For the first time in the history of the festival and Bran Castle, AIFF 8 organizes special screenings on June 7 and 8, in the castle courtyard.
The proposal of AIFF 8 is to reconnect the Romanian public, but also potential foreign tourists, with the beauty of the open-air cinema, accentuated by the unique setting and the breathtaking atmosphere of one of the most beautiful places in Romania.

"AIFF 8 continues its mission to offer the Romanian public films that are more than just entertainment, to mediate the dialogue of the public with the filmmakers, to cultivate the experience of watching cinema films as a social event, in the middle of the community and to use the cinema as an opportunity to connect and communicate with others, including by popularizing some social causes to which the festival donates, as every year, the proceeds from ticket sales.", says Cristian Mungiu, director of AIFF.

The Prorom title Hit Man (directed by Richard Linklater) will open the festival, on Friday, June 07, both at Cinema Elvire Popesco in Bucharest and outdoors, in the courtyard of Bran Castle.

Richard Linklater, one of the most important contemporary American directors is known to the public, among others, for the series Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013) and for the ambitious film project Boyhood (2014) filmed throughout 12 years.

Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater's sunlit neo-noir stars Glen Powell as strait-laced professor Gary Johnson, who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department.

Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona).

As Madison falls for one of Gary's hit man personas -- the mysteriously sexy Ron -- their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes.

Co-written by Linklater and Powell and inspired by an incredible true story, Hit Man is a smart existential comedy about identity that premiered at Venice and was selected at Sundance.

Hit Man is distributed by Prorom in Eastern Europe.

Produced by the legendary Sam Raimi, Boy Kills World was scripted by Arend Remmers and Tyler Burton Smith.

The story takes place in a bizarre, dark dystopian universe and centers on a deaf and mute character, Boy (Skarsgård), who navigates this depressing world with his otherworldly imagination. Tragedy strikes when Boy’s family is brutally murdered. When his fight or flight instincts kick in, Boy finds himself on a life-threatening trek into the darkly forested jungle.

There, he meets a shaman (Yayan Ruhian) who takes Boy under his wing and launches him into a cutthroat coming of age journey where he encourages his new pupil to leave his youth behind and pick up the baton as a highly trained assassin.

Skarsgard and Rothe are joined in the cast by Yayan Ruhian, Andrew Koji, Isaiah Mustafa, Famke Janssen, Brett Gelman, Sharlto Copley, Quinn Copeland, twin brothers Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti, and Michelle Dockery.
Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi are producing Boy Kills World through Raimi Productions.

Roy Lee, Simon Swart, Wayne Fitzjohn, Alex Lebovici, Stuart Manashil and Dan Kagan are also producers.

Reza Brojerdi and Andrew Childs are executive producers.

Prorom will release Boy Kills World in cinemas from May 10 (Romania) and June 20 (Hungary).

The cast of Arthur the King is led by Mark Wahlberg and Simu Liu alongside Juliet Rylance, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman, Rob Collins, Paul Guilfoyle, and Bear Grylls as himself.

Over the course of 10 days and 435 miles (700 km), an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur.

Based on an incredible true story, Arthur The King follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman) for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic.

As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.

Arthur The King is directed by Simon Cellan Jones and is based upon the book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord.

Prorom released Arthur the King in Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia (on March 21), followed by Romania (on March 29), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (on April 11).

In this gripping crime thriller, Russell Crowe stars as Roy Freeman, an ex-homicide detective with a fractured memory, forced to revisit a case he can't remember.

As a man's life hangs in the balance on death row, Freeman must piece together the brutal evidence from a decade-old murder investigation, uncovering a sinister web of buried secrets and betrayals linking to his past.

With only instincts to trust, he faces a chilling truth - sometimes, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. 

Directed by Adam Cooper, written by Adam Cooper & Bill Collage, Sleeping Dogs is based on the novel The Book of Mirrors by Romanian author Eugen Ovidiu Chirovici.

In addition to Crowe, Sleeping Dogs also stars Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas, Kelly Greyson, Lucy-Rose Leonard, Ellizabeth Blackmore, Thomas M. Wright and Tommy Flanagan.

Prorom will release Sleeping Dogs in Romania (March 22), Serbia, Slovenia (March 28), Hungary (April 18) and Croatia (April 25).

“We are very happy to be partnering with Lionsgate on the release of these three fantastic movies across Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria”. says Axel Boehm, COO, Head of Acquisition, Sales & Marketing at Prorom.

Imaginary: From Blumhouse, the genre-defining masterminds behind Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN, comes an original horror that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends.

Directed by Jeff Wadlow, Imaginary stars DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Veronica Falcon and Betty Buckley.

Imaginary was released on March 8th.

Arthur The King: Over the course of 10 days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur.

Arthur The King is directed by: Simon Cellan Jones and is based upon the book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord.

Arthur The King will be released on March 29.

Bordelands is based on one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time. The film stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Edgar Ramirez, Haley Bennett, Olivier Richters, and Jack Black. The blockbuster is directed by Eli Roth and based on the Video Game Borderlands created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K.

Borderlands will premiere on August 9.

Prorom will release these three movies in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

From Blumhouse, the genre-defining masterminds behind Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN, comes an original horror that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends – and begs the question: Are they really figments of childhood imagination or is something more terrifying lying just beneath?

When Jessica (DeWanda Wise) moves back into her childhood home with her family, her youngest stepdaughter Alice (Pyper Braun) develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey she finds in the basement. Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that begin playful and become increasingly sinister.

As Alice’s behavior becomes more and more concerning, Jessica intervenes only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believed him to be.

Imaginary is directed by Jeff Wadlow, written by Jeff Wadlow & Greg Erb & Jason Oremland and produced by Jason Blum, Jeff Wadlow, p.g.a.

Imaginary stars DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Veronica Falcon and Betty Buckley.

Imaginary is Wadlow’s third collaboration with Blumhouse, including the box office hit Truth or Dare. “We have a lot of trust in Jeff’s ability,” says producer Jason Blum. “So, when he came to us with the idea behind the film, we were excited to explore his imaginary world. Jeff brings a unique vision and storytelling expertise to every project he's involved in, and his passion for the horror genre shines through in IMAGINARY. Jeff has a strong understanding of what makes horror films resonate with audiences, and his creative approach to blending psychological horror with childhood themes is what made us so enthusiastic about this project. His ability to craft compelling characters and build tension is exceptional.”

The monsters and specters haunting Jessica and her new family are the creation of the award-winning animatronic and practical effects house Spectral Motion. The company created the story’s creatures — Chauncey, and the fabrications and costume for a fearsome giant Spider, the shadowy Entity, and Chauncey’s monstrous alter ego, Bear Beast.

According to creature effects supervisor Mark Viniello, Spectral Motion largely used puppets to bring these terrifying beings to life, which facilitated their interaction with the cast members. Instead of pretending to emote opposite a visual effect that would be added months later, the actors had a tactile “being” to interact with.

Lionsgate and Blumhouse present, a Tower of Babble production.

Prorom will release Imaginary in Hungary and Slovakia (on March 7), Romania and Bulgaria (on March 8), Czech Republic (on March 14).