Slovenian Cinematography: The Art of the Impossible?

The year 2001 is going to go down in the history of the Slovenian cinematography. We have won the most important and prestigious film award abroad, the Lion of the Future in Venice. Our co-production share in the Bosnian film No Man's Land was accepted with scepticism and disapproval at first, but then this turned out to be the most important move of the Slovenian cinematography in the field of the national cinematography and the business connections with the world of film.

Thus altogether it means that our filmmakers have a future, that they need not be afraid that the work would be scarce. Is that so? In the year when we were out of our minds because the attention of the Slovenian audience turned to film at least a couple of times, the fact that (almost) nothing has changed proved itself. A successful film is excess that more frequently happens as a result of coincidence rather than planning. It is the Potemkin's village of the system of choice that still supports the worst way of compromising between the author's aspirations and the producer's responsibility.

Slovenian film is more than ever before similar to Dorian Gray. Its outward appearance is handsome and decent, appealing to the official policy that can brag about it a bit when its five minutes arrive, but behind the scenes it is deformed and misshapen, its face still additionally disfigured by the remains of socialistic disorder of the audio-video field of work in a state in transition. In the year of appearances in Cannes (No Man's Land by Danis Tanovia), Venice (Bread And Milk by Jan Cvitkovic), Valencia (Sweet Dreams by Saso Podgorsek), Rotterdam (Ljubljana by Igor Sterk), Berlin (Guardian of the Frontier by Maja Weiss) and a number of awards from the most prestigious Lion of Venice to the European Oscar and the French Caesar, Slovenian film is in such a bad shape as nobody could imagine.

In 2001 we have made only one film in the national programme.

The new legislation on the film fund practically released the national television from co-operating in cinematography. The national television's co-production share is down to a three to five percent share from twenty percent that everybody has been able to count on for several years. There is no money left for film and we can only dream about parallel financing without the state's involvement based on the European example.

The law on cinematography that is supposed to be passed until the end of 2002 in its preparation state shows not only various interests of all the people involved in producing, distributing and showing the films, but above all shortage or even absence of the national interest in the field of cinematography. What is our film after all, what can we expect from it and what are we willing to do for it? It is very simple, but not any less complicated because of that. These days it seems to me that none of the questions have consensual answers by all of the people involved.

The national film festival is, naturally, the magic mirror for our national cinematography. Without any status, as an effort of the Slovenian Film Fund, without a permanently employed team of people, every year a programme improvisation comes into existence as a consequence of the unsteady co-operation between the Slovenian Film Fund and the Slovenian National TV station. Its image this year is a proper reflection of the dramatic conditions that have almost reached the point of no return - the wreckage of the co-operation among both co-producers of the festival.

Despite all of that the harvest is not that bad: more feature films and documentaries came to the festival as expected, also because of latecomers that should have been shown already last year. Some of them have not even arrived this year and we will have to wait one more year. This is also a part of the instability of the national cinematography, where production gets stranded on the reefs of unsuitable and out-of-date technical conditions, financial under- nourishment and legislative disorder of the system. Because of such conditions the national film festival cannot be what we expect of it - the feast day of Slovenian film. It can only be a mirror for what is good, an indicator of what is bad and a pointer in the right direction.

Creative energy, authors' will and professional consciousness of the Slovenian filmmakers have outgrown the system of the national cinematography during the last years. Let also Portoroz outgrow its tight limitations of a national festival. If it is not really a feast day, let it at least be a place of socialising among filmmakers, people with imagination, love for film and the consciousness about the work they do. Without this there would be no Guardian of the Frontier, no Rustling Landscapes or Headnoise. We would also not have Amir, The Story of Mr. P.F. and most defini-tely From the Dust of the Sun's Rays or Dissident would not exist.

These are our films at our festival. Let us respect our cinematography and others will respect us (also) because of that.

Welcome to the 5th Festival of Slovenian Film in Portoroz 2002!

Ziva Emersic, the director of the festival