Slovenian Film Days in Sombotel, Hungary

For the fourth year in a row, Slovenian Film Days will take place from 13 to 17 September at the Agora-Savaria cinema in Sombotel, Hungary.

The event will open with the award-winning film Consequences by the director Darko Štante. The film was produced by the Temporama production company and saw regular distribution in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America. Consequences focuses on the 18-year-old boy Andrej, who ends up in a youth education centre. He has to fight for his place in a group of boarders led by Željko, who soon takes the newcomer under his wing. Under the pressure of the new environment, Andrej has to ensure that his secret does not come to light. The film won four Vesna Awards at the 21st Festival of Slovenian Film: the Best Director Award for Darko Štante, the Best Leading Actor Award for Matej Zemljič, the Best Supporting Actor Award for Timon Šturbej, and the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. It also received the Slovenian Film Critics’ Jury Award. In addition to the two protagonists mentioned above, the film also features Gašper Markun, Lovro Zafred, Rosana Hribar, Dejan Spasić, Blaž Setnikar, Iztok Drabik Jug, and Lea Cok. At the opening ceremony, the audience will also be addressed by the Consul General of the Republic of Slovenia, Metka Lajnšček.

On Tuesday, 14 September, My Last Year as a Loser, the first film by the director Urša Menart, will be screened. When the twenty-nine-year-old art history graduate ends up on her disappointed parents’ couch without any money, work, or company, she realises that it will be harder to grow up than she has expected. The film stars Eva Jesenovec, Živa Selan, Saša Pavček, Branko Završan, Špela Rozin, Jurij Drevenšek, Tina Potočnik Vrhovnik, Lara Vouk, Aljaž Jovanović, Timon Šturbej, Matic Lukšič, and Vladimir Kusić. Urša Menart’s feature debut received the Vesna Award for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress in Portorož, as well as a special jury mention at the LIFFe. It was produced by the Vertigo production house.

The Slovenian Film Days in Hungary will be concluded with a live-action feature I Act, I Am, written and directed by Miroslav Mandić. The film is a triptych about what it means to be an actor and focuses on the boundaries between the actor and the character. The situations, shot in an observational documentary style, emphasise the social atmosphere of three cities: the stories take place in Sarajevo, Ljubljana, and Zagreb. Starring Luna Zimić Mijović, Gregor Zorc, Goran Bogdan, Lana Barić, Mojca Funkl, Amar Čustović, Sabrina Noack, Dario Varga, Primož Bezjak, Olga Pakalović, Senad Bašić, Nina Vodopivec, Ivana Roščić, and Mediha Musliović. The film was produced by the Filmostovje production company. In 2019, its director received the Štiglic Gaze Award, a prize awarded annually by the Directors Guild of Slovenia.

The entrance to all screenings is free, and the films will be screened in the Slovenian language with Hungarian subtitles.

Slovenian Film Days are organised by the Department of Slavic Studies at the ELTE University Center Savaria, the Centre for Slovenian as a Second and Foreign Language, the Slovenian Film Centre, the Agora-Savaria cinema, the Consulate General of the Republic of Slovenia in Szentgotthárd, the National Slovenian Self-Government, the Sombotel Slovenian Self-Government, and the Union of Slovenians in Hungary. The films were previously screened in Budapest at the Toldi Cinema, which has been presenting Slovenian films for the fifth year in a row.

All of the films were cofinanced by the Slovenian Film Centre.

Source: Slovenian Film Centre