Travel planning


Slovenia reading and movie list

  • Slovenia 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II, by John Corsellis and Marucs Ferrar. A moving diaspora story of WWII. The authors called on research from Slovene migrant communities world-wide for their stories.
  • Memoirs of a Doctor: From Slovenia to Switzerland to New York City, by Silvester Lango MD. A collection of stories, anecdotes and historical knowledge told by a Slovene orthopedic surgeon living in the US since 1972. He remembers the ravages of his war-torn home country while trying to pursue his medical studies and training.
  • History in Exile: Memory and Identity at the Borders of the Balkans, by Pamela Ballinger. The author examines the political and cultural context of the historical consciousness formed from the exile of 350,000 ethnic Italians from the border zone between Italy and Yugoslavia, known as the Julian March.
  • To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945, by Gregor J. Kranjc. This is the first English language book about the Slovene-Axis collaboration during WWII. It covers why so many Slovenes when faced with possible extermination collaborated with the invaders from Germany, Hungary and Italy.
  • Angels Beneath the Surface, edited by Mitja Cander and Tom Priestly is a collection of contemporary short stories (1990 – 2005) by Slovene writers.
  • I’ll Calm the Horses is a book of poetry by Tone Skrjanec. A small number of books were printed in 2010 by Ugly Duckling Press and it appears to be out of print, but perhaps one could stumble upon a copy.
  • Kekec (1951) by director Joze Gale is a Venice International Film Festival award winner in the youth adventure genre.
  • Dobro morje (1956). The Valley of Peace is a war drama Cannes Film Festival best actor nomination.
  • Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Parts of the movie were filmed in the Soca River region of Slovenia.
  • Porno Film (2000). A comedy about Charley and his 3 fiends that decide to make the first porno movie made in Slovenia. Charley, who has watched porn since he was a kid, considers himself the best choice for director; and one of the friends runs a brothel—the perfect place to find their female movie stars. However, things go wildly wrong when Charley’s friend falls in love with one of the girls and when the girls’ former pimp shows up wanting his girls back.
  • No Man’s Land (2001). One Bosnian and one Serb soldier, both wounded, find themselves together in the trench between their fighting lines considered to be no man’s land. The story continues to get complicated when a mine ready to detonate is found under another wounded soldier. Can the men wave the white flag of truce and cooperation in order to be saved?
  • Slovenian Girl (2009). The story of Alexandra, a student from Krsko, a small town in Slovenia, while she studies English in Ljubljana.
  • Circus Columbia (2010). Set in the former Yugoslavia, a man returns to Herzegovina with a bounty of cash looking for a new life.
  • The Weight of Chains (2010). A Canadian documentary that looks at the role that the US, the EU, and NATO played in the breakup of Yugoslavia. It includes rare footage never before seen by western audiences.
  • The Parade (2011). While gay activists are planning a Pride parade in the year 2011 in the midst of a strong homophobic climate, a Serbian gangster sacrifices himself to protect gay rights and freedom in his country.
  • Sladke sanje (2001) Sweet Dreams. A story of 13-year-old Egon, growing up against the back drop of the emergence of rock and roll in 1970’s Slovenia.
  • Kruh in mleko (2001) A very internationally successful Slovene film that delves into the social ills of alcoholism.
  • Zadnja večerja (2001) A comedy about two people that break out of an insane asylum with a video camera and a plan to shoot a movie.