The SMART 7 network presents the second edition of a European competition programme, the result of collaboration between seven major European film festivals, supported by the EU’s Creative Europe MEDIA programme.
The network has launched a competition section that includes seven films by emerging filmmakers from each member country. These films, committed to pushing the boundaries of narrative and cinematic expression, will be screened at each SMART 7 festival. The films will be judged by a jury made up of university students from each country and the winning film will receive a prize of 5,000 euros.
This section will be travelling around the 7 European film festivals throughout 2024, starting this week with the Vilnius International Film Festival (Lithuania), then to the IndieLisboa International Film Festival, and then to the FILMADRID International Film Festival (Spain), to the Transylvania Film Festival IFF (Romania), to the New Horizons Festival (Poland), to Reykjavik IFF (Iceland) and finally in November, the section ends at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece) to finally discover the award-winning film among the SMART7.
Here are the films selected from each country and in competition:
Representing Lithuania is TOMAS VENGRIS‘s second feature film, “Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius”, which won Best Film in the “Rebels with a Cause” competition at the Tallinn Black Nights IFF. The story follows five guests experiencing a love crisis in an AirBnB in Vilnius, unaware of the stories that took place between the same walls and under the same sheets.
From Portugal comes a comedy about a young Brazilian student who needs to renew her residence permit in Portugal – “Greice” by LEONARDO MOURAMATEUS. The film had its world premiere earlier this year at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
“Natatorium” by HELENA STEFANSDDOTTIR is an Icelandic film, a suspense drama that also had its world premiere in Rotterdam and will soon be screened at the SXSW Film and Music Festival. “Natatorium” follows teenager Lilja as she visits her estranged grandparents – but soon a dark secret emerges.
The Greek film “Summer with Carmen” by ZACHARIAS MAVROEIDIS tells the story of two best friends who recall the events of their last summer on the queer beach. The title was screened at the Mumbai IFF and was nominated for the Queer Lion award at the Venice IFF.
The delirious road movie “On the Go” by JULIA DE CASTRO and MARIA ROYO was chosen by the Spanish FILMADRID. The film won the Special Mention from the youth jury in Locarno, captivated by its narrative full of music, where the road and friendship alleviate the disorientation caused to the film’s protagonists by the deceptive freedom of the early 21st century.
“It’s Not My Film” is a Polish film that will have its world premiere. MARIA ZBĄSKA‘s debut feature is a contemporary story full of intelligent humour about the struggle for love. At a time when everything is disposable and easily replaced, a couple will try to repair a relationship in which all is not lost.
Also premiering is the Romanian film “Where the Elephants Go” by GABI SARGA and CATALIN ROTARU. This is the second feature film by the director duo and follows an unlikely friendship – between a girl with a terminal illness who wants to make the most of the time she has left, her mother who is juggling her job and a young man who has no interest in what life has to offer.
