(Ali je bilo kaj avantgardnega?, Matavez Jerman, Jurij Meden, Slovenia 2024, 98 min., DCP, Slovenian with English subtitles)
Between 2013 and 2023, the Slovenian Cinematheque preserved and digitized 179 short films created on a tiny stretch of land between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea in the period of socialism (1945-1991), but mostly outside the prevailing state production. Today, we belatedly recognize these films as experimental and as an important, innovative part of the Slovenian film heritage, visible again for the first time after decades. Co-directed by former Curator of Film Exhibitions Jurij Meden, the production of Alpe-Adria Underground! has radically accelerated efforts to preserve, digitize and restore this segment of Slovenian cinema. Clips of these extraordinary films are intercut with interviews with those who made, study, and celebrated this newly-unearthed corner of cinema history.