Lucidno FILM U VRIJEME PANDEMIJE KORONAVIRUSA / FILM AT THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
SLOVENIA
JAN CVITKOVIČ, director
Na drugo i treće pitanje ne znam odgovor.
Prvo: Hitro sem se prekvalificiral. Čez dan delam v vinogradih in vz motorko v gozdu, ponoči lovim divje prašiče. To je to. Film je zaenkrat preteklost, morda se nekoč spet pojavi.
KARPO GODINA, director, DoP, professor
Vlada je zablokirala sva financijska sretstva za film, tako da se ne isplaćuju ni honorari za već obavljene poslove. Do kada će to trajati, niko ne zna. A svakako će većina novca biti potrošeno na druge stvari. Pripremao sam i završio neke scenarijem a sada nemaš kome da ih predaš. Normalno da su ukinuli i sve natječaje. Najviše stradaju slobodnjaci.
Štetne posledice biti će dugotrajne i velike. Sve se pomera u neodređenu budučćnost. Nastaje velika rupa i pomeranje svega započetog, svega planiranog u neka bolja vremena. Preskaču se festivali, projekti... kako i kada sve to nadoknaditi i početi sa novim?
Utjecaj na globalnu filmsku industriju za sada izgleda katastrofalno. Budućnost: - samo letnja kina sa retko posejanim stolicama, buljenje u filmove na elektronskim ekraima. Preporuku, kako snimati danas filmove, prilažem ovdje.
Za realnu nenadu da u Sloveniji ne očekujemo baš nešto pozitivno što bi se desilo posle tog virusa prilažem stranicu iz Nacionala.
SONJA PROSENC, director
In Monoo production we have two projects at different stages of development. The pandemic changed our planned timelines of both projects in different ways. It almost put one completely on hold since what we had in our schedule for these spring months involved a lot of traveling and a lot of work with people. This is a project with a working title 17 Moments of Summer that we presented last autumn at Thessaloniki Film Market. It was written by a Greek writer living in London and will be co-directed by me and Mitja Ličen. We try to use this time to further develop the script, work out some details, create a mood board and a mood reel that could help us not only to present the project to our partners but also to make us think about it and talk about it within a wider group. In short, we are trying to get deeper into the project in a workable phase. As a kind of a test of our collaboration we made a short film Paradise thematically connected to the feature. It premiered last year and it received a national Best short film award. Now during the pandemic lockdown it was available to the public at a VOD platform at Slovenia Film Base. It’s a short comedy set at a sea-side, so I hear people enjoyed it a lot.
The second project is called Redemption. We work online on the development and collaborate with our Norwegian partners in that way.
We do what we can in given circumstances. But I am afraid all the projects in our country will be delayed for quite some time, since also all the financing calls at Slovenian Film Centre that already closed months ago and should be at the decision-making stage are put on hold. Contrary to the other countries that put more funding in audio-visual industry, Slovenia stopped paying filmmakers for their past work even before the pandemic was announced. The last news is that funds will be released in the following weeks but only for project worth up to 100.000 EUR and not for feature films, although many of them were shot last year and are now stuck in post-production. People struggle since they haven’t been payed for months or half a year and also producers are put in a bad position. The problem we have here is that the corona crisis coincided with the political one; the lockdown started with the appointment of the new (rightwing) government and many people believe that the measures are much more oppressive that they should be and there is also no end date proposed.
NATAŠA BUČAR, Director of Slovenian Film Centre
Due to the state of emergency, the film and audiovisual production, both publicly-funded and commercial, have come to a complete halt. Furthermore, because of these extraordinary circumstances, cinematographic reproduction is on hiatus as well: all the cinemas have closed, all the festivals and other film events have been cancelled, and film distribution has ceased. The commercial activities in the audiovisual field have stopped entirely, and televisions have halted their productions. In the modern times, we have never yet witnessed anything as fatal for the film industry, because during the last financial crisis, at least in Slovenia, it was precisely the commercial branch of the AV sector that ensured that the film infrastructure and the filmmakers remained afloat. The consequences will be dire. Apart from the restrictions that will apply to film sets and consequently influence the film contents themselves (for the time being, we will certainly not be seeing any mass scenes), it is also a fact that international cooperation and coproductions will be much rarer, as the borders will remain closed until further notice.
It will be very difficult to encourage people to come to the cinemas again. I expect that the film reproduction will face a profound recession and that the ways of watching films will change fundamentally. Film funds have invested a lot of energy into film culture development. In the coming months, these activities will be all the more crucial if we wish to restore our previous achievements and once again bring people to the primary environment for watching films: cinemas. Festivals as well as cinemas will face severe difficulties that the film centres all around Europe will need to address as well.
