The Birdbreeder

by Robert Černelč

Ptičar, 2022, fiction, digital DCP, 2,39:1/2,35:1, c, 84 min
Finished

The Birdbreeder is a story about Ivo, a trader in birds, who suddenly loses his wife Ana while buying an old family home. Before she died, Ana, a composer, was working on a score for Erich von Stroheim’s silent debut Blind Husbands to celebrate its centenary. When Ivo decides to finish Ana’s score and starts preparing an unusual wake for her in the house where she died, life takes a turn for him and his family.

screenwriter
Robert Černelč
director
Robert Černelč
producer
Miha Černec
co-producer
Leon Krpič
director of photography
Boj Nuvak
music composer
Tina Mauko
film editor
Miloš Kalusek
production designer
Robert Černelč
costume designer
Nadja Gnamuš
key make-up artist
Lidija Zver
sound designer
Julij Zornik

featuring
Dejan Berden, Maruša Majer, Pavle Ravnohrib, Lara Simona Taufer, Tina Mauko, Žan Pirman, Matej Gnamuš Černelč, Janez Žilavec, Erika Žilavec, Simon Berden, Tanja Buzeti, Branko Horvat, Franc Solina, Vladimir Vlaškalić, Anja Vrdlovec, Vanja Zadravec

production
Tramal Films
co-production
Super 16
co-funding
Slovenian Film Centre
distribution
Tramal Films

Tramal Films
Miha Černec
tramalfilms@gmail.com

Robert Černelč (1970) graduated in painting from the ALUO and in film direction from the AGRFT. Since 2013, he has lectured at both of these Academies. He has been a Slovenian filmmaker since 1999 (a screenwriter, editor, production designer, and director of fiction short films, including Abaddon, 1999; Worms, 2004; The Bottom, 2014). The Birdbreeder is his first feature.

“I was fascinated by the research into the specific mental state that establishes itself when reality becomes a burden and fiction assumes the function of grounding.”

WP:
Festival of Slovenian Film, Competition Feature Fiction, 2022

Awards:
Vesna Award best production design (Festival of Slovenian Film, 2022)