Behind the camera lens of TIFF 2017 with photographer Nicu Cherciu

Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) was full of surprises this year, offering a great selection of movies and special events. I’m pretty sure that most of the highlights of this edition already appeared in your newsfeed, whether Facebook, Instagram or mass media. While enjoying the most important film festival of the country, I was wondering how TIFF is seen exclusively through the camera’s lens – and most important, how is like to be on duty for this rollercoaster of amazing events. So the communication department of TIFF allowed me to interview those who photograph experiences, moments and historical moments. So let’s go behind the scene with Nicu Cherciu, who’s been part of the team for more than nine years now.

What does it mean to be the official photographer of the festival?

It is an honor, joy and a great responsibility to be the official photographer of the festival, because the memories of the festival remain through your own lens.
What was your most amazing experience this year at the festival? Why?

The most amazing memory I have for this edition of TIFF was the waiting for Alain Delon in Piata Unirii, with its strange silence that bloomed almost immediately when he step on the red carpet. It was an unbelievable experience. The it was the huge amount of phones and cameras which were trying to picture Alan Delon.

Is there a moment of the festival which you wanted to capture but you couldn’t, for whatever reason?

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Yes, I couldn’t capture these scene with thousands and thousands of phones from the red carpet and I truly regret that. But the thing is that I missed this photo because I was fair play with my mass media colleagues who were on the opposite side of the red carpet and I was ruining their captions, taking over Alain Delon who was walking pretty fast.

What’s your favourite photo you have taken at this edition of the festival? Why?

My favorite picture from TIFF is the one from the opening gala, made through the watch of the Sf. Mihail Church Tower. This is my favourite photo for four years now. From that Tower you feel how TIFF is the heart of Cluj Napoca. And also you witness the birth of a new edition of the festival. Also, you realise how is the festival growing year by year. It’s an indescribable sensation. The silence above the city which is troubled only by the mechanism of the watch every minute, as well as the heart beats for the effort of going up there and the soundtrack of the movie, and the wind breeze.

Doing photography is an art by itself, so it’s not really easy to be done. But what’s the most joyful (trying to avoid the easy word) moment for you as an official photographer?

The moments of happiness are those from the Gala, when we are doing the group photo with the whole team and we are happy that another edition has successfully passed. Also, the moment when Tudor Giurgiu, the director of the festival, writes us a congratulations email is also very happy to me.