The Cottbus festival will also mark the 20th anniversary of the Slovenian Film Centre. From the 20 feature films in this year's competition program, three will be from Slovenia: Šiška Deluxe from director Jan Cvitkovič, which is currently also being screened in Slovenian cinemas, and the co-productions Družinski film from director Olmo Omerzu, which just won an award at the Tokio festival, and Zenit from director Dalibor Matanić, which won an award in Cannes. (The last two can also be seen in Ljubljana as part of the Liffe festival)
The focus program will also feature a Slovenian co-production called Naš vsakdan, a debut film from Ines Tanović.
The Germans followed the Slovenian "new wave"
It might have been expected for the festival to mark the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Slovenian Film Centre, as the German festival has been following Slovenia's cinematography from the very beginnings of the Slovenian "new wave" from the end of the nineties, the Slovenian Film Centre informs. Most deserved for this is the festival's long-time film selector and currently festival director, Bernd Buder.