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Unirii Plaza was endowed with an inflated huge screen, a stage, more than 1000 places and the usual blankets - much appreciated towards the end of the evening. The latest film of Catherine Deneuve (released in 2010) - Potiche (Director: Francois Ozon) opened the festival in this setting.
The opening ceremony of the 10th edition of the TIFF was a parallel and a celebration of the first. An informal opening had taken place two hours earlier, when Doina Levintza's theatrical and film costumes exhibition was open to the public in the building of the former Continental Hotel. The montage of sequences which concluded the speech of the president Tudor Giurgiu was a remembrance for those who were present, but also for the ones which did their best since the first edition or in the ones that followed. They made TIFF an "Everest of the cinema events in Romania" according to the art director of the festival, Mihai Chirilov. Most of these friends of the Festival (some of them owners of small businesses) were awarded diplomas. Some politicians also got diplomas, to mention premier minister Emil Boc and president of the County Council Alin Tise - which were not present.
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The evening belonged though to the sportsmen at the U Mobitelco, who have recently won the national title in basketball, but also to the politicians. After having complained for years on end about the insufficient support of the authorities and even menaced to change the location of the TIFF, Tudor Giurgiu finally appreciated the financial support which the Festival had become form the Culture Ministry and the reserve fund of the Government, from the City Hall of Cluj and the County Council, but also from the ICR and ICR New York. Owing to their support, the Great Prize of TIFF 10 amounts to 15.000 euro. The same support made it possible for the organizers to set up more tents for launchings and encounters of the public with artists. The materials which advertise the Festival could also be printed in large amounts.
Of the local resources which support the festival can be mentioned the URSUS, which had also offered support to the other editions, Nokia - another new supporter, as well as the students of the local Art University, who designed the t-shirts. A local support made it possible to face-lift the local Republica Cinema, which can seat 750 viewers and can make 3D screenings - for the first time at the TIFF.
The public of the festival was challenged to come with a souvenir from the first edition. The owner will be rewarded with a prize and a photo in the AperiTIFF magazine. Another challenge addresses a young student with an ambitious film project. The winner will be able to participate as visiting student at the University of Columbia in New York in a scholarship offered in the memory of film critic, Alex Leo Serban, who recently passed out. The scholarship will be offered starting with 2012.
The evening ended with the show of the French troupe Compagnie des
Quidames - "Herbert's Dream", a show held in more than 100
cities and in football championships.
Gabriela Popa
info@clujonline.com
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