Discoveries from Slovenia World Cinema

Slovenian short fiction film.

Hungry mister orders a meal in a fancy restaurant.

In the Middle Ages a misericorde was a weapon used to put a wounded knight out of his misery. As a theological term, it refers to forgiveness and compassion. In French it has been used as an invocation, notably in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: “Christ have mercy on us!” That there may be no one listening (or arriving) remains a central anguish, felt in the depression, addiction and other disorders, that are normal responses to increasingly abnormal culture.

The title comes after the novel written in 1927 by Slovenian writer Ivan Pregelj. It describes peasant bloody uprising in Tolmin in 1713. The filmmakers were interested in uprising in Tolmin in 1713. The filmmakers were interested in uprising as a contemporary phenomena.

One Monday morning Messy and Ruffles unanimously agreed they would rather go on an adventurous search for their lost magic cat Spotty than to boring school and fearful dentist Dr. DeCay. On zippity-zappity path through time and space, they come across a nerdy neighbor Smarty, a great connoisseur of magic potions, who is brewing his newest potion according to an ancient recipe. Smarty joins the two little witches after the unpredictable course of events and unforgettable "zippity-zappity" journey full of challenges and complexities that arise in the Ljubljana city streets begins. The world of magic is governed by different rules than the normal world: if you do not like Monday, you can easily jump into Tuesday, put a spell on an evil neighbor, shorten the stretched road and even kick out the crankiness. But even great witches can not avoid dentists forever, not even with magic.

The film is a homage to beauty; beauty in a visual and aesthetic sense, but primarily spiritual beauty, the beauty that normally thrives best in concert with love if we let it breathe, that is; if we are prepared to accept it and share in it. The film is playful, it does not build on the bizarre, but on aesthetics, ethics and spirituality. She and He are in T(herapy), in their individual sessions the more introverted She and the extroverted He talk about and gradually uncover a particularly strong experience that in a way represents a turning in their emotional setback. We gradually realize that they do not have a problem accepting what has happened. She would just like to know where it happened, and He would like to see it all again.

The film presents the interesting childhood of Lojze Slak and his beginnings in "Barbov Slak", school years, wartime, the testimony of his large family (10 sisters and brothers), colleagues, members of the ensemble, songwriters, editors, producers, etc. The film also contains interesting footage from tours (USA, Canada, Australia), concerts and TV shows throughout the entire period of the Lojze Slak Ensemble.

A hunter heads out to the mountains to mend his broken heart. On his way he can’t escape the visions of his lover who left him. As he loses his mind, his dark side comes to life. The shadow tells him to hunt down the mythical Goldhorn and ultimately leads him to his demise. Based on a Slovenian folktale, this is a story about greed and our relationship to nature.

Cinda Real is a fairy-tale about a girl stigmatised for having only one leg, and her desire to dance, “just dance”.

About the dispute between the people of Ig over the cut plums on the border.

A reckless boy in an almost desperate and therefore troublesome way persistently seeks the attention of his father – a photographer. Being confronted with his father’s artistic chaos and his obsessive fascination with photography-life, on his path of growing up these elements eventually become essential for strengthening their father-son bond. In a story that intertwines hand-drawn and stop animation in collage technique, the author takes his audience on a ride through the archive of Slovenian photographer Dragiša Modrinjak, and at the same time draws from personal experience as a filmmaker and father.

On the way to the land where it's always warm The Cherry Family experiences unusual things.

A documentary about the life choices of seven men and one woman who left their home countries and moved to Yugoslavia at the time of the non-aligned movement. In Slovenia, they started new lives, had families and made careers. Coming from different cultures, there are two traits they share: determination and persistence. In their personal accounts, they speak of their experience and share their memories of the time since their arrival.

Documentary about the former motorcycle brand Tomos which were made in a factory in Koper, Slovenia.

To relieve the memories from their childhood and catch up after many years of estrangement, two half-brothers go on a road trip to see the places where their father used to take them. The journey begins with joy, youthful cheerfulness and contentment. But soon after, sibling rivalry, jealousy and old grudges come to the surface.

The film addresses the problem of waste thoroughly – it shows how the price of plastics on the market doesn’t reflex the costs it takes to our environment and health.

The Soča has always been a border river. In its relatively short course, it connects two completely different landscapes, the Alps and the Mediterranean. And it really seems as if it consists of two personalities. It also has two names. Soča is female. Isonzo is male. The Soča is a water of contradictions; attractive and dangerous, known for its emerald color and bloody front. The First World War in these parts destroyed not only lives, villages and fields, but also the relationship that the people of that time had with nature. The survivors had to start from scratch and it seems that today we still live in this hastily concluded world. Meetings along the Soča reveal the contradictions in our modern relationship with nature. Compared to the life of the river, human life seems insignificant and yet we can today interfere with the laws of nature. At a time when political borders are being eliminated, we must know how to set our own boundaries in relation to our common river.

An inexperienced soldier’s loyalty to his ruthless commander is tested by a deadly encounter with a refugee mother and her child, forcing him to confront a tragic moral reckoning on the river border.

