Transilvania IFF.25 Opening: 3 Days in September and NADIA
Following its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, 3 Days in September, the independent comedy directed by Tudor Giurgiu, will make its Romanian debut at the Opening Gala of Transilvania IFF's 25th edition, taking place on Friday, June 12, in Cluj-Napoca's Unirii Square. Shot last autumn, the film stands out as a bold cinematic endeavor, brought to life with the support of a crew drawn largely from colleagues who are also involved in producing and organizing the festival itself. All of them will take the stage in Unirii Square in a moment dedicated to the team, the audience, and everyone who has spent 25 years building and championing the most important film event in the region.
The evening will open on a thrilling note with an exclusive preview of NADIA, a work-in-progress documentary about the life and career of the world's greatest gymnast. Nadia Comaneci has already confirmed her attendance.
Tickets for the TIFF.25 Opening Gala are on sale now:
Nadia Comaneci will open TIFF.25 in a year the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee has dedicated to her, marking 50 years since gymnastics' first perfect 10. Audiences will be treated to an exclusive first look at the work-in-progress documentary chronicling her life and career. An ambitious project from the same trio behind Nasty — Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu, alongside producer Cosmin Hodor — NADIA promises unprecedented access to Comaneci's world, both on and off the mat. Drawing on archival footage and exclusive interviews with the gymnast and dozens of figures from the worlds of sport and art, the documentary is set for release in 2027.
*foto: Catălin Oprițescu/Lightaholic Sudios
Beyond the Gala, TIFF.25 will also honor Comaneci with a dedicated exhibition, and she will take part in a TIFF Talk open to the public. Further details will be announced in due course.
3 Days in September — A Film by the TIFF Team
Built around a single 65-minute long take, 3 Days in September is an emotional rollercoaster — a romantic comedy laced with dark humor. While vacationing on the coast ahead of their wedding, a couple's plans are upended on the eve of the celebration when a mysterious woman appears and delivers a shocking revelation to the bride-to-be about her partner. What follows is an intense night that forces the protagonist to confront her deepest fears and hardest choices.
The film was shot in September 2025 in Eforie Sud, as part of the Arome Creative Camp, with many of those both in front of and behind the camera being TIFF team members from departments spanning production, partnerships, programming, and industry.
Joining the crew and director Tudor Giurgiu on the red carpet will be the film's cast: Andreea Vasile, Adela Popescu, Conrad Mericoffer, Mirela Zeța, and Emilia Popescu.
3 Days in September will also screen later in the festival as part of Double Takes, a playful cinematic matchmaking exercise that pairs films which rhyme, complement, or — entirely by coincidence — enter into conversation through shared themes or narrative threads. In this new TIFF section, 3 Days in September will be presented alongside the film that inspired it: Saturday (Sábado, 2003), Chilean director Matías Bize's debut about a wedding gone wrong, also shot in a single unbroken take.
Three further pairings round out Double Takes: Balearic (dir. Ion de Sosa, Spain) & 18 Holes to Paradise (dir. João Nuno Pinto, Portugal) — both set poolside among privileged families, though in strikingly different genres; Fully Agreed (dir. Panu Suuronen, Finland) & Winter in Russia (dir. Patric Chiha, France) — two razor-edge documentaries about Russians living in or exiled to other countries since the start of the war; and The Blow (dir. Ivan Zulueta, Spain) & The Last Strike (dir. Marta Medina & Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Spain) — the first a supremely rare cult object from the 1980s, cryptic, unclassifiable, reputedly cursed, and famously Almodóvar's favorite horror film; the second a 2025 documentary that attempts to unravel its mysteries.
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The Transilvania International Film Festival is organised by the Association for the Promotion of Romanian Film and the Transilvania Film Festival Association.
With the support of: Ministry of Culture, National Centre of Cinematography, Cluj-Napoca City Hall and Local Council, Romanian Cultural Institute, Dacin Sara, UCIN, Dept. of Interethnic Relations – DRI, Florești Municipality, Creative Europe – MEDIA
Under the auspices of: UNESCO City of Film
Presented by: Banca Transilvania
Sponsors: Mastercard, Vodafone, LIDL România, Ursus, Regina Maria, Audi & Autoworld, MOL România, Pepsi, DeLonghi, Adrem, Jidvei, Nikon, Alstom, Emerson, McDonald’s, Farmec, Radisson Blu, Iulius Mall, Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim, Teilor, Linde, CSI, ECCO, Nova Power
