22nd Festival of Slovenian Film – PORTOROŽ/PORTOROSE Avditorij and Monfort, 17 to 22 September 2019
The Festival of Slovenian Film (FSF) provides an overview of the latest Slovenian cinema, and awards the most prominent achievements and artists. The festival is the successor to annual showcases of Slovenian filmmaking, established in the 1970s in Celje as the Week of the National Film and, after a break, renamed the Slovenian Film Marathon and moved to Portorož, before assuming the name and role it has today the following year. The Festival of Slovenian Film is a community, arts and industry event bringing together filmmakers, the professional community, business partners, and enthusiasts. It is an annual film gathering, where the latest feature, medium-length and short fiction, documentary, and animated films are screened over five days. Screenings are accompanied by news conferences with filmmakers and other cast and crew members, and by an increasingly prominent industry events, which include expert panels, international workshops and the Coproduction Meeting with a focus on a nearby partner country – in this 3rd edition of the Coproduction Meeting, the country in focus is Italy. The festival concludes with the Vesna Awards ceremony, Vesna symbolising the popularity of the heroine of the eponymous 1955 film directed by František Čap. Today, this Czech filmmaker is considered one of the pillars of the history of Slovenian cinema, and a prime example of both European cultural exchange and the openness of Slovenian film industry.
The Festival of Slovenian Film is where new approaches of up-and-coming young filmmakers meet the honourable tradition of the legends of Slovenian cinema, an industry increasingly steeped in a broader European film landscape. During the opening ceremony, in collaboration with industry associations, the Slovenian Film Centre annually presents the Metod Badjura Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade named after a pioneer of documentary cinema. In the days following the festival, the award-winning films are screened in Ljubljana.
Jelka Stergel, Festival Director
www.fsf.si