LJUBLJANA: The Greek/Polish/Slovenian coproduction drama Apples / Sadeži pozabe by Christos Nikou won the Kingfisher Award for best film at the 31st Ljubljana IFF.

LJUBLJANA: One of the most respected and influential Slovenian distributors Janko Čretnik died on 13 November 2020 at the age of 63.

LJUBLJANA: Only five films will compete for the main prize of the 31st Ljubljana IFF, which will be held online from 11 to 24 November 2020. Among them are Christos Nikou's Apples, which won the Vesna award for best minority coproduction at the 23rd Festival of Slovenian Film, and Marko Đorđević's My Morning Laughter, the winner of the the Auteur Film Festival 2019.

LJUBLJANA: Mury the Cat – The Big Game and The War of The Words Or The Respectful Silence received the top awards for 2020 from the Slovene Animated Film Association (DSAF). The short animated film Mury the Cat – The Big Game won in the categories of best directing and best animation technique. The War of The Words Or The Respectful Silence won for the best artistic design.

LJUBLJANA: Slovenian filmmakers are disappointed and concerned about not receiving funds for various film projects through already signed contracts with the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) for several months. Many of them are still waiting for the payments for their work, which was already done more than a year ago. Because of these problems also some current projects have been stopped, postponed or even jeopardised.

LJUBLJANA: Cinemas are forced to close again according to new regulations issued by the Slovenian government due to the rising number of COVID-19 infections in Slovenia. This second closing is putting Slovenian cineplexes and art cinemas in a difficult position.

LJUBLJANA: The 23rd Festival of Slovenian Film, which ran in Ljubljana from 6 to 11 October 2020, ended with no grand prix for the main Vesna Award for best full-length film. Another five Vesna Awards were not given out this year.

LJUBLJANA: Davide Del Degan's crime comedy Paradise – A Second Life / Paradise – Una nuova vita / Paradiž – novo življenje will be screened in the competition of the 23rd Festival of Slovenian Film in Ljubljana (6-11 October 2020). This Italian/Slovenian coproduction stars Slovenian actress Katarina Čas and was partly shot in the Slovenian towns of Grosuplje and Piran.

LJUBLJANA: Martin Turk's third feature film Don't Forget to Breathe / Ne pozabi dihati will be screened in the competition of the 23nd Festival of Slovenian Film in Ljubljana (6-11 October 2020). This coming-of-age drama was produced by an all-female Slovenian/Croatian/Italian coproduction team.

LJUBLJANA: Audrius Mickevičius and Nerijus Milerius's long documentary Exemplary Behaviour will be screened in the competition of the 23rd Festival of Slovenian Film in Ljubljana (6-11 October 2020). This Lithuanian/Bulgarian/Slovenian/Italian coproduction is a personally motivated story about long-term prisoners in one of Lithuanian prison facilities.