Filming is underway on Horses (Konji), the debut feature by Slovenian writer-director Jernej Kastelec. The family drama examines the intergenerational transmission of violence through the relationship between a father and his teenage son.

The story follows Miro, a convict and father of two, who is transferred from a closed to an open prison unit, allowing him to spend weekends with his teenage son and young daughter. However, reconnecting with his son proves to be his greatest challenge, forcing him to confront painful memories of his own upbringing and the family traumas he has carried throughout his life. Described by its makers as a story about inherited patterns of behaviour and the courage required to break them, the film explores both the darkest and most tender aspects of the father-son bond.

The cast is led by Nejc Cijan Garlatti, one of the most promising young Slovenian actors, who plays Miro. He is joined by Tina Vrbnjak, Jernej Kogovšek, Jurij Drevenšek, Luka Cimprič, Nataša Burger, Vladimir Vlaškalič, Nebojša Pop Tasić, Urban Kuntarič, Gašper Jarni, Maja Gal Štromar, Grega Čušin, Maruša Majer, Klemen Janežič, Vito Weis, Gaber Trseglav, Alenka Kraigher and Gašper Markun. Thirteen-year-old Anže Zornada and eight-year-old Vesna Pernuš make their screen debuts as Miro's children.

Kastelec, whose previous work has focused primarily on documentaries and television productions, also penned the screenplay. He developed the script at Slovenia's Scenarnica script programme before it was selected for the MIDPOINT Feature Launch workshop in 2024. Earlier this year, Horses was presented at the Dot.on.the.Map co-production forum organised by Cyprus Film Days in Limassol, where it received the EKKOMED cash award.

Kastelec said he has been living with the Horses project for more than five years. "After months and years during which I was mostly alone with the story and its characters, receiving feedback through screenwriting workshops and from the project's first collaborators, the project has increasingly become a collective creative effort over the past few months. Every actor and every member of the crew brings their own perspective, experience and creative energy to it," he said in a statement released by the Slovenian Film Centre.

Principal photography began on 7 July at Dob Prison in south-eastern Slovenia and will continue until mid-August. Kastelec added: "The moment filming begins and the first clapperboard falls is always magical for me. That's when the film becomes a living organism – a collaborative work that begins to take on a life of its own. I approach the shoot with great gratitude and awe, because making a film goes far beyond any one individual and their creative vision." The crew includes cinematographer Andraž Žigart, production designer Mateja Medvedić, costume designer Nadja Bedjanič, make-up artist Eva Uršič and line producer Matija Kozamernik.

The film is being produced by Ida Weiss for Ljubljana-based Bela Film, who commented: "As a producer, I believe Horses tackles a subject that is both universal and deeply intimate. Sooner or later, many of us are confronted with the question of how many of our parents' behavioural patterns we carry within ourselves and how we – often completely unconsciously – pass them on to our own children. Such realisations can be painful, but I believe that a willingness to embrace vulnerability and change opens up the possibility of breaking that cycle. The screenplay moved me from my very first reading because it is honest, non-judgemental and full of subtle emotional truths."

Horses is backed by the Slovenian Film Centre, with technical support from FS Viba. According to the producers, the project is expected to be completed in 2027.