LJUBLJANA: Vasko Simoniti was appointed as the new Minister of Culture of Slovenia by the National Assembly on 13 March 2020. His first task will be to draw up a new national cultural programme, the framework for programming and financial priorities in the arts.

LJUBLJANA: The 22nd Documentary Film Festival has been postponed and all cinemas are closed until further notice, due to preventive measures regarding the spread of the Coronavirus.

LJUBLJANA: Slovenian film production is stable and getting even stronger since a significant increase in film funding was achieved in 2019. The number of completed films was lower than in 2018, but more titles are expected to be completed in 2020.

LJUBLJANA: Slovenia has ratified Council of Europe’s (CoE) revised convention on cinematographic coproduction, and will be available for coproductions with countries which are not CoE members starting 1 May 2020.

LJUBLJANA: The Slovenian Film Centre announced the successful launch of the Slovenian internet film data base - BSF, an important step towards better national and worldwide overview of Slovenian film production, its history and heritage, statistics and actual production potential.

LJUBLJANA: The share of Slovenian films increased by more than 5% with the top domestic title Let Him Be a Basketball Player 2, directed by Boris Bezić and produced by Gustav Film, ranking 6th in the total admissions’ chart in 2019.

LJUBLJANA: Slovenian cinema Kinodvor, which received the Best Programming Award for 2019 from Europa Cinemas, plans to open a new miniplex as an additional venue for its two screens.

LJUBLJANA: The Slovenian parliament passed a new bill providing 122.6 m EUR in additional funds for arts and culture for the period of 2021 – 2027, an average of 17.5 m EUR each year, for seven years.

LJUBLJANA: Beanpole, an intimate Russian drama about a close friendship between two young women trying to piece together the fragments of their lives in the aftermath of war, won Best Film at the 30th Ljubljana IFF, which ended on 24 November 2019.

LJUBLJANA: Ten films from young filmmakers, presented in the Perspectives section, will compete for the Kingfisher Award at this year’s 30th edition of the Ljubljana IFF, running 13 – 24 November 2019. Among them is Gregor Božič’s debut feature Stories from the Chestnut Woods, the winner of the 22nd Festival of Slovenian Film, and Jan-Ole Gerster’s Lara, awarded with the special Jury Prize at the 54th Karlovy Vary IFF. A total of 25 films will also run for the Dragon audience award.