TIFF Film Festival - Cluj

Last wednesday the Sector 7 crew jumped on the sleeper train bound for Cluj to catch the Transylvanian Film Festival. 8 hours later with little sleep we were welcomed at the Hotel Transylvania, our home for the next 4 days. The Hotel was ideally situated in the centre of Cluj, Transylvania's capital city. Unfortunately this was the hotel's only redeeming feature. I was holed up in a single bed, windowless room which felt like a prison cell, all be it less well constructed. Within 10 minutes the door had fallen off the wardrobe, the toilet roll holder came away from the wall, then the shower door fell off! Well, it could have been worse, we could have booked into the Hotel Beyfin. (see below)




So, for the next 4 days we decorated the town with Get Loaded animals and stickers, watched loads of films and made new friends. Of those new friends an honourable mention must go to Ragnar Bragason. Ragnar is a big, bald Icelandic director who we met and partied with on thursday night. It turns out he directed the Sigur Ros video with the handicapped people on the beach (youtube it if you haven't seen it) which i absolutely love, and was at the festival because his 2006 fim "Born" was being shown. Unfortunately he was better at directing than he was at holding his drink, for at 6am he was wrapped around the porcelain in our hotel room talking to the toilet. How unfortunate Ragnar! Luckily fortunes change, and that night he was awarded the Best Director award and the smile returned to his pale Icelandic face. Congratulations Ragnar, we hope to see you again.



Friday passed with more films, followed by the Kodak party which was situated in a beautiful casino overlooking a lake. Free food and drink lured us there, but terrible music forced us away. Diesel club was the next destination and we found ourselves amongst the now familiar faces of the various directors, actors and other film people who seem to spend their lives travelling from film festival to film festival with their fringe films. These films all have a similar thread. Firstly they must be depressing. They must be "real" and raw, and they must contain drugs, the struggle for survival, homosexuals and/or incest. Happy endings as you can imagine are a rarity.



Saturday saw much of the same, although I did manage to spend a few hours wandering the streets of Cluj. Cluj is a much more attractive city than Bucharest, very Transylvanian, but somewhat dull. Even though the film festival was on, the city seemed almost deserted. That night we went to the closing party which was situated at a venue on a hilltop overlooking the city. To get to the venue you had to travel down a muddy, potholed road with no lights to guide you, and in typical Romanian style the police had blocked access to cars (a security measure because the Prime Minister was there). So we had to walk, in complete darkness through the shit to get to the party. Difficult at the best of times, this proved too much for many of the ladies in their high heels and dresses! Once again their was free food and drink. Once again this was accompanied by shit music. There is only one thing worse than a Staus Quo record, and that's an appaling covers band playing a Status Quo record.


So to sum it all up, Cluj - good films, terrible music.
Films to see:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
Born (Children)
California Dreaming
When The Road Bends - Tales Of A Gipsy Caravan
Fost Baterist (Ex Drummer)
Antena