Slovenia Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Aljaz Skorjanec has been told his drink of choice was 'deserved' as he was seen without his baby daughter for the first time. While it's not the first time he's had to be away from his first child, the new dad did appear to be enjoying a little date night with his wife Janette Manrara.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has been impressed by Jonny Evans’ displays for Manchester United in pre-season and hopes talks over a short-term contract will soon conclude.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Triple Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” which will premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, before going onto Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival, has sold to multiple territories. Variety has been granted access to an exclusive clip from the film, and Holland’s notes on the production, which we quote from below, again exclusively.

Janette Manrara said 'goodbyes are always hard' as she shared an emotional family update on social media.

Strictly Come Dancing star Janette Manrara confidently showed off her "real" post-pregnancy body just 24 days after giving birth to her daughter. The professional dancer, 39, welcomed her first child - a baby girl called Lyra Rose Skorjanec with her husband, Aljaž Škorjanec, 33, on 28 July, 2023. The pregnancy came as quite the surprise for the pair, who were just about to start their IVF journey before Janette fell pregnant.The new parents have been keeping fans updated on their journey so far on Instagram, including Janette proudly showing off her body as she feels "confident and happy" in her skin, just 24 days after giving birth.

A dad says he had to pay £3,000 and drive 1,000 miles across Europe to join his family on holiday - after he fell victim to a little-known passport rule.

BreAnna Bell Luka Dončić announced he’ll be self-producing and releasing, “Everything It Takes,” a short-form docuseries that aims to give viewers an inside look at the 2023 Slovenia national basketball team’s journey to the FIBA Basketball World Cup. “I am proud to share the story of my national team, especially my teammates, and to shine a light on Slovenian basketball and what it means to me,” Dončić said. “It’s more than just what we do on the court.

Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani clinched the Best Feature Award in the main international competition of the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival with her latest pic Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry. The award comes with a €16,000 cash prize.

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara has been defended by her fans after she shared an adorable post of her first walk with baby Lyra.The Strictly It Takes Two presenter announced she and her fellow Strictly legend husband Aljaz Skorjanec, 33, were pregnant earlier this year and have since been sharing updates with fans.The pregnancy came as quite the surprise for the pair who were just about to star their IVF journey before Janette, 39, fell pregnant with baby Lyra Rose Skorjanec who was born on July 28 this year. And three weeks into being a new mum Janette shared an update with her fans where she revealed they had done a 'first' with their baby.

Janette Manrara has told fans she experienced a fresh 'first' with her baby daughter as fans rushed to share the same 'love' message. The dancer-turned-presenter is now three weeks into life as a new mum and has been keeping her fans and followers updated on her biggest role to date.

Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec delighted fans after giving them an insight into baby Lyra Rose's first meeting with her grandparents and auntie. The Strictly Come Dancing couple welcomed their darling girl last month and they have been keeping fans updated with their parenting adventures.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Sarajevo Film Festival has modified its scheduled activities on Wednesday after the Bosnia and Herzegovina government declared it to be a “Day of Mourning” following three murders committed in Gradačac on Friday. The perpetrator, a bodybuilder, reportedly livestreamed the murder of his first victim, his former wife, on Instagram.

The Sarajevo Film Festival has canceled all social events and will halt red-carpet coverage set for tomorrow (Aug 16) to observe Bosnia’s national day of mourning following a high-profile triple murder-suicide in the country’s Northeastern region.

Christopher Vourlias A pulse-pounding, pulled-from-the-headlines story of political intrigue set against the backdrop of Europe’s green revolution is at the heart of “Greater Adria,” an ambitious, pan-European co-production being prepped by some of the continent’s top independent TV producers. The series, co-created by Nebojša Taraba and Simona Nobile, is produced by Taraba for Croatia’s Drugi Plan, Peter Nadermann of Germany’s Nadcon Film and Marco de Angelis for Italy’s Fabula Pictures. Also on board is Belgian distribution and production outfit Lumiere, the leading distributor in the Benelux region, while public broadcasters HRT from Croatia and RTV of Slovenia are among the financiers.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “The Hollow” won the Heart of Sarajevo Award for best TV drama series at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday, and also came away with a host of other awards. The in-competition series came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia.

