Great Success of Slovenian Film at the 70th Venice Film Festival
Yesterday the press conference of the 28th International Critics' Week, which is to take place between 28 August and 7 September 2013 in the context of the 70th Venice Film Festival, took place in Rome. Six films, selected out of the film debuts from all over the world this year, were announced, among them Class Enemy, the first film by the Slovenian director Rok Biček.
This Slovenian film was presented by the selectors of the 28th International Critics' Week with the following words:
"A dramatically intense film that deals with sensitive topics such as education and growth within the complex environment of the school."
Class Enemy was produced by Triglav Film. Starring Igor Samobor and featuring nine young secondary‑school students: Voranc Boh, Jan Zupančič, Daša Cupevski, Doroteja Nadrah, Špela Novak, Pia Korbar, Dan Mrevlje, Jan Vrhovnik and Kangjing Qiu.
Three of them proceeded to study at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. The supporting roles include Nataša Barbara Gračner, Tjaša Železnik, Maša Derganc, Robert Prebil and others.
The script based on true events was written by Nejc Gazvoda, Rok Biček and Janez Lapajne.
Director of photography: Fabio Stoll; sound designer: Julij Zornik; editing: Janez Lapajne and Rok Biček; production design: Danijel Modrej; costumes design: Bistra Borak; make‑up design: Petra Hartman.
The film was produced by Aiken Veronika Prosenc and Janez Lapajne and financially supported by the Slovenian Film Centre.
The author wrote the following about the film:
"I have experienced the story depicted by the film myself in the secondary school, when a fourth‑year student committed suicide. The event was spontaneously followed by a rebellion of her schoolmates against the educational system and professors. In the film the suicide is depicted as a trigger for events, which then attempt to transcend the borders of the school walls and are a reflection of the general social climate today. The extreme situation uncovers a rift between two very different generations, which is only deepened by the tragedy."
However, this is not all for this year.
Apart from the Slovenian film, a Slovenian minority co‑production, the Italian film Zoran, My Idiot Nephew (Zoran, il mio nipote scemo), the first film by the director Matteo Oleotto featuring a strong Slovenian crew, was also selected for the International Critics' Week. Besides the well‑known Italian actor Giuseppe Battiston the film features Rok Prašnikar as Zoran, Marjuta Slamič, Peter Musevski and Jan Cvitkovič.
Production design: Vasja Kokalj; costumes design: Emil Cerar; make‑up design: Talija Ivančič. The main producer of the film is Igor Prinčič for Transmedia, and the Slovenian co‑producer is Staragara.
All six films compete for the Lion of the Future, the Award for Best First Film of the Venice Film Festival in the amount of USD 100,000, and the Audience Award of the Film Critics' Week in the amount of EUR 5,000.
A very successful Slovenian presentation at this year's anniversary 70th Venice Film Festival will be completed by Jan Cvitkovič, who was invited by the oldest film festival in the world to take part in the Venice70 project, organised in order to celebrate the 70th anniversary. On this occasion more than 70 award‑winning filmmakers from all over the world were invited to contribute to the making of a film. Each of the invited directors shot a 90‑second contribution with a common topic: the future of cinematography.
In the independent Slovenia Jan Cvitkovič's Bread And Milk was the first film to qualify for the Venice Film Festival in 2001, and it received the Award for Best First Film. Vinko Möderndorfer qualified for the Venice Days programme twice (Suburbs in 2004; and Landscape No. 2 in 2008).
Two of Jan Cvitkovič's shorts qualified for the Venice Film Festival (Heart is a Piece of Meat in 2004 and This is Earth, My Brother in 2009), while Igor Šterk qualified in 2008 with his film Every Breath You Take.
In 2010 the film Dad by the director Vlado Škafar was the first Slovenian film in the Venice International Critics' Week programme. However, this year two of our films have qualified for this programme: apart from Rok Biček's debut the programme is also featuring – for the first time – a Slovenian minority co‑production.
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