TAIFAS: festival of film and Balkan culture. The first edition, in Timisoara
A new event announces its debut: TAIFAS – Balkan film and culture festival, a story about people, places and connections, about shared histories, about pains and pleasures. The first edition, „Noi Începuturi/New Beginnings”, will take place between November 5-12, 2023, in Timișoara - the year in which the city holds the title of European Capital of Culture.
The public will be able to watch, at Cinema Victoria Timișoara, 14 of the most recent Balkan productions of the year, premiered in Romania, awarded at prestigious festivals such as: Cannes Film Festival, Berlinale, Gothenburg Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights, Pula Film Festival, Sarajevo International Film Festival and Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
The selection was made from over 80 films by Cătălin Olaru, film critic and curator, artistic director of the TAIFAS festival.
During the festival, more than 50 filmmakers - directors, producers and actors - from Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Romania will be present in Timisoara.
The opening film, „Embryo Larva Butterfly”, directed by Kyros Papavassiliou, is part of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival selection and will be screened on November 6 at Cinema Victoria Timișoara. Tickets will go on sale soon.
More information about the program, events and tickets: Facebook Taifas Festival or www.taifasfestival.ro.
TAIFAS - extensive interdisciplinary project
TAIFAS is not limited to the niche of the film industry, the complementary components of the event transform it into a broad interdisciplinary project, combining film, gastronomy, literature, and music.
Thus, on Sunday, November 5, the official opening of the festival will take place with a premiere concert in Timișoara. Starting at 6:30 PM, the stage at the Banatul Philharmonic will feature Simion Bogdan-Mihai and the "Lăutarii de Mătase" ensemble. The musical experience will be enhanced by the young talents from the "Crescut pe Muzică" ensemble: Florinel Caraivan (18 years old, accordion), Ștefan Milutinovici (22 years old, wind instruments), and Ionuț Pîntiuc (18 years old, trumpet).
Tickets for the concert are available online at www.iabilet.ro and in the network iabilet.ro/retea.
The program also includes a literary residency, organized in collaboration with the independent bookstore "La Două Bufnițe." Four contemporary authors, coming from different regions of the country and from the Republic of Moldova - Moni Stănilă, Alexandru Vakulovski, Vasile Ernu, and Adrian Schiop - will have the opportunity to write in the intimacy of the city for a month, sharing their visions on Balkan culture.
Concomitant with the festival, an international film residency program will take place, organized in partnership with the Department of Radio, TV, and Cinema at Sakarya University, Turkey. The residency includes a theoretical component with lectures by Serhat Yetimova and Mustafa Aslan, along with discussions featuring guests from the film industry. Additionally, there is a practical component guided by Ivana Mladenovic, a film director from Serbia. The residents are young and emerging directors from Balkan countries such as Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
A film education symposium will also take place during the festival. The symposium invites teachers and educators from Timișoara and Timiș county to a round table to share experiences and didactic strategies, to familiarize themselves with the resources developed by the Contrasens Cultural Association over time and to use them in the teaching plan. Good practice examples from Bulgaria and Croatia will be presented to provide a global perspective on how film can be effectively integrated into the learning process. In the second part of the symposium, teachers will benefit from free training by the facilitator Isabelle Bourdon from the Cinémathèque Française Paris. Teachers interested in participating in the symposium are asked to contact the Contrasens Association team at: asociatia.contrasens@gmail.com
From 6 to 99 years old: a program suitable for everyone.
TAIFAS isn't just about cultural experiences for adults, it's also about sharing the joy and magic of film with young people aged 6 to 19, who will have the opportunity to explore the Balkan cinematic universe. Six films created by Balkan directors will be screened at Cinema Victoria Timișoara specifically for them.
There will also be 2 craft food events and 6 public engagements featuring Q&A sessions, artist talks, public talks, and workshops.
TAIFAS will not end any differently than it began, so the audience will be invited to a Balkan Disco Party, open to all, featuring Ligia-Verkin Keșisian aka LIGIA K.
The events will take place in various locations across Timișoara: Cinema Victoria, Banatul Philharmonic, Reciproc, La Două Bufnițe Bookstore, as well as other spaces announced throughout the festival.
More information about the program, events and tickets: Facebook Taifas Festival or www.taifasfestival.ro.
The Balkan film and culture festival is the result of a collaboration between two organizations passionate about art cinema, particularly Balkan cinema: Contrasens Cultural Association and Bad Unicorn.
Financiers: AFCN, Ministry of Culture through the Timișoara Projects Center.
Project partners: Archeia Tainion tis Ellados Tainiothiki (Grecia), Arte Urbana Collectif (Bulgaria), Asociația CRIES și Festivalul de gastronomie artizanală „La Pas”, Bacaci Sjenki / Shadow Casters (Croația), Cinema Arta Cluj, Cinema Victoria Timișoara, Cinemateca Portuguesa (Portugalia), CinEd, Casa Corpului Didactic Timiș, Filarmonica Banatul, FITT, Hotel Excelsior, iabilet.ro, Institutul Francez, Librăria La Două Bufnițe, Sakarya Film University (Turcia), Universitatea de Vest Timișoara
Media partners: Guerrilla Radio, Agerpres, Happ.ro, Observator Cultural, Stiri de Timișoara, Metropolis newspaper
Co-financed by AFCN. The project is part of the national cultural program "Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023" and is funded through the European Echoes program, administered by the Timișoara Projects Center, with funds allocated from the state budget through the Ministry of Culture. The project does not necessarily reflect the position of the funders. Funders are not responsible for the project's content or how its outcomes may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.