The shoot for Maja Križnik’s debut feature, Uncomfortable Beings, started on Monday 7 April. According to the schedule, it will last 29 days and will unfold on location in Gorizia, Grado and Lignano in Italy, as well as in Ljubljana, Šempeter, Strunjan and Škofja Loka in Slovenia.

The story revolves around three semi-estranged sisters, Ema, Megi and Rubi. Ema needs to sell the family home and take care of her nephews while Megi fights the same illness that took their mother’s life years ago, and Rubi is busy furthering her career. When Ema finds some old family tapes in the house, it triggers a wave of delayed grief, leading them to the conclusion that sometimes, the most important things are the simplest ones and that somebody’s chosen “tribe” can be their family as well.

Križnik is an up-and-coming Slovenian filmmaker who has two award-winning shorts under her belt and who also worked on the TV show Têlenovela. When she started shooting her feature-length debut, she stated: “I started writing Uncomfortable Beings as a film about people who search fiercely for a way to understand this thing called living. The ‘living’ bit can only happen through relationships – with a sister, neighbour, shop assistant, nature or a puppy – because people by themselves, when they do not interact with others, are merely floating specks of dust, lost in their own importance.”

Nika Rozman (glimpsed in Bitch, a Derogatory Term for a Woman [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]) plays the role of Ema and leads the cast. Jana Zupančič (seen in Corporation) takes on the role of Megi, while Janja Majzelj (Shooting Blanks [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]) breathes life into Rubi. The rest of the cast includes Dejan Spasić, Izabela Gradišnik, Julijan Cvet, Marjana Brecelj, Ksenija Marinković, Ivo Ban, Mateja Pucko, Timon Šturbej, Jure Henigman and Mina Antonina. Crew-wise, Fabris Šulin serves as the director of photography, Matic Drakulić as the editor, Adrijana Furlan as the production designer and Gilda Venturini as the costume designer, while Lija Ivančič handles the make-up.

Uncomfortable Beings is being produced by Vlado Bulajić, representing Slovenian company December, and co-produced by Marta Zaccaron, of Italian firm Incipit Film. RTV Slovenia also serves as a co-production company. The project was developed at the EAVE Producers Workshop, and was presented at Sofia Meetings and Baltic Event in Tallinn. It was financially supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission and Creative Europe – MEDIA, while Viba Film Studio provides technical support.