Mobile Navigation
Among the modern nation-states that made up the former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Slovenia represents an exceptional national culture and contributor to world cinema. As a result of its unique geography, situated adjacent Italy and Austria, the small nation (population 2 million) has historically been the Yugoslav entity most receptive of Western influence and thus, among the most cosmopolitan of its counterparts. Indeed, Slovenia, always the rebel, was the first to question free market effects on its society, even as it was the first Yugoslav breakaway republic to integrate them after its independence in 1991. In its cinema, Slovenia also “begged to differ,” offering lyrical, achingly poetic and free-spirited stories of misfits, rather than the broad, polemical tableaux that characterized so much Eastern bloc cinema. Rarely have such introverted characters and eccentric stories conveyed a zeitgeist and a national character with such subtlety and restraint, nor observed geopolitics with such oblique precision. This series offers a selection of some of the most influential, revealing and formally fascinating Slovenian films from mid-century forward, including selections from the country’s recent output, representing some of the cutting-edge talents of Slovenia’s contemporary cinema.
Curated by Vera Mijojlic and Shannon Kelley.
Special thanks to: Nerina T. Kocjancic, Slovenian Film Center.
All films from Slovenia, in Slovenian with English subtitles except where noted.
