For years, Slovenia’s film industry lagged behind those of the West. But one visionary director, fresh from his schooling in Paris, ushered a new era in Slovenian film – a period when the industry began to keep up with the latest world trends.

Boštjan Hladnik was born in 1926. When he turned 18, he bought his first film equipment from Pavla Jesih, a pioneering woman climber who owned several movie theaters in Slovenia. It quickly became apparent that he had an unusual talent for the medium. He submitted his amateur creations to several international competitions and soon began to receive awards.

Hladnik spent a few years directing theater plays, but in 1957, he went to study film in Paris. There, he met several groundbreaking directors and was captivated by a fresh approach to film that was then sweeping the French film industry – the New Wave.

Meanwhile, Slovenian movie theaters were still dominated by films extolling the Partisan era. Even though František Čáp, a Czech director living in Slovenia, managed to bring a dose of cosmopolitan glamor to the big screen, the industry was still highly conservative and tended to play it safe.

When Hladnik returned to Slovenia, everything changed. Influenced by the New Wave and French existentialist philosophy, he directed Dancing in the Rain. It was a film that captured the spirit of the time and it immediately attracted praise from critics. It even won awards at the Pula Film Festival, the most prestigious such event in Yugoslavia. Today, it is considered a Slovenian classic.

Hladnik went on to direct many other movies. Not all had the same impact, but he always tried to remain on the cutting edge of the medium. Through his career, he also faced near-constant censorship. Some was political, while much of it was aimed at erotic scenes, a trademark of his work but then still a taboo in Yugoslavia. One of his films was cut by the censors to such an extent that Hladnik was reduced to tears. His 1963 film Erotikon ended up being banned in several Yugoslav republics. He continued to portray sexuality in an honest manner, however, and he even directed pornographic films for a German client in the 1980s.

After his retirement, Hladnik still mad frequent media appearances and his expressive face and messy hair were frequently seen on television as he shared his views on the film industry with a wider audience. He died in 2006, but left a valuable legacy on celluloid – a reminder of a time when Slovenia was at the forefront of global trends in film.

Jaka Bartolj