In the audiovisual field, this has been the most successful year so far in terms of absorption of MEDIA sub-programme funds. The 15th anniversary of Slovenian participation in this EU instrument supporting film and audiovisual sectors has been marked by a triple record achievement: the largest number of Slovenian organisations to be successful (16) with their applications, the most projects (33) to have acquired support, and the highest total acquired EU support (€778,604*).
Similarly, within the Culture sub-programme, the trend of increased EU funding for Slovenia has been continuing on an annual basis! 13 Slovenian coordinators of cooperation and translation projects as well as European platforms have more than doubled the amount acquired by Slovenian organisations in the first year of programme implementation (2014), thus achieving the record amount of €4.1 million of EU funding (€4,102,784). There are further 22 Slovenian partners participating in European cooperation projects and platforms coordinated by organisations from other countries. Some better performing organisations even participate in two Culture-supported projects. This year, a total of 31 Slovenian organisations have formed 262 international connections in 38 different countries, from Portugal to Georgia and from Norway to Tunisia.
*The sum of total EU funding is not final. We are still waiting for the results of the MEDIA call Distribution – Automatic support, which are expected in April 2019.
CULTURE: 32 projects || 31 different SLO organisations || €4.1 million for SLO coordinators
Out of 130 European cooperation projects, 15 % include a Slovenian organisation. Bunker successful with a large-scale coordination project!
In 2018, the CULTURE sub-programme supported unprecedented 130 cooperation projects at the European level, again with substantial Slovenian participation: 20 Slovenian organisations participate in 20 projects! Among these, five Slovenian coordinators have acquired almost €2.8 million of EU support.
The Slovenian Association of Historic Towns was successful as a coordinator at a special call dedicated to the EYCH – the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, whereas the Slovene Writers’ Association, Projekt Atol Institute, and Imago Sloveniae coordinate small-scale projects. Their EU support combined amounts to €797,990. To a great degree, Slovenian success can be ascribed to Bunker Institute, the coordinator of one of only 17 large-scale coordination projects to have been selected at the European level. Bringing together 14 partners from 13 countries, their project has received an EU grant of €2 million.
Also contributing to the overall success are additional 17 Slovenian partners in international projects: Druga godba Festival, Glej Theatre, Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, International Centre of Graphic Arts, City of Women, MG+MSUM, Museum of Architecture and Design, Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Piran Municipality, Dance Theatre Ljubljana, Slovene National Theatre Maribor, Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica, Walk of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation, Kersnikova Institute, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as Slovene Writers’ Association and Bunker Institute – the last two also participate in two other projects coordinated by organisations from other countries.
Slovenia takes part in six of only thirteen European platforms
In 2017, fierce competition led to the selection of 13 European platforms integrating at least 11 organisations from various countries and seeking to develop emerging talents. A handful of platforms to have been granted the 4-year EU support (2017–2020) includes two coordinated by a Slovenian organisation: in 2018, MAO Museum of Architecture and Design has received EU funding of €500,000 to run the Future Architecture platform, and Beletrina publishing house has received €471,783 for the Versopolis poetry platform. Additional five Slovenian partners take part in other platforms: Tretaroka (Future Architecture), En-Knap (Aerowaves), Maribor Art Gallery (Parallel), MoTA (SHAPE) and Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture (Liveurope).
Slovenian publishers take the first place, Slovenian among the “top” languages being translated from/to!
At this year’s Culture Literary Translation call, Slovenian publishing houses have set a new record! Having achieved the highest number of projects approved as well as 100-percent applicant performance, they take the absolute first place.
61 translation projects from 20 different countries were selected at the European level, which will result in more than 500 translated works by European authors to appear in the European literary market in the coming years. Slovenian ranks among the five languages most translated to/from!
Six Slovenian publishers have acquired a total of €333,011 of EU support: Malinc Publishing House, Sanje Publishing House and KUD Police Dubove have received a grant for a two-year translation project, whereas GOGA and Mladinska knjiga publishing houses, and Beletrina institute will acquire three subsequent annual grants within a three-year partner agreement.
