The Festival of Slovenian Film traditionally features a series of events targeted at film professionals, which are bound to appeal to a wider audience. In the 22nd festival edition, the industry programme will span five days from Wednesday, 18 September, to Sunday, 22 September 2019. All events will be held in the Green Hall of Avditorij Portorož.
If the film programme showcases the Slovenian cinema, the industry programme is increasingly looking across the national borders: after focusing on Austrian and Serbian cinema in the previous two editions, this edition is highlighting Italy as the country ‘In Focus’ for the main event in the industry programme, the Coproduction Meeting (CPRM). The event will feature a rundown of Italian institutions making up the funding network for film production and cultural exchange (MIBAC, ANICA, regional funds, the Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana, the Italian Trade Agency in Slovenia) and pitching sessions for selected projects in development and postproduction to facilitate co-productions between the two countries.
The tradition of working with Italy in film co-productions goes back to the late 1950s and 1960s, but was long limited mostly to technical input and supporting roles by Slovenian actors. In the last ten years, there has finally been a shift towards cross-cultural co-productions. Nine majority and nine minority co-productions with Italy, including Feed Me with Your Words, Stories from Chestnut Woods, A Comedy of Tears, Zoran, My Nephew the Idiot, indicate an organic cross-cultural exchange that is rooted in the cultural environment. This year’s festival line-up is clear evidence that after collapsing on the border, the increasingly draughty iron curtain has finally fallen in the minds of people. The Competition Programme features films that attest to the wealth of thematic, historical and cultural connections: the previously mentioned Stories from Chestnut Woods, as well as Identity Dilemma, Daughter of Camorra, Rosa and the short film Stoj! To these, we have added Menocchio the Heretic by Alberto Fasulo who is joining us as a guest of honour to speak about his minimalist drama set in the time of counter-reformation, when a simple miller is persecuted by the Inquisition for his unorthodox religious views. The film premiered at the 2018 Locarno festival. The screening in Portorož will be followed by a Q&A with the director about his universal tale of timeless commitment to human values.
But to set the industry programme in motion, FSF will start by building bridges between cinema and literature on Wednesday, 18 September, with Shoot a Book! Connecting literature and film, a set of two events aimed at linking the film and book industries for a more creative exchange. Devised by the Slovenian Film Centre and the Slovenian Book Agency, the set includes a round table on book adaptations with guests from the book and film industries, chaired by the renowned film critic Marcel Štefančič Jr. After a short break, this will be followed by a pitching event in which editors and publishers will have 10 minutes to pitch, for an audience of film producers, notable literary works that lend themselves perfectly to adaptation for the screen. Inspired by Cannes’ Shoot the Book! and Berlin’s Books at Berlinale, our aim is to encourage adaptations of books by Slovenian authors for the screen. As Slovenia was selected to be the 2022 guest of honour at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair, who is also a partner to the two programmes in Cannes and Berlin, there will be ample opportunity for Slovenian authors to showcase their books with filmic potential. This is a chance for Slovenia to establish a platform that can create a market for adaptations of Slovenian literary works and motivate Slovenian and international filmmakers.
Both events on Wednesday will be in English.
On Thursday, 19 September, the main industry event of the 22nd FSF, the Coproduction Meeting (CPRM) – In Focus: Italy, will start with a brief introduction to the festival and the main Italian and Slovenian film financing institutions. The Festival of Slovenian Film will be presented as the event that provides an overview and critical evaluation of the latest Slovenian cinema, and awards the most prominent achievements and artists with national film awards. The Slovenian Film Centre will be presented as a public agency that encourages creativity in the film and audiovisual fields by creating suitable conditions, and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities as the main audiovisual public funding institution in Italy.
This introduction will be followed by pitches by Italian and Slovenian projects in development. Selected Slovenian and Italian projects in development and pre-production, seeking potential partners in one of the countries, will have a chance for a public presentation. In cooperation with the Motovila Institute (Creative Europe Desk Slovenia), an organisation promoting international and cross-sector cooperation in the cultural and creative sectors, projects will also be given an opportunity to better prepare their presentation strategies with the help of the experienced international AV consultant and scriptwriter, Alejandro de la Fuente.
On Thursday afternoon, the programme will continue with REACT Masterclass about the possibility of saying “maybe”. In times of unprecedented environmental crises and constant abuses of the most essential rights, of limitless precariousness and extremism, creation seems to be assuming the role of forceful denunciation and decisive action. But how can this responsibility be taken without renouncing the reflexive and poetic approach to reality? How can this ethical commitment be elaborated without neglecting the fertile and lucid space extended between doubt and contradiction? Marta Andreu, a documentary producer and workshop specialist, will be there to provide answers.
Wrapping up the busy Thursday schedule is an XR Workshop hosted by Marko Cafnik. Cafnik will discuss the virtual world brought about by VR glasses and other so-called immersive technologies which serve to expand the experience of cinema, adding new dimensions to the actualities of life. The expanded reality (XR) workshop will provide an insight into the technology as well as other dimensions and potentials of the virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
The working language of all events on Thursday except the XR Workshop is English.
