People

Rok Biček

Slovenia

Biography

Already as a student, Biček's work revealed a rare confidence, backed up by a clear esthetic favoring one shot sequences, specific color schemes and dramatic subjects narrated in an almost low-key, off-hand, but always controlled style. Like the filmmakers who inspired him, such as Michael Haneke, Christian Mungiu and Andrey Zvyagintsev, Biček plays with the potential danger lurking in small, everyday details. A gesture, a glance or the wrong word can have the potential to spark a fire. His graduation short "Duck Hunting" (2010) from the Ljubljana Academy of Theater, Radio, Film and Television was instantly acquired by ARTE. Shot in the faded colors of autumnal Slovenian wetlands, two sons pick up their father from jail, taking him on a duck hunt that quickly turns into a Greek tragedy. Shot with laser-like precision and actors unafraid to explore emotional connections, "Class Enemy" (2013) is his confident feature debut that has been premiered and awarded at 28th Venice International Film Critics’ Week. Inspired by a suicide and a student revolt during his own school days, Biček uses long takes and mostly non-professional actors to convey the drama that unfolds in the classroom when a girl commits suicide after coincidentally having received an icy rebuke from the new German teacher, played by Slovenia's leading actor Igor Samobor.

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