Slovenian Možina Wins Centre of Development at the ITN Excellence Days Film Festival PoLiMat page 2 > page 3 > page 7 & 8 > NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 5, 2012, VOLUME 8, NUMBER 37 EURO NIGHT 2012 For the fi fth consecutive year, on Friday, September 28 evening, the European embassies in Washington, DC. gathered to celebrate the “Euro Night”. The event was hosted by La Maison Française, where more than 20 E.U. member- states’ embassies showcased their respective cultures and culinary specialties. Slovenian booth at the EURO Night. Around 1500 visitors enjoyed live music by a band more than three hours of cultural and tourism, including hiking from Cyprus, at the moment immersion. Moreover, the event trips, amazing wine routes and the presiding country of the was honored by the presence of spa resorts. Guests could also European Union, while taking a the fi rst lady of the Republic of taste a bit of Slovenia trying tour around Europe discovering Estonia Mrs. Evelin Ilves. national dishes such as kranjska European traditions. Each Slovenian representatives klobasa sausage, potica walnut country offered memorabilia, dressed in national costumes roll, and pumpkin seed oil, served travel guides, wrist bands, promoted Slovenia with various by the embassy representatives souvenirs, and stationery during rich brochures on the country wearing the national dress of the Gorenjska region. Embassy of Slovenia 2410 California Street, NW twitter.com/SLOembassyUSA Washington, D.C. 20008, USA T: +1 202 386 66 01 E: [email protected] facebook.com/SLOembassyUSA washington.embassy.si DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION Slovenian Development Days On October 4 and 5, 2012, the fourth Slovenian Development Days were held at the City Museum of Ljubljana. The event was opened by Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, followed by introductory remarks by Dr. Božo Cerar, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capacity of Minister for Development Cooperation, and Eva Marn, the President of SLOGA, Slovenian NGDO platform for development cooperation and humanitarian aid and Director of International Relief and Development Slovenia IRD. This year’s Development Days, titled ‘International Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Erjavec opened the event. Development Cooperation: 2015 and Looking Ahead’, were as the fi eld of Slovenian and discussions on the effectiveness usually organized jointly by the international development of development cooperation. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cooperation. The second discussion of the SLOGA, providing an opportunity The fi rst discussion of followup to Rio+20 focused for both Slovenian and foreign the implementation of Slovenian on the conclusions of this year’s experts, representatives development goals and the conference, which envisage that of governmental, non way ahead dealt with the Member States will implement governmental and international implementation and evaluation development projects through organizations, and the academia of development goals in the environmental protection. The to discuss current events in light of important international third discussion addressed the relationship between migration and development. The fourth discussion on publicprivate partnership and development cooperation revolved around the main goal of publicprivate partnership – innovatively increasing the effectiveness of development assistance through linking knowledge and resources from both sides. Along with these discussions, the Peace Institute ran a workshop on E.U.public tenders and the Development Cooperation Fair. Participants of the event. OCTOBER 5, 2012, PAGE 2 CULTURE Možina Receives Award at the ITN Film Festival At the ITN Distribution Film Festival, held in Hollywood, Slovenian journalist and fi lm- maker Jože Možina was honored as the best director in the category of documentary fi lms for his documentary on the Slovenian priest Pedro Opeka. In one of the most beautiful stories, titled The Friend Jože Možina with Father of the Poor, the charismatic Father Pedro Opeka. Pedro Opeka, born in a suburb of Buenos Aires to parents of Slovene origin, arrived to the garbage dump him on his award, stating that the Father Opeka, whose humanitarian of the capital of Madagascar. Seeing award honors an extraordinary mission deserves utmost respect. thousands of adults and children achievement and gives recognition The ITN Festival, organized living in inhumane conditions, he to his professional work; at the by one of the most successful engaged in an incredible operation same time, the prime minister independent fi lm distribution that is helping more than 23 expressed his great satisfaction companies, was held in Los Angeles thousand homeless to a better life. that the author of