SlovenščinaWe opened the 5th International Sports Documentary and Feature Film Festival in Rogaška Slatina with a gala evening. A large crowd gathered, all sharing a common passion for sports—athletes and passionate individuals dedicated to sharing and preserving sports stories through media, film, photography, and sports journalism.
We were joined by representatives of local and national institutions, including the Municipality of Rogaška Slatina, the Tourism Board, school representatives, and state-level organizations such as the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO), hotel representatives and festival crew.
During the evening, we honored 9 of this year’s 11 exceptional individuals with the ISFF Festival awards, paying tribute to their outstanding work in sports and culture both at home and worldwide. They are: doctor and journalist Andrej Stare, our first NBA basketball player Marko Milič, legendary coach Zmago Sagadin, internationally renowned sports photographer Aleš Fevžer, excellent indoor and para-volleyball player Anita Urnaut, professor at the Faculty of Sport and co-creator of para-sports development Boro Štrumbelj, multi-time Summer and Winter Olympian and visual artist Liston Bochette III, pioneer of our cross-country skiing Milena Kordež, and Slovenian entrepreneur and innovator Peter Slatnar.A supporter of the festival for five years now, Steklarna Rogaška has presented all award recipients with beautiful crystal vases.From the very beginning of the festival, Kozmetika Afrodita has been standing by our side, gifting both the award recipients and every single attendee of the festival’s opening ceremony. In addition, the winners received sparkling wine from our guest and the main protagonist of the film From Goalpost to Wine Tendril (Od vratnice do vitice), Mr. Janez Istenič.
Two of the award recipients were unfortunately unable to attend: Slovenia’s most successful swimmer Peter Mankoč, whose parents accepted the award on his behalf, and the incisive TV host, publicist, and film critic Marcel Štefančič Jr., to whom the award will be presented in the coming days.
We also hosted a record number of filmmakers who traveled from Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, England, and the USA.
The special guest of the evening was Janez Istenič. We screened his film, created by Timotej Istenič and Primož Dolničar, at the beginning of the event, as we are always delighted to showcase Slovenian films with sports themes. Before becoming an internationally renowned enologist and successful sparkling wine producer, Mr. Istenič was actually the first Slovenian football goalkeeper to play for the Yugoslav youth national team.
The evening was beautifully enriched by performances from soloist Alja Krofljič and pianist Josip Tkalec. The event traditionally took place in a warm, friendly atmosphere—a microcosm of a world without borders, one might say. The bond among the award recipients was strengthened even further by one of their own, Liston Bochette III, who gifted everyone a portfolio of his fine art prints. Contributing to the great mood were also the Mayor of Rogaška Slatina (who in his youth was a basketball player coached by Zmago Sagadin) and Uroš Bitenc, who brilliantly hosted the evening with just the right amount of humor.
Long after the delicious dinner catered by Gostišče Jug, guests remained seated and standing, engaged in wonderful conversations. As always, we said our goodbyes with the wish to meet again. Because the ISFF festival team loves working with the people behind the films even more than the films themselves