The previous festival editions of the FeKK SLO competition programme have accentuated certain genres, from experimental to fiction and animation, based on prevalence. This year, however, it is the production angle that rounds out the selection.

For instance, we have a wide range of films submitted by the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film, and Television (AGRFT). If previous FeKK editions received sporadic Academy submissions (for his last year’s, Filip Jembrih received the film critics workshop Sharpening the Gaze award), we now have four films by the AGRFT students (one of which was made independently). Additionally, the selection also features student projects from other European academies, such as the Prague FAMU, the Zurich University of the Arts ZhdK, the Rotterdam Willem de Koonig Academy, or the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art (ADU).

What pleases us most is that the independent art film is not in decline but can in fact be found among the highlights of this year’s FeKK SLO selection, spanning from the experimental to the animated and documentary film (at which point we welcome the return of the Luksuz produkcija to the competition). The only one missing from the domain of the 2023 independent production is the ‘full-blooded’ fiction film, but films of production houses funded by the Slovenian Film Centre fill this void. Here as well, the 2023 selection presents the works of established and still establishing Slovenian directors.

So, in a nutshell, the section provides a well-balanced stock of student, independent, and professionally-made films, in terms of both quantity and quality.

An increasingly present companion to the FeKK SLO competition is also the Second Wave. Its previous edition was genre-focused, which is something we have agreed to continue. Hence, we again present two programmes: the flamboyant fekkstravagance and the genre-fantastic works, which have either remained on the outskirts of the official selection or have professed such cinematic passion that we have decided to screen them at the Slovenian Cinematheque. 

If we toss around some numbers, we see that out of almost 140 submitted shorts, we have selected 21 for the competition and 22 for the Second Wave screenings. Apparently, 2022 and 2023 witnessed a particularly creative cinema outburst, so we are delighted to invite you to this year’s screenings at the museum square and the Slovenian Cinematheque.