First-time directors compete at Romanian film fest

A prison drama in which two Danish filmmakers cast convicts and ex-prison guards is among 12 movies by first-time directors due to compete in the Transilvania International Film festival next month.

Debut films by directors from Serbia, Romania, the Netherlands and Denmark will vie for top honours at the festival in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca between May 28 and June 6.

The jury will be headed by Geoffrey Gilmore who was the director of Sundance film festival from 1990 until last year.

Among the movies selected for the competition are the prison drama "R" by Danish directors Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer and "Reverse" by Polish filmmaker Boris Lankosz.

Other films include "Devil's Town", a black comedy on modern Serbia by Vladimir Paskaljevic and "First of all, Felicia", a tale about a homesick Romanian woman who emigrates to The Netherlands, by Dutch director Melissa de Raaf and Romanian Razvan Radulescu.

Last year, more than 55,000 people attended the festival.