On Friday, 20 September, the day will start with the Work in Progress Market, an event showcasing Slovenian and Italian projects in postproduction for sales agents and distributors with the screenings of selected scenes, mood images and short excerpts.
Later that day, the Actors Guild of Slovenia (DSI) is organising a round-table discussion in collaboration with AIPA. Entitled Actor and their right, the event aims to start a public debate about the issue of copyright protection for actors in Slovenia. Compared to other countries, Slovenian actors are distinctly discriminated in terms of copyright and related rights. Under the applicable law from 1995, actors have the right to remuneration for private copying only. But is an actor today really just a “performer” as stated in the 25-year-old law? Joining the debate to critically address the issue are the President of DSI, Sebastian Cavazza, and members Katarina Čas, Branko Završan, Jurij Drevenšek, Ludvik Bagari, and Maja Sever, and a guest from the Belgian organization PlayRight, Ioan Kaes. Chaired by actor Matej Zemljič.
Friday afternoon will be dedicated to guests from Italy. Meet the Italians will bring an overview of the available funding opportunities for film in Italy, from national funds like MIBAC (Ministry of Culture) to regional funds like FVG (Friuli Venezia Giulia), Trentino or Apulia Film Commission, and examples of successful co-productions between Slovenia and Italy, as well as presentations of the Italian national film association, the Torino Film Lab training programme, the Ljubljana-based Italian Cultural Institute, and the Italian Trade Agency in Slovenia. The event will also inaugurate the new Audiovisual Co-production Agreement between the Government of the Italian Republic and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
Later that afternoon, this year’s Coproduction Meeting with partners from Italy will wrap up with one-to-one meetings between representatives of the presented projects and their potential co-production partners.
All events on Friday will be in English, except the Actors Guild of Slovenia round-table discussion, which will be in English and Slovene.
On Saturday, 21 September, visitors can attend the Emerging Producers lecture by Marcin Łuczaj. In its meeting in November 2016, the Producers Guild of Slovenia (DSP) established a division called ‘Emerging producers’. Its main purpose is to bring together up-and-coming Slovenian audiovisual producers, as well as provide a platform for an exchange of knowledge and experience in film and audiovisual production and for professional training and growth of its members.
The second event on Saturday morning is a round table to mark three years of the Scenarnica screenwriting workshop. Scenarnica is an intensive screenwriting workshop focusing on what could possibly be the most difficult stage of the creative process – turning an idea into the first version of the screenplay. Organised by the Directors Guild of Slovenia (DSR) and the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC), the fourth edition of Scenarnica started in Ljubljana and will continue in Portorož. Its artistic head Matevž Luzar will start by shortly outlining the method of the workshop and the opportunities provided by participation in the workshop. This will be followed by project pitches by some of the participants from previous editions.
After lunch, the day will continue with a round-table discussion by the Association of Postproduction Artists (DPPU) with a lecture by Miloš Kalusek. Entitled The power of film editing, the event will bring together Miloš Kalusek, Robert Černelč and Janez Dovč, who will share their thoughts on how elements of film editing, art and music come together in making a film. Chaired by Olga Toni.
The last event on Saturday is a lecture by Gregor Skender, a senior consultant at Deloitte, on Fiscal and Economic Impacts of Audiovisual Industry in Slovenia. In collaboration with the Producers Guild of Slovenia and AIPA, with financial input from AIPA and professional input from SFC, Deloitte has conducted an analysis of the economic and fiscal impacts of the audiovisual industry on the Slovenian economy, and the effect state grants have on the development of the industry. Results show that the importance of the audiovisual industry for economy is growing both at global and national levels, while indicating the need for further dialogue between the industry and competent public institutions. The presentation will be followed by a discussion.
The Emerging Producers lecture will be in English. The working language of all other Saturday events will be Slovene.
On Sunday, 22 September, the industry programme of the 22nd Festival of Slovenian Film will come to a close with a meeting of representatives of the main public film institutions in the region: HAVC, Montenegro FC, FC Serbia, and Kosovo Cinematography Center. The event will be in English.
Later that day, the Directors Guild of Slovenia (DSR) will hold its 5th annual Kosobrin Awards Ceremony to award below-the-line workers in filmmaking. This way, the Guild aims to honour less visible trades without whom directors cannot imagine either a good working process or a good end result. Previous award winners include grip Janez Petretič, colourist Emil Svetlik, documentation specialist/researcher Jožica Hafner, and script supervisor Petra Trampuž.
The festival will also play host to aspiring film critics as part of ‘Sharpening the gaze with Slovenian cinema’, a film critics workshop for high school and college students as well as others with a keen interest in cinema. In a relaxed creative atmosphere, a group of participants will meet for daily sessions to watch films, reflect on them, share their views, analyse the use and purpose of expressive means, and write short reviews under the guidance of the mentors: Dr Maja Kranjc, Editor-in-Chief of KINO! magazine, and film critic and writer Robert Kuret. The final products will be posted on ostrenjepogleda.wordpress.com, and a best-of will be published in the KINO! Magazine. The participants of the workshop run by the KINO! Society for Expanding Film Culture will also present their award for best student film of the festival.
The industry events are coordinated by Luka Venturin: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
