25th Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož – 25 to 30 October 2022

The Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož provides an insight into the latest audio-visual works produced in Slovenia, 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 National Film, which, following Slovenia’s independence, renamed the Slovenian Film Marathon and moved to Portorož before becoming the Festival of Slovenian Film the following year and adding the geographic marker in 2021.

The Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož is a cultural and industry event that brings together filmmakers, the professional community, business partners, and enthusiasts. It is an annual gathering where the latest feature, medium-length and short fiction, documentary, animated, and experimental films are screened over six consecutive days. Screenings are accompanied by news conferences and Q&As with filmmakers and other cast and crew members, and increasingly prominent industry events, including subject-specific conferences, filmmaking workshops, co-production meetings and international cooperation. Attended by various local and international guests, the festival also makes sure to create ample opportunity to socialise in informal settings as a vital means of interaction and social exchange among filmmakers as well as with the rest of the community.

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 the 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 festival, 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.

So let’s meet again in Portorož in October. For the 25th jubilee edition of the Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož. In the place favoured by most Slovenian filmmakers. In the place where autumns can still be warm—in terms of both cinema and weather.

Bojan Labović, Festival Director

www.fsf.si