The game of chess as a symbolic and performative practice forms the core of this video, which is essentially determined by staged scenes, reworked mechanical figurines and the performance of the main protagonists. It differs both from the high-tech video spot and fast editing.

Kai and Maris are a young couple living in Slovenia in the year 2030. All over the world, the state of war is becoming more and more alarming. In Slovenia, however, a totalitarian regime rules, which does not allow the individual any freedom. The story takes place at night when they try to escape. Will they make it? Are we really free?

A narrow minded cleaner, filled with prejudice, loses her keys. She is forced to make an extraordinary deal with a black boy to get them back.

A tale about a legendary warrior who saved his Empire.

Friends Sara and Nina are going to the sea during the carefree summer holidays slightly differently than the majority - on foot, across Slovenia along the European footpath E-6, 14 days long. The path is overcome with such and different conversations, questions about life, thinking ... It is the path of physical efforts and endurance, the recognition of the distant beauty of Slovenia and the originality of nature, the landscape that lies under their feet. They are rich in new experiences, meetings with people. Of course it's not quite complicated and fun; Friendship is for a moment even a big test., The girls inevitably or inevitably meet special boys Žmigi and Jože, but they do not somehow shake them off until the end of the journey. After all, at the departure, they grow to their hearts.

The film has two parallel narrative lines. The first which follows the fate of a Slovenian "rebel without a cause" from the provinces, rocker and world traveler who contracted HIV in Africa. In the second line, in parallel, the history of the AIDS epidemic, the specific nature of the virus and the analysis of the drugs that enable the cure of the disease are presented. That virus is, for now, incurable, and is considered a plague of the modern world. Jovanović and his team recorded all the material in a large number of countries in America, Europe and Asia.

Lilijana is a lovely lady who copes with loneliness in a unique way.

Kiti and Jozek, a young couple from the Prekmurje region become redundant at their place of work. Full of hope, they go to Ljubljana to seek new employment.

The life and rather obscure hardships of a Slovenian feminist author and human rights activist Angela Vode.

The events in the movie begin just before classes start, when one of the students sets off a stink bomb in the school restroom. Because of the incident, the school has to be evacuated and classes are dismissed early. The principal and the school counselor must then identify the real culprit among five suspects. Was it just a childish prank, or a deliberate act?

When we have completed our tasks, new ones are waiting for us. The tempo is increasing.

A Slovenian short documentary film.

Oskar is sent to spend a few days with his grandfather Viktor in his old, quiet home. While exploring the property, he stumbles upon a forgotten garage filled with relics from the past. As he begins to uncover long-buried family secrets, Oskar is forced to confront truths that challenge his understanding of his family and himself. The deeper he digs, the more he realizes that some secrets were meant to stay hidden. But uncovering the past comes at a price-one that may change his life forever.

Five members of Mladi levi, a legendary band from the 1960s and 1970s, decided after four decades to make a comeback. The film starts with the first meetings of the five pensioners who want to bring their old hits back to life and get all former band members on board. We follow them through months of preparations and rehearsals, and get an insight into their younger days when through music they were able to form a friendship that achieved what many thought impossible. In November 2014, with considerable attention from the media, they enthralled the audience in Ljubljana with two sold-out concerts.

Lost silent short.

A film about moments when our brain reacts instinctively or contrary to all logic. Moments when the simplest task, such as saying hello, is seen as frightening. While some people rarely experience this, if ever at all, others can it this a daily struggle.

The shadow, or the dark twin, has turned into a spokesperson for all that is obsessive, perverse and rebellious.

Silent documentary.

In a remote convent where nuns live, they decide to introduce broadband internet.

Two girls play detectives and discover a real serial killer.

In a border village clad in endless shades of autumn leaves, solitary lives are emerging where reality and imagination meet, seeking redemption that perhaps is only attainable together. Miren is one of the contemporary globalised outlands that the capitals are finding increasingly difficult to comprehend.

Actor Jernej Šugman escaped the images of war and violence. He spent the night in his car somewhere along some dirt road. He wakes up at dawn to the sound of citizen Goran Šalamon singing a love song. Meanwhile, citizen Sara Dirnbek has arrived to work and is trying to wake up with a cup of coffee. The world is upside down. We are gripped by fear. Obsessed with security. How do we love if we are hungry? Talk louder.

This documentary film about Primož Peterka is a living film monument to the young champion and his decision to film his way back to the top; however, it is also a film about a young man and his maturing. The film shows a year in the life of Primož Peterka, one of the greatest Slovenian champions and idols, twice the winner of the Ski Jumping World Championship. In the year that presented the young sportsman with so many decisive moments – the attempt to establish himself again in the sport, the birth of the child, creating a new home…The film follows his activities, his thoughts, and emotions about both, his professional and private life, as well as the thoughts and emotions of people closest to him.

