27-06-2010

PRODUCTION: Satiric comedy State of Shock begins filming

By Matevz Rudolf

    Slovenian director Andrej Košak has started production on his third film, State of Shock (Stanje šoka), produced by Danijel Hočevar of production company Vertigo/Emotionfilm (www.emotionfilm.si). This is the first collaboration of this popular director and the successful producer.

    {mosimage}The film is a black comedy about a man whose dreams suddenly come true in 1986 but who soon ends up in an asylum. After ten years he is released into a world, where the transition from socialism to democracy has changed everything. Nevertheless, he is determined to begin his quixotic march to his fortune he once had.

    Košak told FNE that the story is a somewhat similar to Goodbye Lenin! but that the main emphasis is on "a protagonist that society treats as insane. He presents a truth about modern world, greedy consumption, and the flatness of today society." The screenplay, under the working title Don't cry for me Europe, was presented in 2004 and won an award at éQuinoxe Screenwriters' Workshop (www.equinoxegermany.de) and in 2005 was chosen for Cannes Screenplay Market (www.festival-cannes.com) and Berlinale Co-production Market (www.berlinale.de).

    The budget is estimated at 2 million Euros. Most of the financial support (780.000 Euros) comes from Slovenian film found (www.film-sklad.si) and film funds of the co-production countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia) and Eurimages (www.coe.int/eurimages).

    {mosimage}Košak's feature film Outsider (1997) is third most watched Slovenian film and was also had a successful theatrical release in in ex-Yugoslav territories. His second feature film Headnoise was the Slovenian entry for the Foreign-language Academy Award in 2003.

    Hočevar said that there are 57 shooting day planned, and postproduction should be finished by the end of 2010.

    Production Credits:

    State of Shock

    Production Company: Vertigo/Emotionfilm (www.emotionfilm.si)

    Co-production Companies: Art Fest (Bulgaria), Pro.ba (Bosnia and Herzegovina, www.pro.ba), Film House Baš Čelik (Serbia, http://bascelik.net), RTV SLO (Slovenia, www.rtvslo.si)

    {mosimage}Co-funding: Slovenian Film fund (www.film-sklad.si), Euroimages (www.coe.int/eurimages)

    Technical support: Viba film (www.vibafilm.si)

    Director: Andrej Košak

    Director's assistant: Boris Petković.

    Screenwriter: Andrej Košak, Miroslav Mandić, Srđan Koljević

    Producer: Danijel Hočevar

    Co-producers: Stefan Kitanov (Bulgaria), Jelena Mitrović (Serbia), Amra Bakšić Čamo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

    {mosimage}Production Manager: Matija Kozamernik

    Director of Photography: Slobodan Trninić

    Film Editor: Petar Marković

    Set Designer: Pepi Sekulich

    Costume Designer: Jelena Proković

    Music: Stefan Valdobrev

    Sound: Igor Čamo

    Makeup: Tina Šubic Dodočić

    Cast: Martin Marion, Urška Hlebec, Nikola Kojo, Aleksandra Balmazović, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Arna Šijaković, Vlado Novak, Robert Prebil, Iva Kranjc, Marjana Brecelj, Dario Varga, Primož Petkovšek, Maj Kirm