Festgoers rise in Transylvania

'12.08 East of Bucharest' nabs slew of kudos

By KATJA HOFMANN

LONDON -- Following the strong perf of Romanian pics on the international fest circuit in recent years, last week's Transylvania International Film Festival in the Romanian town of Cluj gave the best pic gong to this year's Camera d'Or winner, "12.08 East of Bucharest." Pic was Romanian helmer Corneliu Porumboiu's feature debut. With 41,000 revelers the fest also boosted attendance by 8,000.

Porumboiu's pic also nabbed the audience prize and the Romanian Days Award. Another Romanian pic that scored across the board with the Fipresci Award and the prize for cinematography was black-and-white thriller "Tzameti 13" by Georgian-born French writer-director Gela Babluani, which also won the Sundance world cinema prize. Director kudos went to Hungary's Gyorgy Palfi for "Taxidermia."

Of the 97 features screened at the fest, only four were Romanian productions. However, 19 of the 57 shorts were Romanian, giving hope that there's more to expect from Romanian filmmakers in the years to come.