Between June 4 and 9, 2024, the second edition of the LYNX Festival will be held in Brașov, the first event in the country dedicated exclusively to nature photography and documentary film, initiated by the Wild Romania Association and the Forona Association. After last year it included 8 international documentaries in its program, all sold-out, most of them premiering in Romania, the festival returns with a new selection that will delight film and nature lovers of all ages.
“I am very excited for the second edition of LYNX Festival, which promises to be at least as good as the first. Among the most interesting films that we will bring, I now recall Wild Transylvania, directed by John Murray, one of our special guests from the last edition. The film is premiered in Romania and tells the story of the wildlife in this region of our country in a harmonious way, interwoven with picturesque landscapes. Another film in the program, which has won several high-profile festivals, is Cactus Hotel, a fine comedy with animals of all kinds and an absolutely fascinating story. I would also put on the list a very interesting film about wolves, one about the Mediterranean Sea, but also a BBC production about Antarctica, a documentary that will be presented in 3D format. There will also be photography exhibitions, and during the festival we will also announce the winners of the Milvus international competition. This is a summary that I hope will attract the attention of nature lovers, to whom we promise other surprises if they will be in Brașov at the beginning of June.”, said Dan Dinu, the artistic director of the festival and the president of the Wild Romania Association.
Internationally awarded films
John Murray, producer of over 100 documentary films broadcast on the most famous channels in the world, and winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious Emmy, returns to Brașov after meeting the Romanian public last year at the world premiere of the documentary Wild Islands of Ireland / Ireland's Wild Islands. He declared at that time, during a masterclass, that “Transylvania is a treasure that cannot be found anywhere in Europe” and promised to premiere the documentary Wild Transylvania, then still in production, at the next edition of the LYNX Festival. “When I go back home to Ireland, I tell everyone they must come to Transylvania because it's wonderful and no other place in Europe compares to it and the wildlife it has,” said John Murray, who fulfills its promise and will premiere, during the LYNX Festival 2024, the images filmed in the wildest areas of Transylvania.
Cactus Hotel, another piece of resistance in this year's selection, already has numerous awards at international festivals, including the grand prize at Green Screen (Germany), one of the most important European documentary film festivals. Other festivals in which he was awarded are Darss Nature Film Festival (Germany), Festival International Nature Namur (France), Innsbruck Nature Film Festival (Austria) and Sondrio Festival (Italy). Directed by Yann Sochaczewski, who has over 20 years of documentary filmmaking experience, Cactus Hotel brings to the big screen 50 minutes of stories built around a saguaro cactus. “The director took on an extraordinary challenge with his brave decision to highlight a plant from a single location and make it the main character of an entire film. With its magnificent images of animals and a soundtrack that complements the subtext of the production, this becomes a lesson in how to create a cinematic parable about the 200-year life of a cactus in the desert.”, are the words with which the documentary was described by the jury Mountain and Adventure Film Festival Graz (Austria).
The opening of LYNX Festival will take place at Astra Cinema (Str. Lungă, no. 1), the main host of the event. More details about the invitations, special events and surprises of the second edition, as well as the full program, will be announced soon.
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Wild Romania project was born in 2010, at the initiative of the nature photographer Dan Dinu, and among the projects carried out are the largest documentary about the nature of Romania, launched in 2021 and multi-awarded in national and international festivals, numerous special educational screenings, exhibitions of photos organized in Romania and abroad, a unique photo album printed in 9,000 copies of which approximately 10% were donated to support education, a mobile application with more than 6,000 users and an interactive online community of almost 150,000 users. From 2022 the initiative took the form of an Association, with the aim of preserving nature by informing and educating people with the help of photography and documentary film.
FORONA (Organization of Nature Photographers from Romania) was established in 2015 with the aim of developing and promoting the field of nature photography and supporting the conservation of natural areas by involving members in projects aimed at photographic art and environmental protection. Some of the most well-known and appreciated local photographers belong to the association, and the more than 130 members are involved in various nature conservation projects. The association has so far supported 5 national traveling outdoor exhibitions.
