Country: Slovene
Year: 2023
Duration: 98'
Lutheran pastor Jana finds herself struggling to practise what she preaches to her rural Slovenian parish. She has a strong religious background, with both her parents being pastors. She has overcome childhood sexual abuse, her father’s alcoholism and a rebellious youth. With her humorous and open spirit, she feels more and more trapped in the rigid teachings of her Church. She is faced with a life’s dilemma whether to step away from her profession. Her family is strongly against it. Meanwhile the cracks in her marriage also appear and long hidden family wounds start to open.
Biography
film director
Maja Prettner
(Slovenia, 1987) holds an M.A. in Film Directing from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She has been working on documentary and awarded fiction series with different television broadcasters. Her films have been shown at film festivals in Slovenia and abroad. Home Sweet Home (2017) was her first awarded documentary feature. She was a selected artist in residence in New York, US. In 2018, she was selected Berlinale Talent Campus Alumna as part of the Berlinale festival. Her latest documentary feature Woman of God was premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film festival, it was also awarded the Al Jazeera Balkan Star Award, as well as the Audience Award, Fipresci Award and Best Editing Award at Slovenian Film Festival.
FILMOGRAFIA
Limonada (cm, 2012), Dom, ljubi dom (Home Sweet Home, doc, 2016), Biba (cm, doc, 2018), Najini mostovi (Our Bridges, serie tv, 2020-2021), Sekirca v med (Lotto Millionaire, serie tv, 2021), Duhovnica (Woman of God (2024).
Declaration
film director
"For five years we have put our heart into this project, following the everyday routine and important personal events of our protagonist, pastor Jana. Woman of God is an observational and also participative documentary feature. We have managed to be a part of Jana’s inner circle and experience intimate family moments with her daughter, husband and parents. The village church community also plays an import role in her life, and adds spice and humour to the story. Both me and the director of photography originate from the same rural environment where the story takes place and feel deeply connected to the soul of the local people. Jana is a complex and intriguing character: funny, spontaneous, edgy, straightforward and profoundly thoughtful."
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR: Maja Prettner. SCREENPLAY: Maja Prettner, Iza Strehar, Boštjan Virc. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jože Glažar. MONTAGGIO: Sara Gjergek. SOUND: Simon Penšek. PRODUCERS: Boštjan Virc, Nataša Vugrinec. PRODUCTION: Studio Virc.
CONTACT: Slovenian Film Centre (Nerina Kocjancic) Nerina.Kocjancic@film-center.si
