a “nightmare comedy”, the film follows the story of a mild-mannered but paranoia-ridden man who embarks on a surreal odyssey to get home to his mother, confronting his greatest fears along the way.

Director Nida Manzoor, known for the popular sitcom series We Are Lady Parts, makes her feature film debut with Polite Society. The story revolves around Ria Khan, a martial arts student convinced that she must save her sister Lena from marriage and her future husband’s family.

The film program is rounded off by two coming-of-age stories: Funny Pages (dir. Owen Kline), about a teenage cartoonist who leaves behind the comfort of his ordinary life to forge his own path, and I Like Movies (dir. Chandler Levack), about a 17-year-old cinephile working at a video store who develops a complicated friendship with his older female manager.

The festival also hosts a series of special events, such as:

Open Talk: Scriptwriting for TV, from Craft to Packaging, with Gabriela Iacob (Head of Scripted Content Development at PRO TV), Radu Stancu (producer), Diana Păroiu (producer), Sorana Borhina (screenwriter), Doru Vătavului (screenwriter);

Open Talk: The Romanian Cash Rebate and its Effects on the Local Film Industry;

Open Talk: Ban Live Animal Export, with Gabriel Păun (activist and initiator of the #SaveMiorița campaign to ban live animal transport), Ovidiu Roșu (veterinarian involved in the Midia Port case, where over 14 thousand sheep died), and Mihai Dragolea (documentary film director).

Every year, AIFF chooses a humanitarian cause to support by raising awareness on the issue and donating all proceeds from ticket sales to the NGOs involved in the matter. The 7th edition will be focusing on the ban on live animal export.

For more details, visit the AIFF website or Facebook page. Tickets are available on Eventbook.

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.