The 37th edition of the Trieste Film Festival, the first and most important event on Central and Eastern European cinema in Italy, is getting closer. Taking place in Trieste from the 16th to the 24th January, it will include features, documentaries, shorts, masterclasses and talks from the most eminent figures in Eastern European Cinema, from the established masters to the up-and-comers – both directors and actors.
Born on the eve of the fall of the Berlin wall, the festival is a privileged vantage point from which to view contemporary society. It offers a critical look at the running themes of modern life, from inequality to migration; gender issues to civil rights; nationalist insurgence to frontiers and plural identities. The festival provides a multiethnic vision of Eastern Europe, making space for the encounter between the voices of countries in constant change.
Slovenia will be the featured country in the space dedicated as every year by the festival to Central Eastern European female filmmakers, curated by Nerina T. Kocjančič, head of Promotion and Distribution at the Slovenian Film Center in Ljubljana, with the aim of promoting new female perspectives. After the focus in previous years has been on Poland, Georgia, Ukraine, Germany and Serbia, it will be Slovenian women directors who will be the focus of attention, with stories capable of drawing the viewer into facts and events that occurred-if not in an imagined time-at the gates of Italy and in the center of Europe.
The programme sees 13 feature films (among which documentaries and fiction) and 10 shorts featured, all made by female filmmakers, some of whom have already been established in the European cinematographic landscape thanks to their participation in international festivals. Others are expected to surprise the audience with their latest works.‘Slovenian Cinema has always played a fundamental role at the Trieste Film Festival. It offers a distinctive voice in the landscape of Central and Eastern European cinema. As a festival which spotlights talents and budding directors of the region, Trieste offers Slovenian cinema a unique stage on which to present its distinctive flavour of storytelling, often rooted in the country’s complex history and cultural identity. This bond favours a deeper understanding between Slovenian directors and international audiences, while promoting cross-border collaboration. The festival’s focus on Slovenian cinema not only celebrates its artistic successes, but also strengthens the cultural bonds between Italy and Slovenia. This makes Trieste an essential cultural hub for the exchange of ideas in the region and a special place for Slovenian filmmakers. My ties to Slovenian cinema aren’t just professional: they are also a long story of friendships, research and wonderful discoveries’, explains Nicoletta Romeo, artistic director of the festival, recently nominated ‘Friend of Slovenian Cinema’ at the 28th Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož.
Among these “Little Trouble Girls” (Kaj ti je deklica / La ragazza del corodistributed in Italy by Friuli-based Tucker Film, and official Slovenian candidate for the 2026 Academy Awards)) by Urška Djukić a story of friendship between young women, and, chiefly, the awakening of feminine sensuality. The film was first shown last February at the Berlinale. “Fantasy” by Kukla, , which premiered at Locarno Film Festival and whose Italian debut will be in the TSFF feature film competition. Kukla, with her first feature, takes on deep questions about coming-of-age: the three protagonists, little older than twenty, are journeying in discovery of the complexities of gender, desire and finding themselves. Born at ‘When East Meets West’, the TSFF forum dedicated to international coproduction, and already in contest in 2024, “Cent’anni” by Maja Doroteja Prelog returns to Trieste. The film, an unfiltered testimony on love and change, paints a portrait of Blaž, survivor of terminal illness, who decides to take on an arduous ‘Giro d’Italia’ in celebration. Then there will be no lack of “Ida, ki je pela tako grdo, da so še mrtvi vstali od mrtvih in zapeli z njo” (Ida who sang so badly even the dead rose up and joined her in song) by Ester Ivakič, a tale of an imaginative but tone-deaf little girl who convinces herself that she can prevent her grandmother’s death by joining the school choir, which will be in competition at the Turin Film Festival.
Also on the programme is “Woman of God” by Maja Prettner (2023), which premiered at the Turin Film Festival, the intimate and existential story of a female Lutheran priest, or “Body” (Telo) by Petra Seliškar (premiered in 2024 at the Sarajevo Film Festival), a sensitive exploration of the extraordinary life of a woman battling a rare auto-immune disease, filmed over a period of 20 years. From “Blind Spot” (Slepa pega) by Hanna Slak, which, starting from the 2002 edition of the Locarno Film Festival, has travelled between Rotterdam, Chicago, Ghent and Thessaloniki; to “Installation of Love” (Instalacija Ljubezni) by Maja Weiss, which was awarded a special mention at the 19th of the TSFF in 2007, to the work of Sonja Prosenc (guest of the last TSFF edition with the brilliant comedy “Family Therapy”), “History of Love”, co-produced by Friuli Venezia Giulia-based Nefertiti and awarded Special Jury Mention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2018.
Among the shorts to feature on the big screen are titles like “Good Luck Orlo!” (Srečno, Orlo!) by Sara Kern (2016), screened in competition at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and at the Trieste Film Festival in 2017; “Raj”, also by Sonja Prosenc (2019) and “Sisters” (Sestre) by Kukla (2020). Also to be shown is “Granny’s Sexual Life” (Babičino seksualno življenje) by Urška Djukić (also part of the features category) and Emilie Pigerad (2021), is a tale of the condition of women in Slovenia in the first half of the 20th century, told through the voices of grandmothers – the short is among the winners of the European Film Awards and was given the César Award for Best Animated Short Film. Another animated short to be screened is “Steakhouse” by Špela Čadež, which, among others, won the jury prize at Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the special mention at Locarno in 2021, and was shortlisted for the ‘Best Animated Short Film’ category at the 95th edition of the Oscars.
