PODCAST | FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Jan Cvitkovič, director of the film Siska Deluxe from the 2016 Febiofest Prague International Film Festival.
To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film
This year, Febiofest dedicated a whole section as a tribute to Slovenian director Jan Cvitkovič, who also presented his latest film Siska Deluxe in its program. A comedy flirting with absurdism and also deals with some more delicate and serious issues, in this interview we ask him about the origins of the film, how he constructed it and cast it.
We also ask him more generally about what his infleunces are, and he reveals that his background is more from literature than from films. He also says that everytime he finishes a project he tells himself it will be the last, although it never is. How does he feel now that Siska Deluxe is finished? The same!
SISKA DELUXE: The absurd comedy takes place in the neighbourhood of Siska in Ljubljana. Mile is a forty-something smartass living with his mother – the same age as his friends, Fedr, a former skinhead and now a divorced father, and an ex-punk and orphan, Zekir. Their plan to open a pizza place is a chance to change their abysmal lives, but since they can’t stop acting like utter losers, customers don’t exactly flock to their venue. But then mysterious Jana inspires them to offer a unique service of “Siska Deluxe” with their pizza: Order a pizza together with anything that would make you happy, and we’ll arrange it! Business immediately skyrockets and it seems that everybody in Siska is happier thanks to the “wish-granting pizza”. Will Siska Deluxe also bring luck to the protagonists themselves?
Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival 2026, joining George Clooney among this year's recipients of the prestigious award.
Miroslav Terzić's 3 Weeks After, winner of the Europa Cinemas Label at Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2026: "It's not just about peer violence, but about a violent society, and we are all in it."
Tonia Mishiali's The Lion at My Back, winner of the Ecumenical Jury Grand Prize at Karlovy Vary 2026, is the second chapter of her trilogy on women living on the sidelines
Ivan Ostrochovský's Only Beautiful Things to Look At tackles forced sterilisation through magnificent visuals: "If the film visually goes against the topic, maybe it is scarier."