The influence of the current crisis will be significant worldwide. In the global sense, the number of film productions will decrease at least temporarily, as many people, including directors of funds from the larger European countries, have already been concerned that hyperproduction has been taking place. The crisis will undoubtedly put a lid on this, as apart from the new restrictions on film shooting, the possibilities for screening the films in cinemas as well as at film festivals will be significantly reduced. Coproductions will experience severe difficulties: there are certainly concerns that national cinematographies will once again be restricted to the national borders, and that international collaboration will be much rarer.
Something positive? During the quarantine, it has become all the more evident how very important film contents actually are, how vital the national film is, and how crucial the digital accessibility of films. Immediately after the onset of the emergency measures, we have, in cooperation with Slovenian filmmakers, established the project All (Films) at Home, which provides free access to Slovenian films every week. Only during the first two weeks, these films were seen by more than 20,000 Slovenians. This proves that people wish to see more Slovenian films, while simultaneously underlining two necessities: the need to establish digital platforms and make these films accessible; and the need to digitally restore the older film titles. The current crisis has even underlined how important film accessibility is and how crucial it is to ensure a comprehensive approach to the digital restoration of older titles. During the current crisis, the film art has once again demonstrated its importance, and I am certain that Slovenian films have managed, at least to some degree, to regain the attention of the national audience. I certainly hope that after the crisis, the decision-makers will also recognise the film and AV activities as priorities.
SIMON TANŠEK, Director of photography
V začetku meseca marca je vlada zaradi korona virusa prepovedala zbiranje ljudi. Tako so se zaprla gledališča, kinodvorane, prekinile so se produkcije, onemogočene so bile priprave na snemanja. Stanje na današji dan je še vedno isto. 24. aprila bi morali imeti podelitev nagrad Združenja filmskih snemalcev Slovenije IRIS 2019 za najboljše snemalske stvaritve premierno prikazane v letu 2019. Dogodek smo prestavili na nedifiniran kasnejši datum. Jaz imam v fazi montaže celovečerni film Orkester. Režiser Matevž Luzar in montažerka sta zaradi nastale korona situacije primorana montirati online, torej brez fizičnega stika. Montaža na daljavo je seveda mogoča, ampak je drugače, če sta vsak na svojem domu ali pa montirata skupaj v eni montažni sobi. Teden pred prepovedjo zbiranja ljudi, v začetku marca, smo začeli s finalnimi pripravami novega celovečernega filma režiserja Miha Hočevarja Skriti ljudje. FInalne priprave smo planirali za mesec marec in april, saj naj bi po planu začeli s snemanjem 15. maja. Po tednu priprav so se le te ustavile. Pred nekaj dnevi smo imeli online sestanek in snemanje prestavili za eno leto, torej na 15. maj 2021, ker je zgodba vezana na pomladni letni čas.
Spremenilo se je tudi poučevanje na filmski akademiji v Ljubljani - AGRFT. Od začetka marca poučujemo vse predmete online, direktnih stikov s študenti nimamo. Pri teoriji to ni velik problem, večji problem so praktične vaje, ki jih morajo opraviti študentje snemanja. Nakatere vaje smo prilagodili tako, da jih lahko študentje opravijo v svojem domačem okolju. Pri vajah, kjer je potrebna večja količine tehnike in ki zahtevajo delo v skupinah (recimo zaključni filmi tretjih letnikov) smo se v fazi pred realizacijo ustavili. Nekateri študentje ne živijo v Ljubljani, študentski domovi so zaprti, prepovedano je združevanje, še vedno velja prepoved gibanja izven meja svoje občine, javna prevozna sredstva tudi še ne funkcionirajo.
Po odredbi vlade Slovenski filmski center, javna agencija Republike Slovenije ne podpisuje novih odločb in tako so tudi projekti v nastajanju in v fazi razvoja začasno zaustavljeni.
V letošnjem letu Slovenski filmski center ni dobil nakazanih še nobenih državnih finančnih sredstev, kar pomeni, da smo nekateri filmski ustvarjalci že opravili svoje dela, za katerega pa še nismo dobili plačila. Tako je tudi s projektom Orkester, ki je sedaj v fazi montaže in pri katerem sem sodeloval kot direktor fotografije.
Upam da bo ta nesiguren čas korona virusa deloval kot nekakšen filter… v družbi odpravil izumetničene vrednote in prinesel renesanso v medčlovečkih odnosih.
Danes je 27. april in v Sloveniji praznujemo državni praznik Dan upora proti okupatorju.
Smrt fašizmu - svoboda narodu.
