Six films will screen in the Competition and nine out competition, including Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord (Romania, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland), produced by Mobra Films and coproduced by Why Not Productions, Eye Eye Pictures, Garagefilm International, Filmgate Films, Snowglobe, and Aamu Film Company.
Slovenian cinematography will be presented with the short fiction film Welcome Home by Filip Jembrih Jandras, as well as the documentary Brotherhood of the Court: The Beginning, a sports drama about a generation of Slovenian volleyball players that grew into one of the most respected national teams in the world.
The founder and programme director of the festival, Aleš Pavlin, says that a good film festival, above all, should have a soul and a heart: “That’s how we designed the European Film Festival, and that’s exactly what we want to convey to the audience every year, who return their support. We hope that Brežice will become a place worth travelling to for the best European films.”
The international jury includes Croatian film star Leona Paraminski, Slovenian director Marko Naberšnik and Cypriot director and artistic director of the Cyprus Film Days Festival Petros Charalambous.
For the first time, an award for an outstanding contribution to European film will be awarded. This year’s edition will also host a significantly larger number of international filmmakers.
The festival is organised by the vKrog Association from Brežice with financial support from the Municipality of Brežice and the Slovenian Film Centre in close collaboration with the Posavje Museum of Brežice, the Institute for Entrepreneurship, Tourism and Youth of Brežice, and the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Maribor.
Aleš Pavlin is a renowned Slovenian producer, the co-owner of the production house PERFO Production and a professor at AGRFT. He lately produced Whites Wash at Ninety directed by Marko Naberšnik, selected for the Official Selection of the Sarajevo Film Festival, and coproduced God Will Not Help by Croatian director Hana Jušić, which has run in the main competition of the Locarno Film Festival.
Competition Lineup:
The Love That Remains / Ástinsemeftir er (Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, France)
Directed by Hlynur Pálmason
What Marielle Knows / Was Marielle Weiss (Germany)
Directed by Frederic Hambalek
Caravan / Karavan (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy)
Directed by Zuzana Kirchnerová
Produced by MasterFilm, nutprodukcia
Coproduced by Tempesta
Supported by the Czech Film Fund, Ministero della Cultura, Eurimages, Emilia-Romagna Film Commission, Fondazione Calabria Film Commission, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Two Prosecutors / Dva prokurora (Ukraine, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, the Netherlands)
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Produced by SBS Productions
Coproduced by LOOKS Filmproduktionen GmbH, Atoms, Void, Avanpost Media, White Picture, Studio Uljana Kim,
A River’s Gaze / Malul vânat (Romania, France, Slovenia)
Directed by Andreea Borțun
Produced by Atelier de Film
Coproduced by Films de Force Majeure, Perfo Production, Avanpost, Forest Film
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, CNC Aide aux Cinemas du Monde and PACA Region SUD (France), the Slovenian Film Centre, Creative Europe – MEDIA, Eurimages
Sandbag Dam / Zečji nasip (Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania)
Directed by Čejen Černić
Produced by Kinorama
Coproduced by Perfo Production, Tremora
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Slovenian Film Centre, Creative Europe – MEDIA, the Croatian Radiotelevision
