First Films
Fantasy
by Kukla
Sina, Mihrije and Jasna are best friends in their early twenties. Their boyish lifestyles often lead them into conflicts with neighbourhood boys who perceive them as a threat. A young transgender woman called Fantasy catches their attention. Fantasy slowly mesmerises the girls and their paths take different directions. Despite her strong opinions against romantic relationships, Sina becomes romantically entangled. Jasna, who lives with her frustrated mother, decides to take a job on a cruise ship in France. Mihrije runs away with Fantasy to Macedonia to avoid an arranged marriage. Her feelings for Fantasy become more and more intense. After their return to Slovenia, all girls realise they’ve grown apart and feel estranged from each other. On her way home, Mihrije stops at Fantasy’s apartment and discovers she has disappeared. Each in her own way, Sina, Mihrije and Jasna build the first steps of their adult lives, far from the destiny they were supposed to have.
December
www.december.si
Lija Pogačnik
lija@decemberfilm.si
Kukla is a film director and musician. In 2014, she graduated from the film academy in Ljubljana. In the past years, she has been mostly directing music videos, which have reached over 100 million views. Her last short film Sestre (Sisters) has won Grand Prix International at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival 2021. Fantasy is her first feature film.
Little Trouble Girls
by Urška Djukić
A shy and sensitive 16-year-old Lucija spends her first year singing at a Catholic high school choir navigating between her environment’s expectations and her budding curiosity in eroticism. Tender and humorous coming-of-age meditation on the origins of the question: whose body is my body?
SPOK Films
Jožko Rutar
jozko.rutar@gmail.com
Urška Djukić studied at the School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica. In 2016, she made a short film Bon Appétit, La Vie! and won the Vesna Award for Best Short Film at the 19th Slovenian Film Festival. In 2018, she co-directed The Right One, which premiered at the Cannes Directors‘ Fortnight 2019 as part of the SEE Factory Sarajevo mon amour omnibus. In the same year, she was selected for the 39th edition of the Cinéfondation Residence, where she developed her first feature film Little Trouble Girls. In 2021, she continued the development of her debut feature at the Torino Film Lab. Urška‘s new short animated documentary film Granny‘s Sexual Life has won several awards, including the Grand Prix at Tampere FF 2022. It has won the European Film Academy Award for Best Short Film 2022 and César Award for Best Animated Film 2023.
Neither Voice
by Ester Ivakič
In a small village in 1970’s Yugoslavia, an imaginative but tone-deaf 10-year-old girl is convinced she can prevent Grandma’s death by joining a school choir.
Temporama
www.temporama.si
Jerca Jerič
jerca@temporama.si
Ester Ivakič works as a director, scriptwriter and editor and has so far created a number of short films, music videos, and animations. She graduated in Digital Media and Practices from the University of Nova Gorica’s School of Arts with her short film Srdohrd (2016), for which she received a Special Jury Mention at the Festival of Slovenian Film. She made a short film Assunta (2018) for her master’s degree in Film Direction at the University of Ljubljana’s AGRFT. Apart from writing her master’s thesis she’s also developing her debut feature fiction Neither Voice and writing another short film or two.
This Is a Robbery!
by Gregor Andolšek
Rajko is a professional magician who broke his arm during one of his shows. But his insurance company Tangenta is unwilling to pay him the insurance benefits due to a bureaucratic error. Outraged by the injustice, he is defended only by the kind-hearted insurance agent Marcel who tries to help by getting Rajko in the room with the Tangenta’s CEO himself. But the meeting goes sour as Marcel impulsively kidnaps the CEO, much to Rajko’s surprise, and together they soon find themselves on the run.
Temporama
www.temporama.si
Jerca Jerič
jerca@temporama.si
Ester Ivakič works as a director, scriptwriter and editor and has so far created a number of short films, music videos, and animations. She graduated in Digital Media and Practices from the University of Nova Gorica’s School of Arts with her short film Srdohrd (2016), for which she received a Special Jury Mention at the Festival of Slovenian Film. She made a short film Assunta (2018) for her master’s degree in Film Direction at the University of Ljubljana’s AGRFT. Apart from writing her master’s thesis she’s also developing her debut feature fiction Neither Voice and writing another short film or two.
Sophomore Films
The Lost Son
by Darko Štante
A detective runs into his violent brother, whom he hasn’t seen in twelve years. While trying to help him, his actions trigger repercussions that will shake their lives to the core.
