07/09/2026 - The producer breaks down the mechanisms available for international productions in Slovenia and his long-standing experience of working with neighbouring country Italy

During the 83rd Venice Film Festival, the Italian Pavilion at the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido hosted the “Meet Slovenia: Co-production Opportunities and Incentives” session, devoted to the opportunities available for strengthening audiovisual cooperation between Italy and Slovenia. The event included a case study on Sonja Prosenc’s Family Therapy and a panel bringing together Slovenian Film Centre managing director Nataša Bučar, producer Miha Černec, of Staragara, Incipit Film producer Fabiana Balsamo and Intramovies head of Acquisitions and Production Marco Valerio Fusco.

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Černec has extensive experience on both sides of the border. A Slovenian producer who also operates through an Italian company, he has worked with Italy since 2011 and estimates that he has been involved in more than 20 Italian-Slovenian collaborations, encompassing features, documentaries, animation and short films. As he says, geographical, linguistic and industrial proximity is one of the factors that has helped make Italy a recurring partner for him. His own career reflects the increasingly fluid relationship between the two production ecosystems – one in which financing, crews, locations and creative talent can move across the border with relative ease.

Cineuropa caught up with him during the event to discuss Slovenia’s funding landscape and why the relationship between the two neighbouring industries has become such a natural one for him.

Cineuropa: What are the main support schemes available in Slovenia for foreign producers and international co-productions?
Miha Černec: There are several possibilities. For Slovenian productions, there is selective support, much like in Italy, and there is also support for minority co-productions. Then we have Viba Film, which provides in-kind support, and the national broadcaster is another possible partner. We also have the cash-rebate scheme, which we use quite frequently for foreign productions, including Italian projects that shoot partly in Slovenia.

How does the minority co-production mechanism work in practice?
There is an annual call. Applications are assessed through a points system, looking at elements such as the script, the authors involved, reciprocity between the countries and the number of shooting days taking place in Slovenia. So the Slovenian participation has to be meaningful within the project.

You have been working with Italy for a long time. How extensive has that collaboration become?
I started working with Italy in 2011, so it has now been 15 years. I would say I have been involved in more than 20 co-productions if we include all formats. We work not only on feature films, but also on documentaries and animation, including animated shorts.

Do you tend to work with the same Italian partners, or does it change from project to project?
It changes. Sometimes, Italian producers approach us because they already know our work and know that we operate in the region. We can provide production services, and help with international financing, technical equipment and the other elements that a production may need locally. Over the years, this has allowed us to build up a broad network of relationships in Italy.

When it comes to Italian-Slovenian co-productions, do you see more advantages or more challenges?
For me, definitely more advantages. Personally, I don’t find working with Italy difficult at all. I feel completely at home here. Our collaborations have always been based on fairness and honesty, so from my experience, the relationship works very naturally.

Does language represent an obstacle, particularly when a Slovenian production is shot in Italian?
No, not at all. Italian has official-language status in parts of Slovenia, and that is important from a production point of view. It means that filming in Italian does not automatically prevent a movie from being recognised as Slovenian. This can be very useful when structuring projects between our two countries.