6/6/2024
Gregor Božič, director, screenwriter and cinematographer, from Nova Gorica.
Gregor Božič, director, screenwriter and cinematographer, from Nova Gorica. A few days ago, his name was thrown around because he signed the photo of the short film Mož, ki ni mogel molčat (The Man Who Could Not Keep Silent), which was awarded Best in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. He describes the film as a perfect short film that tells everything in 14 minutes, and told Večer: “Once you get into the competition at Cannes, the invitations just pour in.”
He graduated in film and television directing from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana (2009) and completed his postgraduate studies in film directing at the DFFB in Berlin (2015). His first feature film, Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov (Stories from the Chestnut Woods) (2019), won the Vesna Award for Best Film at the 22nd Festival of Slovenian Film and, among others, the Vesna Award for Best Director. He has worked on many projects and received numerous awards, most notably, in addition to Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov (Stories from the Chestnut Woods), Playing Men (2017) and Hej, tovariši (Hey, Comrades) (2006). Currently, for the European Capital of Culture, he is working on the projects Navadna hruška (Ordinary Pear)/short film about the jungle and Sadni film (Fruit Film), which are in the pipeline. In cooperation with the Nosorogi Institute, he is also preparing the art and nature conservation GO! 2025 project Atlas pozabljenih sadovnjakov (Atlas of Forgotten Orchards) based on the hundreds of years of fruit-growing tradition linking both the Slovenian and Italian regions around Gorica/Nova Gorizia. Božič believes that although the territory was divided by changing national borders, it is the cultural traditions associated with fruit that have remained alive among the older populations on both sides of the border.
He also drew attention to the inestimable value of the endangered natural and cultural heritage of Goriška brda and the wider Nova Gorica/Gorizia region in a particularly valuable book, Sadje sonca (Fruits of the Sun) – I frutti del sole, produced within the Las K.U.S.A project, which contains illustrations and descriptions of the characteristics of more than 60 varieties of fruit on almost 400 pages, and is the protocol monograph of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia.
Photo: Mateja Pelikan