the honored on September 12-16. The award will The Prime Minister of the fi lm presented to the domestic and be conferred to Možina, a native of Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, in international public the story about Dobravlje in the Vipava Valley, at the a letter to Jože Možina congratulated the extremely important work of main award ceremony in January. CULTURE Writers’ Association Marks 140th Anniversary The Slovenian Writers’ said at the founding of the time in 1965, and International PEN Association (DSP) marked its association that “a writers’ state meetings at that lake-side resort 140th anniversary with a series of is a republic,” which had a special have since become traditional. literary readings around Slovenia on impact in the Austro-Hungarian The DSP began engaging itself Wednesday, October 3 and a major Monarchy and indicates that the even more actively in social life ceremony in Ljubljana’s Cankarjev association had always advocated and politics in the early 1980s, Dom congress and culture center on democracy and freedom of fi ghting for freedom of expression. Thursday, October 4, 2012. From the thought. According to Taufer, the association’s original 52 members at the first general Although the idea of uniting role and efforts in Slovenia’s struggle assembly in 1872, the association has Slovenian writers was some ten for independence, which started in grown by 2012 to 349 writers and years older, the association was the late 1980s, was most important. poets, 99 of whom are female authors. offi cially set up on Trstenjak’s Along with its production and According to the incumbent initiative in 1872. However, its publishing activities, the DSP also DSP president, Veno Taufer, the activities soon died out due to serves as an information and literary association’s greatest merit was diverging world perspectives. Since center, organizes top-class literary that it has maintained the Slovenian then, the authors’ association has festivals, and confers a number of language as the basis of the nation’s operated in many forms and under literary awards. mentality and culture, nurturing a number of names.; it has adopted Among major annual events the language and national essence its current name in 1968. organized by the association are through literature. The association of Slovenian the Slovenian Book Days and Moreover, he noted that the authors organized an International the Vilenica international literary fi rst president, Davorin Trstenjak, PEN congress in Bled for the fi rst festival. (Source: STA) OCTOBER 5, 2012, PAGE 3 CULTURE Festival of Slovenian Film The 15th edition of the “Vaje v Festival of Slovenian Film (FSF) objemu” (Practising opened on September 27, 2012, Embrace) by Metod in Portorož with “Šanghaj” Pevec received the (Shanghai Gipsy), the award award for direction, winning feature by Marko best male lead (Uroš Naberšnik. Fürst, an accolade he This year, FSF featured 66 fi lms shared with Gregor that were picked from as many Bakovič in Thanks as 130 entries. for Sunderland), “Hvala za Sunderland” and best female (Thanks for Sunderland), a lead (Jana Zupančič). “Srečen Završnik, which received the black comedy by Sarajevoborn za umret” (Good to Go) by award for the best short. director Slobodan Maksimović, Matevž Lužar picked up the For the fi rst time, the won the top honors as the prizes for best script, set design, festival featured a documentary festival, which closed on photography, costumes, and competition. In this category, Sunday, September 30, bagging sound. Damjan Kozole’s “Dolge the Vesna prize for best fi lm. The shortfi lm competition Počitnice” (The Long Vacation), Thanks for Sunderland traces featured eleven fi lms varying a fi lm tracing the stories of the mishaps of a factory worker from nonnarrative experimental the “erased,” was given the whose life is a failure. To turn fi lms to classic narratives to top honors. This year, the his fortunes around, he starts animated fi lms. The jury did Metod Badjura Award for working with a smalltime crook, heap praise on “Nad mestom lifetime achievement in fi lm but fails miserably, unable to se dani” (The Day is Rising over was conferred upon costume even take his own life. the City), a student fi lm by Blaž designer Alenka Bartl. PRESS First Conference of Slovenian Journalists from the World for the past six months she The Slovenian World give them the opportunity to had been intensively studying Congress (SSK) organized meet and build connections that this fi eld, while she also knew this year for the fi rst time would be useful in their work something about it from before. the Conference of Slovenian and in everyday life. Moreover, She also said that, again and journalists from the world. journalists like to exchange their again, she was surprised how The conference took place in experiences