Tara Karajica In her sophomore feature, contemporary fairytale “Rift in the Ice,” Serbian director Maja Miloš revisits the underbelly of Serbian society and explores women’s integrity and sexuality in the harsh reality of contemporary Serbia. The film is a co-production between Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Netherlands and Montenegro, and features in the works-in-progress section of Cinelink, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry program. It is hoping to woo partners and funds for completion.

Brits travelling to northern Europe have been warned of stormy weather as heavy rain and strong winds hit the Baltic Sea region. The extreme conditions have caused major travel disruption across countries in the area and have resulted in the death of one person.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor French-based sales agency Lightdox has acquired the international rights to feature documentary “Body” by Slovenian director and screenwriter Petra Seliškar ahead of its world premiere at the 29th edition of Sarajevo Film Festival. The trailer for the film has just been released (below). The film screens on Aug.

Janette Manrara has bravely opened up on her experience with labour after she was advised to give birth to her newborn baby daughter Lyra via A C-section a few days ago, and revealed she's on medication for a subsequent health issue.The former Strictly Come Dancing professional and now It Takes Two presenter is currently living in her baby bubble with husband Aljaž Škorjanec as they welcomed their first child together on July 28. Speaking to her 564,000 followers, the proud mum-of-one, 39, revealed that she had been struggling with a painful and "itchy" rash on her post-pregnancy belly as a result of having an operation. Filming herself getting some rest on the sofa while baby Lyra slept soundly next to her, and Slovenian fellow-dancer Aljaž, 33, lay on the floor watching TV, Janette smiled.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has boarded international sales on “Not a Word,” which will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in the competitive Platform section. The cast is led by Maren Eggert, who won the best acting award at the Berlin Film Festival for “I’m Your Man.” The film is written and directed by Hanna Slak, whose credits include the Slovenian Oscar entry “The Miner,” and was lensed by Claire Mathon, the cinematographer of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Saint-Omer,” “Stranger by the Lake” and “Spencer.” Eggert plays ambitious musician and conductor Nina.

After a blowout debut weekend, Barbenheimer showed strong continued momentum at the international box office on Monday. Warner Bros’ Barbie for its part had the best Monday ever for the studio overseas at $32M from 69 markets (it also scored the studio’s best Monday domestically). The running offshore total through yesterday is $226.3M, bringing the global Kenergy to $414.4M.

The Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled its official selection for this year’s edition, with Elene Naveriani’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry among the titles playing in Competition.

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) by director Stephan Komandarev.

Naman Ramachandran Cleopatra Entertainment has secured the North American and U.K. distribution rights for Japanese superhero film “Lion-Girl.” The film is written and directed by cult Japanese director Kurando Mitsutake (“Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf”) and based on characters created by prolific manga artist Go Nagai. The story revolves around survivors of a meteor shower who find themselves locked in a battle against each other and a group of creatures called Anoroc, monsters who hunt and kill humans to extract their life force. The cast includes Tori Griffith (“Wake Up,” “Princess of the Row”) as the titular Lion-Girl, Derek Mears, known for his roles in comic book adaptations such as The CW’s “Swamp Thing” series, Damian TooFeek Raven (“The Chadwick Journals”), David Sakurai (“Fantastic Beasts”), Shelby Lee Parks (“Good Trouble”), Matt Standley (“Fairyland”), and Joey Iwanaga (“Enter the Fat Dragon”).

Marta Balaga Studios shouldn’t rely just on IP-based content to make artistically bold choices, said director Jeff Rowe at Annecy. “Right now, things like ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Sperverse’ are this Trojan horse – they are taking a well-known IP and using that to break artistic boundaries and move the medium forward. My hope is that the studios will take these kinds of risks also with original ideas.” Rowe, now behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” spoke out at Variety’s “Breaking the Borders of Animation” panel, moderated by its chief film critic Peter Debruge. 

