The shooting of Man Without Guilt by Ivan Gergolet is complete
The first feature film Man Without Guilt by the director and screenwriter Ivan Gergolet was shot at the border area between Slovenia and Italy. The film is scheduled for release and distribution in March 2022.
The story of personal revenge and redemption is set in Trieste, a city on the Adriatic coast, at the border between Italy and Slovenia. A 50-year-old widow working in a hospital discovers that her husband's former employer, who is partly responsible for her husband's death, has been admitted to the hospital because of a stroke. His son offers her a job as a caregiver, unaware of the connection between them. Seeking revenge, she decides to accept the offer.
The film features Branko Završan, an award-winning film and theatre actor from the The Celje City Theatre, and Valentina Carnelutti, an Italian actress who has starred in more than 40 films since 1995. The film crew includes the director of photography Debora Vrizzi, production designer Marco Juratovec, costume designer Gilda Venturini, and mask designer Alenka Nahtigal.
The film is produced by Miha Černec and Jožko Rutar from the production company Staragara, in co-production with the Italian production company Transmedia Produzione, represented by Igor Prinčič, and the Croatian Propeler Film, represented by Boris T. Matić.
The film is produced in collaboration with Viba Film Studio and with the financial support of the Slovenian Film Centre, the Film Commission of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Audiovisual Fund of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism - MiBACT, which has also already co-financed the film in the amount of 280,000 euros, and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and Eurimages, which decided to support the film with 140,000 euros at its 163rd Board of Management meeting. At the same meeting, another two Slovenian minority co‑productions received support. The documentary The Lost Dream Team by the Croatian director Jure Pavlović, which is a Croatian, Italian, Serbian and Slovenian co-production, co-produced by the Slovenian production company Tramal Films, was awarded 130,000 euros. The feature film Rift in the Ice by the Serbian director Maja Milos, which is a Serbian, Dutch, Italian, Slovenian and Croatian co-production, received 225,000 euros. The Slovenian co-producer is Spok Films. Both projects have also already received funding from the Slovenian Film Centre.
Ivan Gergolet, born in 1977 in Monfalcone, Italy, graduated in cinema studies from the University of Bologna. He is one of the media activists who created OrfeoTV, the first street television in Italy. Gergolet, a member of the EFA, started working professionally in 2006 as a runner, assistant director, and unit manager on several productions. Since 2008, he has taught filmmaking in high schools and the Trieste jail, developing, and shooting short films, documentaries, as well as music and social videos to promote filmmaking as a social awareness and a tool for personal growth. His documentary debut Dancing with Maria (2014, Transmedia Production) was the first documentary ever selected for the International Film Critics Week programme of the 2014 Venice IFF, where it received the Civitas Vitae Award.