Luzar’s Orchestra wins award at Beijing Film Festival

Beijing – Slovenian director Matevž Luzar has won the film direction award in the Forward Future section of the 12th Beijing International Film Festival for The Orchestra, a story of a wind orchestra travelling to a music festival held in a small Austrian town.

The award jury has recognised Luzar for his “sensitive and cheerful narrative about the misadventures of a brass band on tour in a twinned Austrian city,” the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) announced on Friday.

Co-funded by the centre and co-produced by public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, the film sees each member of the travelling ensemble have problems of their own and the stories of the five protagonists intertwining during the trip.

The jury added that the Slovenian director “presented the band members in a colourful and interesting way by thoughtfully using black and white film technique”.

This is the second international recognition for Luzar and The Orchestra after the Silver Star award for best director at the Cinedays film festival held in Skopje, North Macedonia, in July.

Luzar, who also wrote the screenplay, said he was happy with the award, as he came from a different cultural background, adding that the film had apparently appealed to the Chinese audience.

SFC director Nataša Bučar also noted the “success of the small country in such a large and different space”, and congratulated Luzar on managing to “convince such a demanding cultural space as China.”

Slovenian Ambassador to China Alenka Suhadolnik said that the award would “undoubtedly contribute to the promotion of Slovenian cinematography in China”, adding that additional presentations of Slovenian films in China were planned.

The Beijing International Film Festival featured in the Forward Future section almost 600 films from 88 countries that present various cultures in an interesting way, the SFC said.

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