The EU Prize for Literature celebrates its 10th anniversary
A unique short fiction competition was held to celebrate 10 years of the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), where Macedonian-Slovenian writer Lidija Dimkovska received a special mention for her short story When I left Karl Kniebknecht.
This year’s Europa Nostra Award recipients come from Slovenia as well
This year’s recipients of Europa Nostra – the EU cultural heritage award– include the Plečnik House. Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana have received the prestigious prize in the category Education, Training and Awareness-raising. Having been given out since 2002, the award recognises special achievements in cultural heritage within Europe. Its aim is to promote high standards in the preservation of cultural heritage, encourage international exchange of knowledge and experience, and ensure excellence in the field.
MEDIA: 33 projects || 16 different SLO organisations || €778,604 for SLO coordinators
Highest ever number of grants for independent film producers
Seven Slovenian independent producers have acquired a total of €323,000 to develop as many as nine films, which is the best result in 15 years of Slovenian participation in the MEDIA sub-programme. Previously, the most successful year for Slovenian filmmakers was 2012, with this year’s support for the development of film projects exceeding it by 40%. Producer Vertigo made it among the European film production elite for the second time and in the year of the fiercest competition in the history of Creative Europe. They have acquired support for several projects to be developed at the same time: Halfsister (directed by Damjan Kozole), Hidden People (Miha Hočevar) and First Million (Maja Miloš).
Slovenia is the only country with a low audiovisual production capacity to have ranked among the best at the European level in the development of single projects: in the April deadline, it ranked third together with Spain; countries with better results being Germany, France Italy and Sweden, all of them having higher production capacity. MEDIA support for single projects has also been granted to documentary projects by Institute for Transmedia Design (Twin Marilyn by Jasmina Kallay, the only virtual reality film project to have been recognised at the European level), Studio Virc (Skiing in scarves by Haidy Kancler) and Tramal Films (Nun of Your Business by Ivana Marinić Kragić). Funds for feature films will be absorbed by the veteran Staragara (The Bullet and the Bell by Jan Cvitković) and first-time successful applicants Senca studio (childrean feature film The Beanie by Slobodan Maksimović) and December Institute (Inventory by Darko Sinko).
DSAF acquired support to promote animation within the region
For the first time ever, the international breakthrough of the Slovenian Animated Film Association (DSAF) has landed a Slovenian organisation among the coordinators of renowned European professional training and access to audiovisual market programmes funded by Creative Europe. in their first attempt and despite the exceptional competition, DSAF has successfully secured €215,000 of European funds to promote animation in Central and Eastern Europe. Aside from coordinating the CEE Animation Forum (previously known as Višegrad Animation Forum), the major coproduction market for animated film in the wider region, MEDIA funding will enable them to run CEE Animation Workshop, a new international training for animated film producers extending over the next three years. At the first training session, which the European Commission expected to “bring positive effects to the entire European audiovisual landscape by addressing the specific needs of the animated industry of Central and Eastern Europe,” renowned European tutors and 27 producers from 12 countries gathered in Ljubljana at the beginning of December as part of the Animateka Festival and in partnership with Motovila institute.
Support to numerous projects focusing on film audiences
At the Film festivals call, Slovenian applicants have recorded 100% success with Cankarjev dom, Association for reanimation of storytelling 2 Reels and Otok institute, which has sufficed for the 4th place at the European level based on the number of projects supported. Three international film festivals LIFFe, Animateka and Isola Cinema with a total of €106,000 of Creative Europe funds have provided Slovenian audiences with access to selected high-quality films. The list also included most of the 17 foreign European titles for which Slovenian distributors Fivia, Demiurg and Cinemania acquired a total of €46,600 for selective distribution. Creative Europe allocated €88,000 to eighteen cinemas within the Slovenian Art Cinema Network, members of the international association Europa Cinemas seeking to promote European film and film education across Slovenia. Kinodvor and Otok institutes, two organisations highly involved in international film education projects, participate in as many as three of this year’s eight film education projects supported at the European level, focusing on young and youngest film lovers: Moving Cinema and The Film Corner Reloaded (Otok), and Cinemini Europe (Kinodvor).
