Teen Spirit Competition Returns to Transilvania IFF.25: Young Film Lovers Invited to Join the Jury
Transilvania International Film Festival (June 12–21, 2026, Cluj-Napoca) continues its Teen Spirit competitive section, dedicated to productions exploring the world and concerns of new generations. Fiction features and documentaries aimed primarily at Gen Z audiences will compete for the Youth Award trophy, presented by a jury made up exclusively of young film enthusiasts.
Transilvania IFF is opening applications for a jury composed of high school and university students from Cluj-Napoca aged between 16 and 20 who are passionate about cinema. Young people who were part of the first Teen Spirit jury may also apply, provided they still meet the selection criteria. Those selected will watch the films in the Teen Spirit competition, take part in meetings with the Transilvania IFF team, and, following group discussions, decide the winner of the Youth Award trophy, presented during the Closing Gala. Applications are open until June 5 – https://forms.gle/8Dug4Ta75cxKG8969
Last year, the Youth Award (Teen Spirit), worth €1,500 and presented by McDonald’s, went to Little Trouble Girls (dir. Urška Djukić, Slovenia).
Teen Spirit Films
Winner of the CICAE Award at the latest Berlinale, On Our Own (De capul nostru, dir. Tudor Jurgiu, Romania) presents the world through the eyes of teenagers growing up without their parents, gradually building their own alternative family amid flirtations, responsibilities, and the struggle of growing up too fast.
A Year in School (dir. Laura Samani, Italy) takes place in a technical high school in Trieste, where the arrival of a Swedish teenage girl in an all-boys class changes the dynamics within a group of friends.
A young woman caught between two cultures tries to find her place while the pressure of family and identity becomes increasingly overwhelming in Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest (dir. Viv Li, Germany).
In Sundays (dir. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Spain), 17-year-old Ainara shocks her family when she announces she wants to become a nun in a cloistered monastery. Her decision sparks tensions and uncomfortable questions about faith, freedom, and the expectations her family projects onto her future.
The relationship between two teenage girls passionate about swimming begins to fall apart after a traumatic experience during a summer night in Sad Girlz (dir. Fernanda Tovar, Mexico). Torn between guilt, anger, and the need to understand what happened, the two react in completely different ways, putting their friendship to the test.
My Daughter Is a Zombie (dir. Pil Gam-Sung, South Korea) turns the zombie apocalypse into a chaotic and surprisingly emotional story about a father trying to hide his now-zombie daughter from the rest of the world. All with plenty of absurd humor, wildly out-of-control family scenes, and a vibe blending horror and comedy.
A teenage rowing enthusiast, used to being treated as “one of the boys,” sees her world turned upside down when she falls in love with her brother’s girlfriend in Skiff (dir. Cecilia Verheyden, Belgium). Between tensions at home, bullying, and feelings she doesn’t know how to handle, the summer becomes a harsh test of identity and loyalty.
Inside a juvenile detention center, a teenager is pushed into a world ruled by violence, fragile loyalties, and fights for survival in Animol (dir. Ashley Walters, United Kingdom). As he struggles to cope with constant pressure and hold on to who he used to be, his growing closeness to another inmate and the conflicts within the institution force him to make difficult choices.
Rejected by his classmates and increasingly isolated from the world around him, a teenager turns his passion for chemistry into an obsession that brings him online popularity in Nuclear Boy (dir. Joren Molter, Netherlands). His attempt to prove he can be accepted pushes him toward a dangerous experiment whose consequences quickly spiral out of control.
In Weightless (dir. Emilie Thalund, Denmark), a 15-year-old girl arrives at a weight-loss camp hoping to lose weight and become more confident, fascinated by her roommate, who seems to move through the world fearlessly. Everything begins to change when the attention of an instructor awakens desires and emotions she still does not know how to process.
***
