Marija Kavtaradze, nominated Best Script for Summer Survivors at Imagineindia 2020 |

Born in 1991, film director and scriptwriter Marija Kavtaradzė graduated from Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Film Directing studies in 2014. One of her latest short fiction film I’mTwenty Something, 2014 won best student film at Lithuanian Film Academy Awards Silver Crane 2015. Marija Kavtaradzė also co-written the feature film The Saint dir. Andrius Blazevicius, that M-Films also produced, which was premiered at Busan IFF and Warsaw ISFF in 2016, later on had a theatrical release in Lithuania in 2017, with the box office of more than 250 000 Eur. Considered to be one of the most talented upcoming filmmakers in Lithuania,
Marija Kavtaradze was granted support from Lithuanian Film Centre for her debut feature film Summer Survivors.

DIRECTOR,S STATEMENT

“Summer Survivors” is my debut feature film, which tackles mental health problems in a very delicate way. My characters are heroes who are fighting in a war when the battle field is their own mind. The
journey of a psychologist and two patients from one hospital to another shows how essential it is for one to have a connection with other people.
A connection that can lead you to a long and difficult process of healing or sometimes even save your life. With the great care I tried to portray the shifting moods of the characters all along the film, attempted to be honest and true with them while directing, so that the audience could grasp the way they feel. With this movie, I want to send my love to
all the people, who understand what it’s like to fight in this war – for those who do survive, and those who cannot.