Staragara
www.staragara.com
Nina Robnik
nina@staragara.com
The award-winning director and scriptwriter Darko Štante (1975) lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. His debut feature film Consequences (2018) was premiered at Toronto IFF. Film had a successful run in the international festival circuit and received a number of awards. It has also been sold and distributed in the USA, France, Germany, Taiwan, the UK and Canada, and has been sold to HBO, Amazon Prime and other VODs. Štante was a participant in the ScriptEast Workshop and is a 2021 Berlinale Talents alumnus.
Everything That‘s Wrong With You
by Urša Menart
Maruša connects with Alja online, who lives and works abroad as a nurse. They bond immediately. When Alja falls ill, Maruša travels from Slovenia to the Netherlands to help her new friend, only to discover that everything is not what it seems.
Vertigo
www.vertigo.si/en
Katja Lenarčič
katja@vertigo.si
Danijel Hočevar
info@vertigo.si
Urša Menart (1985) has directed a few documentaries (What about Mojca?, There Once Was a Land of Hardworking People) and co-written two feature films both directed by Damjan Kozole: Nightlife (Best Director Award, Karlovy Vary IFF 2016) and Half-Sister (Karlovy Vary IFF, 2019). Her debut feature My Last Year as a Loser (2018) with her as the writer/director won the Slovenian national award Vesna for Best Film and Best Screenplay.
Block 5
by Klemen Dvornik
When twelve-year-old Mia realises that the playground near her new block will be turned into a parking lot, she teams up with local skateboarders led by Rudi in order to save it from destruction. Things get even more complicated when Mia realises that her father is the chief engineer of this project. While preparing the rebellion and fighting against the adults, Mia has to find her voice within the group, while Alma, a fierce tomboy and Rudi’s best friend, doesn’t make it easy for her.
A Atalanta
www.aatalanta.si
Branislav Srdić
info@aatalanta.si
As a film director, Klemen Dvornik (1977) works in the broad field of AV production, getting involved in everything from advertisements and music videos to events, TV and film. To date he has directed 5 short films, 5 TV series and 2 feature films. His latest work is the TV series The Lake, which premiered at Sarajevo FF 2019. In addition to directing, he is also an active member of the Directors’ Guild of Slovenia and was the chairman of the executive committee of FERA. He is also a father of two sons.
Tartini‘s Key
by Vinci Vogue Anžlovar
The action takes place in Piran where three children meet by chance. Mario is a local living with his grandmother, Robert, who comes from a family of a lower social status, is in Piran with his friends from his summer camp and Barbara is from a well-situated family but her parents are divorced. A stray text message sent to a wrong (Barbara’s) number sets off a chain of events that take our heroes through exciting adventures by means of various riddles connected to medieval Piran.
Blade Production
www.bladeproduction.com
Zoran Dževerdanović
info@bladeproduction.com
Vinci Vogue Anžlovar (1963) is a multifaceted creative artist who writes music and scripts as well as directs films and TV series. His first artistic endeavours consisted of putting together several bands. He studied film direction at the AGRFT, University in Ljubljana. One of his screenplays won the international competition held by a Japan company Lakuna while he was still a student. He used the money award to shoot one of the most successful Slovenian films of all time: Grandma Goes South (1991). Vinci’s filmography includes three features: Grandpa Goes South (2022), Selfie Without a Retouch (2016, documentary), and Vampire from Gorjanci (2008).
Ciao Bela
by Jani Sever
Bela faces the challenge of establishing a new relationship with her absent mother at a crucial time—when she starts secondary school. This causes her to reflect on the relationships she has taken for granted as well as on the relationships she is re-establishing. For Bela and her friends, the band they form represents freedom and a confession of their world-view. The search for meaning and the creation of the band raises the question of collaboration and independence at the same time. Bela is a heroine who, with her active attitude to life and with the help of her friends and music, successfully overcomes her first major life crisis.
Sever & Sever
www.seversever.com
Nina Jeglič
nina.jeglic@gmail.com
Jani Sever (1963), a former journalist and editor-in-chief (1996-2006) of the leading Slovenian political weekly Mladina, works as a producer, director, and screenwriter. He has produced more than ten documentaries and fiction features, five shorts, a TV and a web series, as well as directed Status Zero (2016), a documentary about unemployed youth; and Pero Lovšin – You Can (2018), a documentary about the first East European punk star. His last documentary film Antigone - How dare we!, (2020) won Best Documentary Award at the Slovenian Film Festival.