STA, 5 March 2021 - Film director Ema Kugler was honoured at the American Filmatic Arts Awards (AFAA) festival of independent film in New York. Her Man with Shadow (Človek s senco) was declared the best feature film of 2020 in what is the 15th award for the film.
Man with Shadow is marked by the idea that the biggest human delusion is the illusion of freedom. A newborn has no choice but to be born into this world as a completely helpless being that becomes subjected to the civilisational norms set by those in power. But what if there is more to it than that, reads the description of the film on the website of the Base of Slovenian Films.
According to the director, the 2019 film speaks of the inability of beings to be autonomous, free beings. The other question it deals with is the question of human reproduction or the question of what forces humans into reproduction.
The film was produced by Zavod ZANK in co-production with VPK, NuFram, Zvokarna, Mb Grip VPK pro, Big Heart Studio and with the support of the Slovenian Film Centre.
It has won a number of awards, including for the best experimental drama at the 53rd international festival of independent film WorldFest Houston, the best experimental film at the European Cinematography Awards festival in Amsterdam, an award for experimental film at the L'Age d'Or (LIAFF) festival in Kolkata, and the best experimental and best narrative film at the Los Angeles Film Awards festival.
It also won the best experimental film award at the 22nd Festival of Slovenian Film and Kugler was named the winner of last year's Štiglic lifetime achievement award in film and theatre directing.
