Vertigo

Slovenian Girl [Slovenka], a film by Damjan Kozole produced by Vertigo/Emotionfilm, opening the Festival of Slovenian Film in 2009. The actress Nina Ivanišin got the Best Actress Award in Spain and France and the film was shown also in the cinemas round France. The film Slovenian Girl (2009) by Damjan Kozole was distributed in 30 countries.

In 1994 a director Metod Pevec joined Danijel Hočevar and Damjan Kozole in forming a production company Vertigo, a sister company of the E-motion Film that was active in the 80s already as one of the first of independent film production houses in Slovenia and former Yugoslavia.

Vertigo has produced or co-produced over 40 films, including short films, documentaries, feature films, and a number of video projects. Its films have been screened at more than 100 festivals the world over and have won many accolades.

Feature film production

The company co-produced the full-lenght feature film Bread and Milk [Kruh in mleko] by Jan Cvitković tha won the Lion of the Future Award at the 2001 Venice Film Festival, and was presented at the Edinburgh and Dublin film festivals and distributed in British cinemas.

The Suburbs [Predmestje] (2003) by Vinko Möderndorfer and based on his novel of the same name, a social drama about the rise of xenophobia and nationalism, was co-produced with Forum Ljubljana. In 2007 Vertigo/Emotionfilm produced the film Reality by Dafne Jemeršić.

The film Slovenian Girl [Slovenka] by Damjan Kozole premièred at the Festival of Slovenian Film in 2009 and was screened internationally in 2011, becoming the first Slovene film to be distributed in French cinemas. The female lead Nina Ivanišin received accolades at the 2009 Mostra de Valencia, the 2009 Les Arcs European Film Festival, and the 2009 Cinessonne Festival. In 2012 the film hit cinemas in Brasil as the first widely distributed Slovene film.

Vertigo_Odlomki iz 5 filmov by Vertigo Ljubljana on Vimeo

In 2010 the company produced the teen film Going Our Way [Gremo mi po svoje] by Miha Hočevar, which marks a milestone in Slovene cinematography as the most viewed film in cinemas, seen by some 180,000 moviegoers. In 2013 the sequel followed. The drama Good Night, Missy [Lahko noč, gospodična] by Metod Pevec from 2011 received three awards at the 58th Pula Film Festival, the oldest film festival in Croatia – the award for best cinematography, best leading actress, and best director in the minority co-productions section.

In 2016 its long-feature production, a thriller Nightlife that explores the feelings of fear in the mediatized society, had its world premiere in Karlovy Vary's competition, and brought the Best Director Award to Damjan Kozole. The Kozole's ninth film also received excellent reviews in Variety, Screen International, Cineuropa, and The Wrap.

Documentaries production

The documentary The Faces from Marianum [Obrazi iz Marijanišča] (2001) by Helena Koder is a portrait of famous Slovene poets living in the boarding school founded in 19th century. The short documentary film Harmonikarji [Accordion Players] was co-produced with the ŠKUC Association.

The impressive film portrait The Alexandrians [Aleksandrinke] directed by Metod Pevec and co-produced by RTV Slovenia won the award for best documentary at the 14th edition of Festival of Slovenian Film in 2011. The documentary looks at the lives of women who left the impoverished Primorska region of the late 19th century for Egypt as wet nurses, governesses, chambermaids, or cooks.

In 2015 the Vertigo Institute received support of the Creative Europe Media fund for a documentary entitled Gjakmarrja – Blood feud, Marija Zidar being both the screenwriter and director.

In 2016 the documentary Home [Dom] by Metod Pevec got awarded at the Zagreb Dox International Documentary Film Festival. The film addresses former Yugoslavia’s post-transitional societies: Bosnian in Slovenian. Home, a five storey building, joins socially marginalised groups with their stories.

International co-productions

Vertigo co-produced the film Karaula by Rajko Grlić in 2006 and the feature film Besa – A Solemn Promise [Besa] by Srđjan Karanović in 2009, a tale of forbidden love between a Christian woman and a Muslim man.

In 2007 the film I'm From Titov Veles by Teona Strugar Mitevska was co-produced with companies from Macedonia, Belgium, and France. Estrelita by Metod Pevec was a co-production with RTV Slovenia, TV Sarajevo, Macedonian Sisters and Brother Mitevski Productions, Mediopolis Berlin/Leipzig, and FIST Productions, Sarajevo, which premièred at the Berlinale European Film Market in February 2007.

The feature film The State of Shock [Stanje šoka] by Andrej Košak premièred at the 2011 edition of Festival of Slovenian Film and was produced in collaboration with partners from the former Yugoslavia. The post-war drama Circles by Srđan Golubović from 2013 is a Serbian-Slovene-Croatian-German co-production that after a few international awards (Sundance Film Festival 2013) got selected as a Croation candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

External links

Gallery

Slovenian Girl [Slovenka], a film by Damjan Kozole produced by Vertigo/Emotionfilm, opening the Festival of Slovenian Film in 2009. The actress Nina Ivanišin got the Best Actress Award in Spain and France and the film was shown also in the cinemas round France.

Going Our Way was directed and written by Miha Hočevar and produced by Vertigo/Emotionfilm. It won the Vesna Award for Best Actor and Viewer’s Choice Award at the Festival of Slovenian Film in 2010.