Synopsis :
Introducing the very first edition of the EUNIC Brussels Film Festival! For 7 days, dive into a curated selection of films from 9 European countries – each telling unique stories, yet united by shared values.

16-year-old Mari, raised without a mother by a drunkard father, is put in an orphanage which she immediately, though unsuccessfully, tries to flee from. The sensitive Mari finds it hard to adapt to the coarse manners and brutal games amongst the children. Only gradually does she develop a sense for the similarly difficult fates of her fellow sufferers, who have long forgotten how to cry. She even falls in love for the first time, not with her self-appointed “protector” Tauri, but with the rough-mannered Robi. “Smile at Last” takes a critical realist approach to raising attention to the responsibility over the fate of vulnerable children and adolescents.

Eunic Brussels Film Festival: SMILE AT LAST (vo st en), a film by Arvo Iho and Leida Laius, on 07.10.2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cinéma Vendôme

TRAILER

Q&A with the actress Monika Raide

TICKETS