This 75th edition of Berlinale could be considered a milestone one in several aspects, including the change of its leadership and the re-organized programme structure. With five majority, parity and minority co-productions, four of them in feature-length format, in official selections, the presence of Slovenian cinema is also strong this year. The biggest news is the fact that the Slovenian majority production is selected to open the new competition programme Perspectives.
Little Trouble Girls is the debut of the award-winning filmmaker Urška Djukić (best known for her previous effort, the 2021 animated short Granny’s Sexual Life, co-directed with Emilie Pigeard, which won numerous prizes, including the César in its category). It tells the story of the sexual awakening of the 16-year-old girl Lucija. The film was realized in co-production between Slovenia (through the companies Spok Films, Nosorogi and OINK), Italy (Staragara IT), Croatia (365 Films), Serbia (Non-Aligned Films), with the French associate producerSister Production and with the financial aid of the numerous national, regional and pan-European institutions. Most of its cast and crew comes from Slovenia, though. The cast is lead by Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Švajger, Saša Tabaković, Nataša Burger and others, the script was written by the filmmaker and her regular collaborator Maria Bohr, Lev Predan Kowarski served as the cinematographer, Vasja Kokelj as the production designer, Julij Zornik as the sound designer and Eva Uršič as the key make-up artist.
On the other hand, the Generation KPlus title Tales from the Magic Garden is quite a unique case in contemporary cinema. It is a parity co-production coming from four countries on completely equal terms. Slovenia is represented by the director Leon Vidmar, the screenwriters Jerneja Kaja Balog and Maja Križnik, as well as the producer Kolja Saksida from the ZVVIKS production company. The rest of the directorial (David Súkupa, Patrik Pašš and Jean-Claude Rozec), screenwriting (Blandine Jet, Patrik Pašš, Marek Král and Petr Krajiček) and production teams (companies Maurfilm, Artichoke and Vivement Lundi!) come from Slovakia, Czech Republic and France. The production of this stop-motion animation began in 2017 and lasted for 435 workdays with 16 animators, which ended up with the total of 71 minute of runtime.
The related Generation 14Plus sidebar will also host the premiere of Sandbag Dam. The newest effort by the Croatian filmmaker Čejen Černić Čanak (whose previous 2017 feature The Mystery of Green Hill signals that she is somewhat specialized in cinema for younger audiences) is a co-production between Croatia (represented by Kinorama), Slovenia (Perfo) and Lithuania (Tremora). The Slovenian contribution to the film was Marko Brdar’s cinematography and Julij Zornik’s sound design. Another Slovenian minority co-production, JakobKrese’s documentary Ceasefire will compete at Berlinale Shorts section. The German-Italian-Slovenian co-production between the companies Majmun Films, Zero Stress Production and Pótem tells the story of the woman named Hazira who still lives in the refugee centre after her village on a hill above Srebrenica was razed in the war.
Another Slovenian minority co-production will enjoy its world premiere at Berlinale, in non-competitive, but still prestigious Forum section. Eighty Plus is the newest effort of the Serbian veteran documentarian Želimir Žilnik who has a stellar track record with Berlinale, especially when it comes to his not-exactly-documentary works. His feature-length debut Early Works scooped the Golden Bear back in 1969, while Marble Ass was awarded with Teddy in 1995. Eighty Plus is a docu-fiction that tells the story of the retired jazz musician Stevan who comes back from Germany to finalize the restitution of his childhood home, where a series of reunions sheds some new light on his life. The script was written by the filmmaker and Tanja Šljivić, produced by Sarita Matijević Žilnik for Playground, while Miha Černec (Staragara) and Jožko Rutar (Tramal) served as the co-producers.
The producer and the screenwriter Iza Strehar was chosen for Berlinale Talent Campus. She has got two projects, Liberté (in development) and Purgatory (in pre-production), while the body of her previous works includes features Bitch, a Derogatory Term for a Woman and Shooting Blanks, as well as documentaries Melting Dreams and Woman of God.
Lastly, the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) Award will be also given away during Berlinale. This year, one of the nominees also comes from Slovenia. Klemen Dvornik’s Block 5 secured the nomination by triumphing at Castellinaria Film Festival in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
The Slovenian Film Center - the central film institution in Slovenia will present a Slovenian film for the twentieth time on a joint stage with the Czech Cinematography Fund and the Slovak Film Institute, under the joint brand CEC-Central European Cinema, where they will also proudly share the joint animated feature film Tales from the Magic Garden.
Click HERE for the Berlinale Programme brochure.
