10/10/2023 - Marko Šantić’s Wake Me has picked up the most individual Vesna Awards, including one for Best Fiction Feature

Producer Špela Trošt and director Tomaž Grom, the team behind Don’t Think It Will Ever Pass, with their awards

The 26th edition of the Festival of Slovenian Film ended with something of a surprise at the awards ceremony that took place at the Portorose Auditorium on the evening of Sunday 8 October. The reason is that the overall Vesna Award for Best Feature-length Film (of any type) went to a modestly budgeted experimental documentary essay, Tomaž Grom’s Don’t Think It Will Ever Pass, over some other, more prominent films that might have been seen as the favourites for the prizes. On top of the main award, Grom was awarded one more Vesna, for Best Original Music, for the same film.

In terms of the number of awards, the clear winner was Marko Šantić’s fiction feature Wake Me [+see also:
film review
interview: Marko Šantić
film profile]. In addition to dominating its category, it was crowned for Best Script (Šantić and his co-writers Sara Hribar and Goran Vojnović), Best Actors in a Lead Role (Jure Henigman) and Supporting Role (Jurij Drevenšek), and Best Make-up (Lija Ivanič).

Other films that won multiple gongs were Janez Burger’s Observing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Janez Burger
film profile], which pocketed three Vesnas, for Best Lead Actress (Diana Kolenc), Best Production Design (Špela Jelovčan and Vasja Kokelj) and Best Sound (Julij Zornik and Igor Popovski), plus Nejc Gazvoda’s Role Model [+see also:
film review
film profile], Maja Prettner’s documentary Woman of God [+see also:
film review
film profile] and Juraj Lerotić’s Safe Place [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juraj Lerotić
film profile], with two Vesna Awards each. The laureate of the Vesna for Best Directing, Ivan Gergolet’s The Man Without Guilt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Gergolet
film profile], was also the most successful when it came to the other, non-Vesna awards, scooping the Iridium Award for Best Feature Debut and the Art Kino Network of Slovenia Award.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Vesna Awards

Best Film
Don’t Think It Will Ever Pass – Tomaž Grom (Slovenia)

Best Fiction Feature Film
Wake Me [+see also:
film review
interview: Marko Šantić
film profile] – Marko Šantić (Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia)

Best Director
Ivan Gergolet – The Man Without Guilt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Gergolet
film profile] (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia)

Best Script
Marko Šantić, Goran Vojnović, Sara Hribar – Wake Me

Best Female Lead Role
Diana Kolenc – Observing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Janez Burger
film profile] (Slovenia/Croatia/Italy/North Macedonia)

Best Male Lead Role
Jure Henigman – Wake Me

Best Female Supporting Role
Vesna Pernarčič – Role Model [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Slovenia/Czech Republic/Italy/Serbia)

Best Male Supporting Role
Jurij Drevenšek – Wake Me

Best Cinematography
Marko Brdar – Safe Place [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juraj Lerotić
film profile] (Croatia/Slovenia)

Best Original Music
Tomaž Grom – Don’t Think It Will Ever Pass

Best Editing
Sara Gjergek – Woman of God [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Slovenia)

Best Production Design
Špela Jelovčan, Vasja Kokelj – Observing

Best Costume Design
Katarina Šavs – Role Model

Best Make-up
Lija Ivanič – Wake Me

Best Sound
Julij Zornik, Igor Popovski – Observing

Best Minority Co-production
Safe Place – Juraj Lerotić

Best Documentary
Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Petra Seliškar (Slovenia/North Macedonia/Croatia/France)

Best Short Film
How I Learned to Hang Laundry – Barbara Zemljič (Slovenia)

Best Animated Film
Little Women – Nika Jurman (Slovenia)

Best Student Film
Alenka – Kristijan Bernard Irgl (Slovenia)

Vesna Awards for Special Achievement
Soil – Alex Cvetkov (Slovenia/North Macedonia)
Pero [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Damjan Kozole (Slovenia)

Vesna Audience Award
Woman of God – Maja Prettner

Other awards

Art Kino Network of Slovenia (AKMS) Award
The Man Without Guilt – Ivan Gergolet

FIPRESCI Award
Woman of God – Maja Prettner

Iridium Award for Best Feature Debut
The Man Without Guilt – Ivan Gergolet