Na silvestrsko noč In production Q4 2025

New Year's Eve
  • Short Animated Film
  • s.d.
  • Slovenia

Synopsis

The filming of a New Year's Eve show at the RTV Ljubljana studio in the 1960s hurtles toward disaster when an unusual guest appears.

Snowy Ljubljana during Christmas time in the 1960s, the golden era of Slovenian popular music. A doorman at RTV Ljubljana is working the night shift when preparations for the New Year's Eve show are taking place in the studio. An important package arrives for the show's director. When the doorman delivers it, he unintentionally disrupts the recording, which angers the show's star, who cancels his participation in frustration, and the preparations come to a halt. Everyone leaves, and shortly after, during a routine inspection of the studio, the doorman catches an uninvited guest who got entangled in the electrical wiring of the lights. The stranger introduces himself as Santa, but the doorman doesn't believe him. It's only when the newcomer promises to fulfill his wish in return for help that the doorman assists and sets him free. The doorman wishes to experience what it's like to be in the shoes of a famous singer and perform on a television stage. Alone in the studio, but encouraged by Santa, he starts singing, and miraculously, the stands fill up with an audience, musicians appear, and festive lighting and decorations manifest. While he's performing, the director returns to the studio, realizing he forgot his package. Astonished, he listens to the doorman and enthusiastically discovers that he is an excellent singer. Santa has vanished in the meantime, and the director offers the doorman the position of the music star for the New Year's Eve show, which is now saved.

Director

Rok Predin

Director's statement

The central intention of the directorial approach is to ensure that the film reflects the warmth and charm of the holiday season through a nostalgic lens of days gone by. I aim to transport viewers to

The central intention of the directorial approach is to ensure that the film reflects the warmth and charm of the holiday season through a nostalgic lens of days gone by. I aim to transport viewers to an idealized and romantic vision of the 1960s. I want to show them a world where the glow of the television screen serves as a hearth around which families and friends gather, and the RTV house is a factory of dreams.

The story offers numerous opportunities for playfulness and humor. Viewers will witness ventures into surreal situations, leaving ample room for laughter and magic. In this depicted world, the boundary between imagination and reality will be blurred. Black-and-white imagery, shapes, and textures will create a rich visual experience where the narrative will find its true expression. Characters will come to life through movement, and with the help of emulated stop-trick technology, they will align with the analog language of that time.

The technological realization will draw from both traditional and contemporary practices. We will utilize two- and three-dimensional approaches in depiction, providing flexibility in choosing suitable solutions. With years of experience, I have gained a broad understanding of technologies and their aesthetic and substantive implications. Thus, I am confident the film will retain the organic trace of the human hand, imbuing it with warmth and humanity.

"On New Year's Eve" will be a unique tribute to public television and the golden age of television in general. It will sketch a fantasy about the romanticism of a certain era, serving as a shared memory of a simpler world.

Na silvestrsko noč (s.d.)

Gallery (3)

Writing

Andrej Predin
screenwriter

Direction

Rok Predin
director

Production

Miha Černec
producer
Mihaela Trupi
executive producer

Animation

Rok Predin
lead animator

Sound design

Barnaby Templer
sound designer

production

Staragara
production
RTV Slovenija
co-production
Slovenski filmski center - SFC
co-funding
Staragara
distribution
Alternative title
New Year's Eve (English)
Animation technique
2D animation, 3D animation
Production countries
Slovenia

Technical data

Colour
Colour
Screening formats
digital DCP

Budget

All financial information is obtained from official sources. I.e. producers or organizations which provided the financial support.

Grants
RTV Slovenija
RTV Slovenija javni razpis za izdelavo filmov neodvisnih producentov za javno kinematografsko predvajanje v letu 2023
2023
source: RTV Slovenija
RTV Slovenija
42,700.00 EUR
gross amount
Slovenski filmski center - SFC
Javni razpis za sofinanciranje slovenskih animiranih filmskih in avdiovizualnih projektov – 2023
Comitee: Boštjan Potokar, Milanka Fabjančič, Darko Masnec Explication

Projekt obeta vpogled v zgodovino sočnega dela slovenske televizijske in glasbene zgodovine, v zlato dobo popevk in črno-belih televizorjev; v čas, ko so bili mediji oaze v puščavi, težko dosegljiva zabava in medijski izdelki brez izjeme na vrhunskem nivoju. Režiser in nosilec likovne podobe je izkušen snovalec nostalgičnih pripovedi, v animiranem filmu uveljavljen v tujini in doma. 3D animacijo uporablja v prepoznavno stiliziranem slogu, ne išče realizma, vendar nagovarja resnična občutja, skorajda analogno taktilnost, ki jo povezujemo z lutkovno animacijo. Humorna zgodba nagovarja tako starejše kot tudi mlajšo publiko.

2023
source: SFC
Slovenski filmski center - SFC
27,000.00 EUR

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