14-11-2019

FNE at 2019 Ljubljana IFF: Stories from the Chestnut Woods Competes at LiFFE

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    Stories from the Chestnut Woods by Gregor Božič Stories from the Chestnut Woods by Gregor Božič

    LJUBLJANA: Ten films from young filmmakers, presented in the Perspectives section, will compete for the Kingfisher Award at this year’s 30th edition of the Ljubljana IFF, running 13 – 24 November 2019. Among them is Gregor Božič’s debut feature Stories from the Chestnut Woods, the winner of the 22nd Festival of Slovenian Film, and Jan-Ole Gerster’s Lara, awarded with the special Jury Prize at the 54th Karlovy Vary IFF. A total of 25 films will also run for the Dragon audience award.

    The members of this year's international jury are Austrian curator and writer Alexander Horwath, Macedonian actress and producer Labina Mitevska and Slovenian film director, screenwriter and producer Sonja Prosenc.

    More than 100 films will be screened in Ljubljana and satellite locations in the cities of Maribor, Celje and Novo Mesto. In addition to the main sections Perspectives, Avantpremieres, Kings & Queens, Panorama and Extravaganza, this year’s Focus will present Cuban Cinema in 60s, Hommage will celebrate Abel Ferrara and films by Agnes Varda will be shown in Retrospective.

    Industry events highlight the objective of European Parliament Lux Prize, to illuminate public debate on the European integration and to facilitate diffusion of the most significant European (co)productions within the European Union; a masterclass focusing on selected aspects of the current creative, production and distribution realities of filmmaking in Europe is organised by the Motovila Institute (Creative Europe Desk Slovenia) in collaboration with Matthieu Darras. The Art Cinema Network of Slovenia will organise a professional meeting to provide an analytical overview of the past ten years, a rundown of its greatest projects and an analysis of results and long-term effects on the Slovenian film scene.

    The millionth viewer is expected at LiFFE, which celebrates its 30th anniversary and is held under the honourary patronage of His Excellency Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia.

    “Some years ago, we distributed a short questionnaire among the citizens of Ljubljana concerning their knowledge of ‘serious’ films and our film festival. It turned out that the biggest problem people have is how to pronounce the festival's acronym. If that’s the biggest problem, then we’re in the saddle. Actually, nobody knows the right answer. In other words, no answer is incorrect. Here’s to another thirty!” programme director Simon Popek said in a statement.

    Feature Film Competition:

    Angelo (Austria, Luxembourg)
    Directed by Markus Schleinzer

    Beanpole / Dilda (Russia)
    Directed by Kantemir Balagov

    Bull (USA)
    Directed by Annie Silverstein

    Lara (Germany)
    Directed by Jan-Ole Gerster

    Monos (Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany)
    Directed by Alejandro Landes

    Our Mothers / Nuestras madres (Guatemala, Belgium, France)
    Directed by Cesar Diaz

    Ray & Liz (UK)
    Directed by Richard Billingham

    Stitches / Šavovi (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia)
    Directed by Miroslav Terzić
    Produced by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    Coproduced by Nora Production Group, Spiritus Movens, SCCA/PRO.BA
    Supported by Film Center Serbia, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Slovenian Film Centre, Eurimages

    Stories from the Chestnut Woods / Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov (Slovenia, Italy)
    Directed by Gregor Božič
    Produced by Nosorogi
    Coproduced by Transmedia Production, Deutsche Film Und Fernsehakademie Berlin, RTV Slovenija
    Supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Creative Europe MEDIA

    System Crasher / Systemsprenger (Germany)
    Directed by Nora Fingscheidt