Katcy Stephan SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. Connor Roy was interested in politics at an early age — but Alan Ruck isn’t convinced. “He can say anything he wants to say, but just because he was interested doesn’t mean he’s knowledgeable.” Still, in his mid-50s, Connor’s interest is finally becoming a reality — with a catch. In the finale of HBO’s acclaimed drama “Succession,” from creator Jesse Armstrong, Ruck’s character is poised to become the next ambassador to Slovenia, provided that Jeryd Mencken actually becomes president. But his new wife Willa (Justine Lupe) drops a bombshell: She will be staying in New York (in Logan’s old apartment) while Connor carries out his duties abroad.

Janette Manrara shared a 'be kind' message on social media after one of her latest posts was flooded with comments. The former Strictly Come Dancing star is weeks away from welcoming her first child with her fellow ex-Strictly star husband Aljaž Škorjanec.

Naman Ramachandran Current COO Fatima Djoumer has been appointed CEO of the Europa Cinemas network. Djoumer succeeds founder Claude-Eric Poiroux, who is stepping down from his role as general director after 30 years. Poiroux has been awarded the title of honorary president, recognizing his contribution to the creation and development of the network, which now includes more than 3,000 screens in 744 cities across 38 countries. The network was set up in 1992 to provide operational and financial support to cinemas that undertake to give a significant part of their screenings to non-national European films and to put in place activities for young audiences.

Fatima Djoumer has been appointed General Director of independent exhibitor network Europa Cinemas, replacing Claude-Eric Poiroux who is stepping down after 30 years in the role.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, will preside over the jury of the Malta Film Commission’s inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival celebrating movies from the Mediterranean Basin. The fest, which will take place in Valletta, Malta’s capital, and other locations on the island between June 25-30, will showcase films from each of the MED9 nations, an alliance of nine Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states. It comprises: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Besides Wotton the other jury members are “Triangle Of Sadness”actor Zlatko Burić; Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali; French actor and director Vahina Giocante; Greek producer Amanda Livanou; Italian journalist Boris Sollazzo; Maltese critic Mario Azzopardi; Portuguese journalist and programmer José Vieira Mendes; Slovenian journalist Tina Poglajen; and Spanish programmer Carlos Reviriego.

After last appearing on Strictly Come Dancing back in 2021, pro dancer Aljaž Škorjanec has finally opened up about why he made the decision to leave. Shortly after taking part in series 19 - his last ever season - the 33 year old confirmed he wouldn’t be returning the following year - which would have been his 10th time dancing on the show. However, it seems that his reasons for calling it a day were completely unrelated to the programme.

Christopher Vourlias Actor Sebastian Stan has come on board to produce “Blue Banks,” the feature debut of Romanian director Andreea Cristina Borțun, whose 2021 short film “When Night Meets Dawn” premiered in Directors’ Fortnight. Pic follows Lavinia, a single mother trying to make a better life on her own terms for herself and her 13-year-old son, who live in a poor Romanian village. She is impulsive, prone to misreading situations, and not sure how to love. But her son, on the threshold between childhood and adolescence, needs his mother more than ever, and over the course of four seasons their relationship is put to the test. Stan, who was born in Romania, will produce the film alongside Romanian producer Gabi Suciu, French co-producers Jean-Laurent Csinidis and Jerome Nunes and Slovenian co-producer Ales Pavlin. Shooting will take place in Romania throughout the year and is set to wrap in October.

Janette Manrara and Aljaž Škorjanec have given Gemma Atkinson a special shoutout as they appear to have leaned on her for support and advice as they prepare to welcome their first child.

The Grand Tour fans have been given a look into its upcoming series as Amazon Prime Video confirmed the new show's release date.

The Eurovision Song Contest final is underway with singers from 26 all taking to the stage.