Spotlight on Slovenian Cinema in Macedonia

24. November 2011
On Thursday, 10 November, the solemn opening of the 10th Cinedays International Festival with the subtitle Festival of European Films is to take place in Skopje. At the eve of the festival the opening of a retrospective of Slovenian films from the last twenty years will take place in the theatre of the Macedonian Cinematheque, one of the five festival venues.

 
The retrospective will open with Slovenian Girl (2009) by the director Damjan Kozole, which is to be accompanied by the exhibition of Slovenian film posters. Until Saturday, 12 November, the following films are also to be screened: Express Express (1998) by the director Igor Šterk; Idle Running (1999) by the director Janez Burger; Bread and Milk (2001) by the director Jan Cvitkovič; Headnoise (2002) by the director Andrej Košak; Suburbs (2004) by the director Vinko Möderndorfer; and Rooster's Breakfast by the director Marko Naberšnik.

After the Slovenian attainment of independence this is the first retrospective of Slovenian film in Macedonia, also marking this year's 20th anniversary of the Slovenian state. For this reason the embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Skopje is also taking part in the organisation besides the Slovenian Film Centre and the Slovenian Cinematheque. Apart from organising the retrospective, the Macedonian Cinematheque will also publish a booklet which is to accompany the programme of Slovenian films. The story of the collaboration between the Slovenian and Macedonian film, beginning in 1955 when the Slovenian director France Štiglic arrived to Macedonia and directed the second Macedonian feature film Wold Night, will represent the introduction into the booklet.

In the recent years the collaboration between the Slovenian and Macedonian filmmakers has become increasingly intense: this very month the third film by Andrej Košak, The State of Shock, in which Macedonian filmmakers have also participated, is going to open in the Slovenian cinemas.

In the Macedonia and Europe programme, The State of Shock will also be screened at the Cinedays festival.

At the festival programme of gala premieres the minority co‑production Circus Columbia by Danis Tanović will also be shown among 16 films. This programme includes the most recent European "hits" by authors like Nanni Moretti, Lars von Trier and Aki Kaurismaki.

Eight films were included in the "sine Balcan" programme, among them the Slovenian film Dad by Vlado Škafar. The film will compete in the category for the best Balkans film.

In the main competition programme the viewers will be able to see 12 films, among them also A Trip by the director Nejc Gazvoda, which are to compete for the main festival Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Script.

The festival also features a special programme of music documentaries, which is also going to include a Slovenian film: here Kuzle, a documentary about the legendary punk band from Idrija by Matjaž Mrak and Robert Šabec, is going to be shown.

Since it is featured in almost all festival programmes and due to the special retrospective of its films, this year Slovenia is one of the two "in‑focus" countries. The festival is also going to pay special attention to Georgia.

After the comprehensive retrospective in Los Angeles, which took place in the Billy Wilder cinema in September, this is the second retrospective of Slovenian film abroad this year.