The SMART 7 network presents the 2nd edition of its innovative competition film program, the result of a collaboration between seven leading European film festivals, with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA Program. The selected films will be screened for the first time in March at Vilnius IFF and will arrive in Spain for the 10th edition of FILMADRID International Film Festival, to be held from June 11-16.
The SMART 7 competitive programme aims to showcase emerging filmmakers with pioneering narratives and innovative film language. These films will be screened at each member festival of the network, where they will be evaluated by a jury composed of university students from each country. The winning film will receive a prize of 5,000 euros.
This competitive section will tour the 7 European film festivals that make up the network throughout 2024 in this order: Vilnius International Film Festival (Lithuania), Festival Internacional de Cine IndieLisboa, FILMADRID Festival Internacional de Cine (Spain), Transylvania Film Festival IFF (Romania), New Horizons Festival (Poland), Reykjavik IFF (Iceland) until reaching the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece) when the winning film of the SMART7 competition will finally be revealed.
These are the films that are part of the 2nd edition of the SMART7 - 2024 Competition:
The Spanish representative «On The Go» es is a delirious road movie directed by a tandem of female directors: María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro. The film had its world premiere at the 76th Locarno International Film Festival, where it received a Special Mention from the Youth Jury.
Lithuania's choice is Tomas Vengris' second feature film, “Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius”, awarded in the "Rebels with a Cause" competition at the Tallinn Black Nights IFF. The story follows five guests who experience a love crisis in an AirBnB in Vilnius.
From Portugal comes a comedy about a young Brazilian student who needs to renew her Portuguese residence permit: «Greice» by Leonardo Mouramateus. La película tuvo su estreno mundial a principios de año en el Rotterdam IFF.
From Iceland comes Helena Stefansdottir's «Natatorium» a dramatic thriller that also had its world premiere in Rotterdam and will soon screen at the SXSW Film and Music Festival. "Natatorium" centers on teenager Lilja, who discovers a dark secret during a visit to her grandparents.
Zacharias Mavroeidis' Greek «Summer with Carmen» tells the story of two best friends reminiscing about the events of last summer on a queer beach. The title screened at the Bombay IFF and was nominated for the Queer Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.
The competition will also feature two world premieres:
Maria Zbaska's Polish debut feature «It’s Not My Film» is a contemporary story full of intelligent humour about the struggle for love. In an age where everything is disposable and easily replaceable, a couple tries to repair a relationship in which all is not yet lost.
«Where the Elephants Go», the second feature film by Romanian director duo Gabi Sarga and Catalin Rotaru, follows an unlikely friendship between a terminally ill girl who wants to make the most of the time she has left, her mother who is juggling work and a young man who has lost interest in life.
