Celebration of Slovenian film in Cottbus

At the 20^th anniversary of the Slovenian Film Centre, which is also to be celebrated at the Cottbus Festival, the competition programme consisting of twelve features will contain as many as three Slovenian films: Šiška Deluxe by the director Jan Cvitkovič, which is just being screened in the Slovenian cinemas; the co-production Family Film by the director Olmo Omerzu, which has recently received an award at the Tokio Film Festival; and The High Sun by the director Dalibor Matanić, which has received an award in Cannes. Meanwhile, our co-production film Our Everyday Life, the debut by Ines Tanović, will be screened in the Focus Programme.

It is almost self-evident that the Slovenian Film Centre should celebrate its 20^th anniversary in Cottbus, as this is the festival which has followed our cinematography ever since the beginning of the Slovenian "New Wave" in the end of the 1990s. Largely this has also been due to the efforts of its long-time selector and now also Director Bernd Buder.

In 1997 the films Express Express by the director Igor Šterk and Outsider by Andrej Košak were shown at the Cottbus Festival; in 1999 Idle Running by the director Janez Burger was the best film of the festival, while Jan Cvitkovič was the best actor; and in 2001 Bread and Milk by the director Jan Cvitkovič received the Special Jury Award. Jan Cvitkovič is actually the most successful Slovenian director at this festival: in 2004 he presented his short film Heart Is a Piece of Meat here and received the Special Jury Award; in 2005 Cvitkovič's second live-action feature Gravehopping received the Award for Best Film; and in 2011 he also presented his third film Archeo. In 2011 Goran Vojnovič's debut Piran - Pirano was screened here, while in 2013 Vojnovič's second film Chefurs Raus! received the Award for Best Actor. In the same year A Trip by Nejc Gazvoda was shown at this festival. In 2005 the short film Cloud Chaser by the director Miha Knific presented itself, while in 2007 the features Teah by Hana Slak and Estrellita – Take Away Song by Metod Pevec were shown as well.

The twentieth anniversary will be celebrated with the screening of Igor Šterk's 2009 film 9:06, which has not been shown at this festival yet, and Igor Šterk will also be a jury member. Furthermore, the 2010 film Dad by the director Vlado Škafar, which premiered at the Venice Festival, and the 2013 film Karpotrotter by the director Matjaž Ivanišin will be screened as well. Besides Karpotrotter, Matjaž Ivanišin and Darko Sinko's documentary film Houses, which premiered at the Portorož Festival, will be presented as well. The Cottbus Festival will be its international premiere. Apart from jury member Igor Škafar and guest of the competition programme Jan Cvitkovič, the festival will also be attended by Vlado Škafar and Matjaž Ivanišin.