Viba Film Studio

The Viba Film Studio as we know it today was established in 1994 by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia as a state institution which operates as the national technical film foundation. In a way one could say that it's history is longer (at least from 1956 when Viba film production company was established) as it existed already before but under (more or less) different names and under a different organisational structure. Today it is involved in the production and/or post-production of the majority of Slovene films included in the National Film Programme, but it also operates on a strictly commercial basis (international co-productions, commercials, etc.). Viba also co-operates in student productions at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT), both during the shooting of films and the postproduction.

Historical Overview

Continuous film production in Slovenia started just after the second world war. There were some minor production companies (like the Sava Film established in 1927 or the Emona Film established in 1939) even before that, producing nearly exclusively just short films - with the exception of two feature length films, a kind of alpine drama with documentary inserts called Triglavske strmine (The Slopes of Triglav, 1932) and the semi documentary semi-fiction film V kraljestvu Zlatoroga (In the Realm of Goldenhorn, 1931) - but the foundations for a proper national film industry (studio, production and distribution company) were built up just later, in 1946. In that year the production company Triglav Film (that also had its technical film foundation) and the distribution company Vesna film were established. In 1956 the decision to separate the production from the technical foundation came: the film production stayed at Triglav Film while the technical foundation was incorporated into the newly established company Filmservis.

Not satisfied completely with the then current situation that didn't improve even with last changes the Association of Slovene Film Workers decided to established their own production company - the Viba Film. The Viba Film quickly became the leading production company in Slovenia while the Triglav Film's production rapidly dropped what later became the cause for their financial problems. In 1966 they declared bankruptcy and Viba Film took over part of it's activity and premises. Later, in 1975, the whole company was integrated in the Viba Film which was afterwards, until 1991, practically the only production company in Slovenia since new, independent film production companies (like the AS Filmske alternative and the E-motion Film/Vertigo) began to emerge just towards the end of the 1980s.

1990s began with big political and economical changes (the independence of Slovenia and the passage to the market economy) that influenced greatly also the Slovene film industry. Viba Film had big troubles to adapt to the new economic conditions so the government decided to implement some institutional changes. In 1994 the Slovenian Film Fund was established which took over the national film production while the Viba Film was transformed into the national technical film foundation. But that was not the only change for the Viba Film at that time: because of the denationalisation it had also to move from it's premises (up to the end of 1995 its film studio and other facilities were located at Zrinjskega 9 in Ljubljana, in the building that was actually the St. Joseph's Church). The construction of the new film studio began soon and in 2003 Viba Film began to operate in it's new premises - modern film studio with facilities for film production, post-production and the administration covering nearly 10,000 square metres of space.

Film production

The Viba film studio was and still is primarily intended for the national film production but when it is not involved in any domestic film project it can offer it's facilities and technical services on the market. Although it was established at the time when a production company supported by the state already existed (the Triglav Film) it quickly imposed itself as a main Slovene film production company. In the period between 1956 and 1991 it produced 92 films: 61 autonomously and 31 in co-production with other Slovene and Yugoslav production companies. Some of the titles produced in that period are: Kala (1958) by Andrej Heing and Krešo Golik, A Minute for Murder (Minuta za umor, 1962) by Jane Kavčič, Good Luck, Kekec (Srečno, Kekec, 1963) by Jože Gale, On Wings of Paper (Na papirnatih avionih, 1967) by Matjaž Klopčič, Red Wheat (Rdeče klasje, 1970; co-production with FRZ - Centar filmskih radnih zajednica Srbije, Beograd) by Živojin Pavlović, Masquerade (Maškarada, 1971; co-production with Kinematografi Zagreb) by Boštjan Hladnik, Farewell until the Next War (Nasvidenje v naslednji vojni, 1980; co-production with Vesna film) by Živojin Pavlović, The Raft of Medusa (Splav Meduze, 1980; co-production with TV Beograd) by Karpo Godina, The Felons (Hudodelci, 1987; co-production with Art film, Beograd) by Franci Slak, Artificial Paradise (Umetni raj, 1990) by Karpo Godina, etc.

Also after 1994 when the Viba Film became a film studio serving as a technical foundation for the national film production the majority of Slovene films were produced using it's studio or/and technical services. Some of those are: Gone With the Train (Ekspres, ekspres, 1995) by Igor Šterk, Fortress Europe (Trdnjava Evropa, 1999) by Želimir Žilnik, Bread and Milk (Kruh in mleko, 2000) by Jan Cvitkovič, Guardian of the Frontier (Varuh meje, 2000) by Maja Weiss, Spare parts (Rezervni deli, 2002) by Damjan Kozole, Ljubljana the Beloved (Ljubljana je ljubljena, 2005) by Matjaž Klopčič, Landscape No.2 (Pokrajina št. 2, 2008) by Vinko Möderndorfer, Slovenian Girl (Slovenka, 2009) by Damjan Kozole, etc.

Furthermore the Viba Film was also involved into some international productions that included (bigger or smaller) Slovenian share like Lily's Story (Lilijina zgodba, 2002) by Robert Manthoulis, Summer in the golden valley (Poletje v zlati dolini, 2003) by Srdjan Vuletić, I Am from Titov Veles (Sem iz Titovega Velesa, 2004) by Teona Strugar Mitevska, Grey Lorry of Red Colour (Sivi kamion rdeče barve, 2004) by Srdjan Koljević.

Other activities

Viba Film is offering it's facilities also for non film related projects like concerts, theatre and dance performances, etc. In the past few years it's studio hosted events like the concert of Laibach music group, theatre performance with the title 100 Minutes by Tomaž Pandur, dance performance by Ljubljana Dance Theatre (PTL) titled Buto, and others.

External links

Viba Film Studio website

Emotionfilm production company website

Gustav film production company website

Viba Film Studio

Contents

Historical Overview

Film production

Other activities

See also

External links

Operated by

Financed by