Slovenian Film Retrospective: A Fantastic Ballad; Dance in the Rain

A Fantastic Ballad (Fantastična balada)

Boštjan Hladnik, Slovenia (Yugoslavia), 1957, 35mm, 1.37, colour, 11', English subtitles

An attempt at bringing to life the contents and motifs of the prints by the famous Slovenian painter, illustrator and printmaker France Mihelič (1907–1998).

Dance in the Rain (Ples v dežju)

Boštjan Hladnik, Slovenia (Yugoslavia), 1961, DCP (shot on 35mm), 1.66, B&W, 97', English subtitles

Peter (Miha Baloh) is a painter. One evening, a woman visits him in his rental room. When he dismisses her, he dreams about a rainy street where he stares at the only lit window, in which a female silhouette appears, making inviting gestures. Later, at a restaurant, Peter wearily sits down next to his lover, theatre actress Maruša (Duša Počkaj), who he breaks up with after lunch. A black melodrama filmed in an expressionistic modernistic style. According to many critics, the best Slovenian film of all times.