The festival showed 75 films including 33 in the official competition. It also had four special events including a retrospective of Jan Svankmajer who unfortunately was forced to cancel his trip due to health issues. Partnerships with Quinzaine des Réalisateurs of Cannes, IDFA Amsterdam, Oberhausen IFF, Berlinale Forum Expanded and Dance Cinema from the Netherlands brought several films in the sidebar.

The jury was composed of Anne Delseth, Theus Zwakhals, Jonathan Pouthier, Marion Poeth and Ileana Birsan. The festival opened with Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence and wrapped with another must see in Venice this year, the most recent work of Ulrich Seidl In the Basement (produced by Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion in association with Coop99 Filmproduktion and ORF.

BIEFF, the first showcase of avant-garde cinema and visual art in Romania, a non-commercial event with educational purpose, is organised under the umbrella of the National University of Theatre and Film and the National University of Arts Bucharest. It is supported by several institutions including the Romanian National Film Centre and Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains, and also by embassies and international cultural institutes in Bucharest.

WINNERS:

Best Film: The Buried Alive Videos (Israel)
Directed by Roee Rosee

Best Cinematography: Lennart Verstegen and Menno Otten for Via Dolorosa (Netherlands)
Directed by Menno Otten

Best Director: Miguel Gomez for Redemption (Portugal, France, Germany, Italy)

Special Mention: Dry Standpipe/Suchy Pion (Poland)
Directed by Wojciech Bąkowski
Produced by Wojciech Bąkowski (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Best Romanian Experimental Film: Storm Is Coming
Directed by Daniel Djamo
Produced by Daniel Djamo