The first one – to be screened virtually on Monday, 22 June, at 11 a.m. – is the new live-action feature Deadlock by the screenwriter and director Vinko Möderndorfer. It is about an encounter of two married couples from two opposite social classes that seem to have nothing in common. A tragic event fatefully brings them together and binds them for the rest of their lives. The film was shot in black-and-white with colour inserts. The director had the following to say about his new film: “We live in the times when lack of empathy in interpersonal relations is one of the most acute problems in the world. Day after day, a brutal and ruthless neoliberalism is wreaking havoc on human relationships and compassion for the pain of the other, pushing the world into an all-out war. Empathy, compassion, sensitivity to the pain of other people, all this seems to be disappearing from the world map. I find it important to tell a story where human relationships fully come to life and where sensibility towards the other as an important value of our civilization is restored again. The world we're living in is the world of a deadlock. We're stuck in some kind of civilizational standstill from which it is impossible to escape without mutual understanding and respect for basic human and humanist values“. Cast: Mirjam Korbar, Peter Musevski, Uroš Fürst, Barbara Cerar, Klemen Kovačič, Mila Fürst, Ivo Ban, Benjamin Krnetić, and Branko Završan. Director of photography: Mitja Ličen; composer: Marjan Nečak; editors: Jurij Moškon, Andrija Zafranović;  production designer: Dušan Milavec; costumes designer: Alenka Korla; makeup designer: Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska; sound designers: Julij Zornik, Ognjen Popić; production manager: Matija Kozamernik. The film was produced by Forum Ljubljana (producer Eva Rohrman), and co-produced by Delirium and Sektor Film. Apart from the Slovenian Film Centre, it was also co-financed by the Film Center Serbia and North Macedonia Film Agency and supported by Viba Film Studio.  

The second film – to be screened on Tuesday, 23 June, at 11 a.m. – is the third live-action feature Once Were Humans by the director Goran Vojnović, who co-wrote the script with Tommaso Santi. The film focuses on the issue of migrations. Leo is an Italian who lives in Slovenia. Vučko is a Bosnian who arrived to Slovenia as a child refugee. Leo continues to stay in Slovenia because of his ex-wife Tanja and his son Luka, hoping that they can become a family again. When the bank refuses to grant a loan they need to renovate their restaurant, Leo and Vučko have no choice but to accept an offer from the swindler Gianni. They are tasked with stealing Gianni’s truck so that he can collect the insurance money. However, instead of Gianni’s truck, Leo and Vučko mistakenly steal a truck full of refugees. Vučko the refugee and Leo the migrant thus inadvertently become responsible for the destiny of people similarly unfortunate as they have been. In order to solve their financial problems, they decide to sell them. At first it seems that they are not indifferent towards these people, but with each passing day there is less and less humanity left in Leo and Vučko. The director said that “the film is becoming more and more topical from day to day – not only because nowadays the issue of refugees and migrants in Europe is more pressing than it used to be years ago, but because we are becoming less and less humane as time goes by.” Cast: Francesco Borchi, Moamer Kasumović, Maruša Majer, Jaka Jakopič, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Boris Cavazza, Jasna Žalica, Vlado Novak, Gregor Baković, Ninni Bruschetta, Gianluca Gobbi, Aljaž Jovanović,  and Benjamin Krnetić. Director of photography: Miloš Srdić; editor: Ivor Ivezić; composer: Tamara Obrovac; sound recordist: Igor Iskra; sound designer: Julij Zornik; production designer: Marco Juratovec; costumes designer: Jelena Proković; makeup designer: Anja Rančić Godina; production manager: Amela Ikovic. The film was produced by Boštjan Ikovic from the Arsmedia production company and co-produced by MB Grip, NuFrame, Studio 100, and Apapaja. It was made with the financial support of the Slovenian Film Centre and with the support of Viba Film Studio.

A 15-minute presentation of the live-action feature Sanremo by the writer and director Miroslav Mandić will also take place on the same day at 5 p.m. Bruno and Duša live in a retirement home. They occasionally meet and spend time together, only to keep forgetting that they know each other. However, this does not stop them from wanting to meet again and again. “Some years ago, when my uncle was still alive, I often went to visit him at a retirement home where he lived. He had difficulties remembering the most recent events, but on the other hand, he was talking vividly about events and details that have happened thirty or fifty years ago. The other bed in his room was occupied by an old man in a constant state of unconsciousness. I was moved by the vulnerability of those people, their sporadic smiles and the childishness with which they perceived things around them,” told us the director about the film. Cast: Sandi Pavlin, Silva Čušin, Mojca Funkl, Lara Komar, Borisa Cavazza, Vladimir Jurca, Doroteja Nadrah, Jerca Merzel, and Jurij Drevenšek. Director of photography: Peter Zeitlinger; editor: Andrej Nagode; composer: Darko Rundek; sound recordist: Francesco Morosin; sound designer: Havir Gergolet; production designers: Dušan Milavec and Barbara Kapelj; costumers designer: Polonca Valentinčič; makeup designer: Anita Ferčak. The film was produced by Filmostovje (producers Miroslav Mandić and Nina Robnik, executive producer Sandra Ržen). It was made with the financial support of the Slovenian Film Centre and with the support of Viba Film Studio. It was co-produced by RTV Slovenija and the Italian co-producer Quasar Multimedia. The film also received the financial support of the FVG Audiovisual Fund and the FVG Film Commission – MiBAC cash rebate scheme. The Italian company Coccinelle Film Sales is in charge of the film sales. The presentation of the film will take place on Wednesday, 24 June, at noon.

Nine upcoming Slovenian films that are currently still in postproduction but which should be finished in the near future will also be presented to the accredited film experts at the Cannes Online Film Market. These include the live-action feature debuts Riders by the director Dominik Mencej, Birdbreeder by Robert Černelč, Inventory by Darko Sinko, the new live-action feature Orchestra by Matevž Luzar, as well as five full-length documentaries, two of these also debuts: Cent’anni by the director Maja Prelog (debut), Reconciliation (working title)  by Marija Zidar (debut), Skiing In Scarves by Haidy Kancler, Ganja Will Set You Free by Miha Čelar, and The Body by Petra Seliškar.

In the context of the Cinefondation Residence programme, on Wednesday, 24 June at 10 a.m., the director Urška Djukić will present her first feature in development, titled Little Trouble Girl, which she is working on together with this year’s producer “on the move” Marina Gumzi, head of the Nosorogi production house. This year, the traditional “producers on the move” meeting, which was normally one of the events in Cannes, has already taken place virtually between 11 and 15 May.

This year, the Slovenian Film Centre will yet again present the opportunities and advantages ensured by the cash rebate measure as well as invite the global film community to shoot films in Slovenia.