The main award at the 75th edition of Cannes goes to a UNG School of Arts student

Date of publication: 23. 5. 2022
News

Matej Rimanić, student of the School of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica, won the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival with his short film Love in Plane Sight in the category of TikTok short films.

Matej Rimanić - Photo: Matej Rimanić and Cannes Film Festival
Matej Rimanić - Photo: Matej Rimanić and Cannes Film Festival

The Slovenian Film Centre wrote on its website that receiving the award, Rimanić, whose romantic work follows two future lovers communicating over the balcony, thanked his neighbours for allowing him to use their space at the last minute, after five other scenarios appeared just a week before the application deadline, as well as problems with securing locations. The creative team also included director of photography Nik Kranjec, along with Rimanić, the actress Eva Mlakar, sound designer Alen Fekonja, and consultant and executive producer Luka Jurinčič.

“The award, of course, first of all means confirmation for a job well done. Making films is a team sport, so this victory is not just mine, it is a reward for all of us who participated in the project. We are all in this world, so we are already looking forward to new opportunities and challenges. The director of photography, Niko Kranjc, and I joked several times in Cannes that after years of working, this is just the beginning. Personally, I hope that this award will open the door to the wider film world, as I want to do it professionally on a global scale. The two best feelings in the world are when you manage to make someone cry with laughter and can no longer breathe and vice versa; when someone makes you cry with laughter and you can no longer breathe. I do comedies because I think we take the world too seriously. People should laugh more, so I hope to be able to make that possible for as many people as possible one day. Comedy as a genre is very neglected and not appreciated enough. My biggest goal is to give comedy the respect it deserves and show the world that making good comedy is also a great art,” said Rimanić.

For the first time, the Cannes Film Festival entered into a partnership with the online platform TikTok this year, which had the #TikTokShortFilm category for short original videos. The platform invited both established filmmakers and filmmakers who are just beginning their careers to apply. They submitted short, original videos ranging in length from 30 seconds to three minutes to this film festival.

Source: Slovenian Film Centre

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