The screenings take place at Cinema Elvire Popesco.

Thursday, July 21, 9:00 PM Official Competition (Spain).

A smart Spanish comedy about fame and pride with Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz. Record audience at TIFF 2022, where it closed the festival.

Saturday, July 23, 4:00 PM Everything Everywhere All At Once (USA).

Great hype in the US, a comedy with martial arts and parallel realities, adored by critics.

Tickets: https://eventbook.ro/festival/retrospectiva-tiff-bucuresti

The 200 films from 55 countries brought 102,000 ticket payers to the cinema screens, 8% more than in 2019, the year in which the previous record was set.

The most popular event in the program of this edition of TIFF was the special screening on the last night of the festival.

Official Competition, the new film of the Argentine directorial duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, attracted over 3,200 ticket payers in Unirii Open Air.

In the Official Competition, a billionaire decides to produce a legendary film and looks for the best in the industry. Renowned director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) is chosen to direct, and is soon joined by two incredibly talented actors: Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), adored in Hollywood, and the radical theater actor Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez).

They're both legends, but not good friends. When Lola tests them more and more eccentrically, Félix and Iván will have not only to face each, but also re-evaluate themselfs.

The film distributed by Prorom, Official Competition will soon premiere in Romania on VOD platforms.

Foto by Nicu Cherciu / TIFF.

Audiences loved Official Competition, by Argentine directors Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, starring Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. The film is in the main competition at Venice, which ends September 11.

Here are some reviews:

"This classy palate-cleanser in Venice’s 2021 selection has distinct upmarket commercial prospects and will be an irresistible choice for fests". "Richly witty, packed with psychological hairpin bends". (Jonathan Romney, ScreenDaily).

"... the Spanish comedy-drama is a highly entertaining entry with winning performances from Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez" (Anna Smith, Deadline).

"...two hours of sharp reflections deliciously wrapped in entertaining antics." (Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter).

"Big laughs and searing insights into the artistic process power this highly enjoyable film world satire." (David Jenkins, Little White Lies).

Wasp Network is a captivating and elegant political thriller, who is bringing you a veritable gallery of Cuban crooks and Cuban-American exiles, who have engaged in a complex battle and deeply nuanced by competing ideologies and changing loyalties.

Directed by Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper) and starring Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez and Gael García Bernal, Wasp Network can be seen starting today in the Happy Cinema network and online on Play.HappyCinema.ro

Following the presentation of exclusive footage at the European Film Market last week, highly anticipated title Official Competition – reuniting Spanish stars Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz – has seized sales to major distributors for sales agency Protagonist Pictures and producer The Mediapro Studio.

Official Competition is a comedy about the fierce rivalry between two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos.

The film is directed by Argentinian duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, whose credits include 2016 black comedy The Distinguished Citizen, which played in Venice Film Festival Official Competition.

George Hamilton, head of sales at Protagonist, said: “Official Competition has landed with amazing distribution partners all around the world and they are all just as excited as we are for the film’s launch later this year!”.

Axel Böhm, COO and Head of Acquisition, Sales & Marketing at Prorom said: „We are delighted to bring Official Competition to our audience in Central & Eastern Europe this year, and together with them we can’t wait to see the sparks fly between Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas on the screen!”.

Prorom will release Official Competition in cinemas soon.

Image ©ProtagonistPictures.com
Source: Variety.

Wasp Network centers on the true story of Cuban spies in American territory during the 1990s, when anti-Castro groups based in Florida carried out military attacks on Cuba and the Cuban government struck back with the Wasp Network to infiltrate those organizations.

Assayas wrote the screenplay, which is based on Fernando Morais’ book, The Last Soldiers of the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five, published by Companhia das Letras.

Assayas, whose credits include the Golden Globe-winning miniseries Carlos and Personal Shopper, which won him the best director prize at Cannes, told Variety that Cuban authorities had initially refused to let the film shoot there.

“They first refused to give us the authorization but discussions continued. So we searched for a location that could substitute for Havana and were about to start shooting elsewhere… But then the Cubans changed their minds and opened all the doors for us,” said Assayas, who lived in Havana for half a year to make the movie.

On the other hand, Olivier Assayas will head back into the cutting room with his Wasp Network, the filmmaker told Deadline on the day of its North American premiere.

Assayas wants to show a tweaked version of the movie at the New York Film Festival in October.

“There are a few things that need clarification. There are a series of fixes I’ll make. I might shorten some parts and lengthen others. The running time won’t change considerably, but it’s about gaining fluidity. I want the film to be understood by those who aren’t aware of the complexities of the local politics. The fixes will be done for the New York Film Festival [screening].”

The director only finished shooting the movie on May 4. “It has been a crazy schedule,” he noted. “To get the film ready for Venice was an intense process. It’s one of the most complex and ambitious films I’ve made.”

Sources: Variety, Deadline.