Slovenian Films in Cannes

10. May 2011
From 11 to 21 May the 64th International Film Festival – the most important exhibition of film in the world – is taking place in Cannes. Besides this festival the film market, where the Slovenian Film Centre is to represent Slovenia for the eighth year in a row, is also taking place for the 52nd year.

This year the Slovenian cinematography will be presented for the second time in the International Village in the South East European Pavilion together with film institutions and filmmakers from Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Cyprus, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. Montenegro will be presented for the first time, while Albania will no longer be in the Pavilion.
The joint presentation in Cannes will strengthen the existing co production connections between these states, and in the future it is to consolidate the distribution and exhibition of films financed within this region, since currently many co productions do not reach the cinema viewers and video media. Furthermore, the integrated market will also facilitate the screening of European and other films independent of Hollywood, which often do not see regular distribution screenings, despite all of their Golden Palms or Bears.
The Slovenian part of the new pavilion will once again be the meeting point for all Slovenian filmmakers, seeking partners for their projects in development. In the pavilion, individuals can organise meetings with international film professionals and present their activities.
At this largest global film market the Slovenian Film Centre is showing three world premieres: Archeo, the third feature by the director Jan Cvitkovič, produced by Staragara; Good Night, Missy, the fourth feature by the director Metod Pevec, produced by Vertigo/Emotionfilm; and the debut entitled A Trip by the director Nejc Gazvoda, produced by Perfo Production. The film Archeo will be the first Slovenian film to be distributed in the form of a Digital Cinema Package (DCP), a digital format replacing 35mm film copies rapidly throughout the world.
The Short Film Corner is a professional short film platform where the authors have the possibility of presenting their films to the widest possible audience, interested in the world shorts and their makers, from the whole world. This year two Slovenian animated films will be presented here: Kolja Saksida's animation entitled The Wild Life of Koyaa, produced by ZVVIKS, completed in March 2011; and Stripburger in Motion, directed by Boris Dolenc and produced by Forum Ljubljana, which premiered at the last Festival of Slovenian Film in Portorož. The director Martin Turk will present his short live action film Things We've Never Done Together, produced by Senca Studio.
Scripteast is a screenplay development workshop for writers from the central and eastern Europe, presenting the selected screenwriters and projects first in Berlin and then also in Cannes, where the best project will be chosen and rewarded. This year the Slovenian Croatian project Night Life by the screenwriters and directors Damjan Kozole and Ognjen Sviličić qualified among the twelve Stripteast projects. Both authors have already collaborated on the film Slovenian Girl (2009).
Together with eleven other project, this script will compete for the Krzystof Kieslowski Award, which is to be given during the Cannes festival. The film Night Life consists of three stories taking place during the same night in Ljubljana.
On Thursday, 12 May, the fantastic Grossman Film and Wine Festival from Ljutomer will be presented in the pavilion.