Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival

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Grossmannov festival vina in filma

Prešernova 2, SI-9240 Ljutomer

http://en.grossmann.si/

info@grossmann.si

Organised byKTD Festival Ljutomer

 Filmska praksa PLAN 9

 Municipality of Ljutomer

Events abroad

Past Events

• 13 May 2016

  to

  18 May 2016

  France Cannes Village International Riviera N. 134

  
  programme

  
  

  
  

  A presentation of Slovene cinematography and the Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival at the South-East European Pavillion

  at the Cannes International Film Festival

  
  

  
  

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Grossmann Film and Wine Festival is a specialised competitive festival which focuses on contemporary genre film production, mostly on the genres of horror and fantasy films. It was launched in 2005 on the 100th anniversary of Slovene cinema and is dedicated to Dr. Karol Grossmann, the pioneer of Slovene cinema as he made the first film shots in 1905. The Grossmann Festival is without question the most unconventional Slovene film festival as it includes not just the screenings of the film programme but also the promotion of local wines – "the pride and joy of the Prlekija region" – and other gastronomical pleasures. It takes place in different locations in the city of Ljutomer, indoors and outdoors (an open-air cinema on the main city square), while its film programme is also later hosted in Zagreb, Belgrade, Lyon and Cannes.

Festival history and policy

The Grossmann Film an Wine Festival was initiated by Filmska praksa PLAN 9 and Development Agency of Prlekija, and put on the map with help of European Structural Fund. Today the festival is run by the recently established KTD Festival Ljutomer organisation in collaboration with the above mentioned partners.

Although it is a relatively young and small festival event it has quickly became one of the regular meeting points for professionals and fans of genre film production, especially the genre of horror and fantasy films, in the Balkan region and beyond. Its concept is fresh, original, and simply charming. Namely, the Grossmann Festival's focus on genre film production doesn't include blockbusters and mainstream films but rather the new digital guerrilla, independent, and low budget films, that destined to become cult. The official festival policy is guided by the wish to present those films that are trying to escape the "mediocrity, political correctness and pathetic desire for mass appeal" of the contemporary genre films and to bring some fresh blood and danger into the festival.

Sections

The programme of the Grossmann Festival is divided into 9 sections and 3 of those are competitive: the Vicious Cats section of feature length films, the Slak's Vicious Cats section (named in honour of film director Franci Slak (1953–2007)) of short films and the Noisy Cats section of music documentaries. Retrospectives are one of the strongest sections since in past years they have managed to invite many cult and legendary directors like Roger Corman, Jörg Buttgereitt and Ruggero Deodato. Music documentaries are screened also out of competition in the Off Noisy Cats section. The Digital Mayhem section is dedicated to films on digital support, while the Mondo Macabro special section includes restored forgotten classics from the wild side of world cinema published on DVD by the Mondo Macabro label. The Torture Garden is meant only for the most persistent since it offers 9 hours of furious blasts of weird, rare, strange and mad films, while the Vicious Festival Harvest sections brings selected films from partner festivals: the Australian A Night of Horror, the Festival of Serbian Fantasy Films, the Croatian Trash Film Festival.

Awards

The Grossmann Festival has 6 official festival awards as each of the three main festival sections has its own award - cf. the Vicious Cat Awards for Hudi maček award details. Since the Grossmann Festival is also a festival of wine, the Vicious Cat Wine Champion award is conferred. Sometimes the number of awards can change as the Grossmann festival is also unorthodox in that regard and so new awards are introduced (like the Special Slovenian Award at the 2009 edition).

Workshops and special events

The Grossmann festival has many parallel events to the main film programme, from book presentations and exhibitions to concerts. Although they are not traditional a great deal of attention goes to the workshops as they are usually led by visiting artists or professionals. For example the Make Your Own Damn Movie! workshop in 2007, an intensive master-class on the shooting and promotion of low-budget films, was led by Lloyd Kaufman.

The Grossmann Festival also regularly organises special events like the Zombie Walk – a procession of the undead (make-up is made by professionals attending the festival) through the streets of Ljutomer, and the traditional festival of wine (with wine road tours, exhibitions, lectures, wine tastings and presentations). Since the excellent wine of this region is the only official drink of the festival it is advised for one to bring some fresh water with.

See also

• Filmska praksa PLAN 9
• Vicious Cat Awards

External links

• Grossmann Film and Wine Festival website
• A Night of Horror Festival website (partner festival)
• Festival of Serbian Fantasy Film website (partner festival, in Serbian)
• Trash Film Festival (partner festival)
• Grossmann Film and Wine Festival on Wikipedia
• Dr. Karel Grossmann on Wikipedia