Hello Summer
A family sets off for their dream summer holiday, only to discover that paradise doesn’t always live up to the brochure.
Sea, sun, beaches and family holidays. Just pick your dream destination from the catalogue, pack your bags and hit the road. But what if the hotel isn’t as stellar as promised, your room has a bit of a naughty view, the dinner is surprisingly exotic and your luggage travels independently. Family above all!
SCREENINGS
Sunday 8 November 11:00 (Little Big Stories)
Age: 6+
Programme section(s): Little Big Stories
Original title: Ahoj léto | Year: 2024 | Runtime: 11′
Country: Czechia, Slovakia, France | Language: – | Subtitles: English
Director: Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová | Production: Martin Smatana – Studio Bororo; Last Films, MAUR film, Vivement Lundi! | Screenplay: Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová | Animation: Martin Smatana, David Štumpf, Filip Diviak, Barbora Halířová, Ivan Strobl | Cinematography: Ondřej Nedvěd | Editing: Katarína Pavelková
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
Animafest Zagreb, 2024 – World Premiere | Annecy International Animation Film Festival, 2024 – Young Audience Award | Fest Anča, 2024 – Special Mention | CinéEast, 2024 – Audience Award | Cinekid, 2025 | Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 2025 | Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, 2025 – Special Mention | Zlín Film Festival, 2025 – Special Mention | Anima Brussels, 2025 – Best Short Film for Young Audiences | Brest European Short Film Festival, 2025 – Benshi Jury’s Pick | Aguilar Film Festival, 2025 – Best Short Film | FIFEM Montréal, 2025 – Children’s Jury Prize | FIC Fantástico de Brasília, 2025 – Best International Short
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Martin Smatana (1991, Slovakia) is a graduate of Animation at FAMU in Prague. His debut short Rosso Papavero (2015) premiered at Berlinale and won 15 international awards. His graduation film The Kite premiered at Berlinale 2019, reached the semi-finals of the Student Academy Awards, got included in the Film Collection of MoMA in New York, and won over 60 international awards, including Children’s Audience Awards at Annecy and Stuttgart. Martin has published the illustrated book A Year of Good News and directed the animated film Hello Summer.
Veronika Zacharová (1992, Czechia) studied graphic design before turning to animation. During her studies at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, she made several short animated films, mainly for children. Her films ZOO Story, The Bearytales and her graduation film The House have screened and won awards at festivals around the world. She created the visual identity for the 2019 Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films. At Prague-based studio Krutart, she worked as a director and animator on award-winning animated spots. She currently works as an animator at Amanita Design, a leading Czech independent game development studio, and as a freelance illustrator.
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
We want to manifest the cinematic values of comedy, a comforting tone and clever children’s content that we share as co-directors. Through combining stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, the unique, playful use of objects in different contexts was made possible. The family travelling story organically emerged afterwards. A seaside holiday is a big event for a family from an inland country such as Czechia or Slovakia. We have memories from our own childhoods of our parents saving for several years and creating great expectations of having the best holiday ever. However, with our film, we want to tell that the luxury of a holiday is measured more by the precious quality time a family spends together than by the number of swimming pools at a hotel resort. Our goal is to create a fun family film with haunting visuals and a heart-warming message that both children and adults can relate to.