Slovenian director Petra Seliskar investigates the role of ideology in her personal family history by means of interviews with her paternal grandfather, her Macedonian boyfriend Brand's maternal grandmother and his Cuban grandmother on his father's side. Illustrated by archive footage and home movies, her voice-over describes her family's personal story, Yugoslavia under Tito, and the recent war, accompanied by some particularly shocking footage. The nature shots and the alternation of classical, popular and revolutionary music occasionally lend the stories a light-hearted tone.

The life of the martyr Alojzij Grozde, from his childhood in a poor rural environment to his life as a promising student and finally his tragic death. The film combines dramatized re-enactments, interviews with experts and historians, and testimonies of those who came into contact with Grozde, shedding light on his character and the ideals he was committed to.

A documentary about the dizzying rise and fall of the Slovenian information technology giant Iskra Delta

The film was prompted by the fact that in the capital of Slovenia, one of the republics of the former socialist state of Yugoslavia, a magazine was published that saw nine bans or confiscations – more than any other newspaper in the communist Europe. A thorn in the side of the authorities for thirty years, this student magazine brought together young intellectuals who detected possible democratic shifts in the public sphere. Never strictly political, their rebellion invariably had to do with culture and its latest practices in the more liberal countries.

A documentary essay about activists from Slovenia, former Yugoslavia and other EU and world wide countries who have dedicated their lives to cannabis use. While some have fallen foul of the law, all of them have somehow gone down the road of the cannabis revolution.

Vid is talented but spoiled young man smothered in his affection to the adoring mother and heedless of his aloof father. His grandfather is benevolent but self-important patriarch and his new girlfriend is a creature of voluptuous innocence wrestling with the torment of a dysfunctional home. These are main characters in a story of strained love and spiraling desire. Characters reveal inexorable issues- baggage that they brought with them. Ultimately this baggage becomes a ruinous burden.

A customs office on the border between two cities, countries, social systems, between the Romance and Slavic worlds, 65 years after the end of the war. On 20 December 2007, with Slovenia's entry into the Schengen area, Nova Gorica found itself without border gates for the first time in its short history. That same evening, this traumatic space, now retired, was transformed into a meeting place. It was equipped with a camera, microphone, computer and a curtain, allowing for undisturbed remembrance. People come from both sides, bringing stories and images with them and donating them to a shared album of memories of both cities. The confided memories and fragments of family and archive films shot in this area show how two different realities can find themselves in the same place at the same time. The documentary video reveals the stories of the absurd, so characteristic of all border areas in the world.

Miha Curman, known as Curi, is a man who found himself living in the streets. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, he strives to get off the streets for good.

The Nuba people, ninety-nine black African tribes in the Nuba Mountains in the Sudanese province of South Kordofan, have been under siege by the Sudanese army for fifteen years. The genocide against the Nuba, is completely ignored by global politics.

A documentary celebrating 10 years of Dirty Skunks, two crazy guys, who met in a pub, became friends, and who have grown from concert enthusiasts to one of the leading alternative music promoters in Slovenia.

Maja and Žiga are a couple appearing in a television show.

Attempts by religious extremists to recruit young and fresh blood into their ranks do not bear fruit due to the war of all against all.

Matej returns from Germany to visit his father Rado in Slovenia to ask him for help in financing the apartment he wants to buy with his pregnant girlfriend. At the meeting, he learns that his father was thrown over the threshold of his own company, and after additional research, he learns that he is in very large debts, and his house is also hanging in the balance. Matej wants to solve his father's problems, even if by less legal means.

The film deals with the (non)memory of WW2 concentration camps in Italy, in which numerous Slovenian civilians were detained. Three concentration camps were situated just across the Slovenian-Italian border, and this is also where a new concentration camp - a detention center for migrants - was being built at the time of making this film. Further, the film discusses the issue of statelessness - by comparing everyday situations endured by the Roma people in Rome, Italy, and by the Erased people in Slovenia - they too were, and still often are, detained in Italian and Slovenian detention centers.

It's Sunday and the city is dead.

6 young directors from 6 countries in 3 days in front of the Golden Drum participants created, shot and edited each their own short film on a topic »Cum grano salis«. The topic was revealed to each director only 6 hours before the shooting begins. They all have the same working conditions, the same technical equipment and two actors available. That's the way they can equally demonstrate their creative fantasy and professional ingenuity.

What do you do with yourself when the pandemic forces you to stay within the four walls of your apartment? As a single urban individual, you establish a new routine. Waking up late, having breakfast, watching TV, drinking coffee, killing time… Every day is the same. A persistent pigeon keeps coming back to remind the author of what freedom means. In this humorous and beautifully edited short, Luka Marcetic films himself as he spends long and lonely days quarantined at his apartment and dreams of going outside.

The documentary about Feri Lainšček, one of the most prolific and highly acclaimed Slovenian writers and poets, foregrounds the essence of his creativity shaped up by his commitment to love, the Pannonian landscape with the River Mura, friendship with the Roma people, the blending of the magical world and reality, and the ongoing search for answers to the most fundamental questions of life. In the film, sections of his life are juxtaposed with his poems about demons.

The film documents the history of the Slovenian rap music and its relationship to poetry, literature and politics of the present.