Damjan Kozole

Damjan Kozole (born 1964 in Brežice, Slovenia) is an award-winning Slovenian filmmaker whose directing credits include the 2003 critically acclaimed Spare Parts and 2009 worldwide released Slovenian Girl, among others. Spare parts was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival; in 2008 Sight & Sound ranked this film among the ten most important films of the New Europe.

In 2012 Kozole received Lifetime Achievement Award at the Rome Film Festival.

In his films, "some of the most raffish, funky and even sordid characters discover their own humanity" (Alissa Simon, Variety).

For his new film Nightlife (2016) he won Best director award at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

His 2003 feature film Spare Parts tells a story of two human traffickers from a small town in Slovenia who transport illegal migrants from Croatia on to the Western Europe, for a hefty fee. The film was premiered in the Competition Programme at Berlinale 2003 and following that at more than fifty international film festivals, where it won many international awards. It was released theatrically in more than 20 countries. According to The Guardian, "Slovenian writer-director Damjan Kozole has given us one of the most powerful and provocative movies of the year" (Peter Bradshaw). 2008 Sight & Sound ranked Spare Parts among ten most important films of the “New Europe”.

Labour Equals Freedom was premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival 2005 and won the Grand Prix (Golden Palm) and best director award (Silver Palm) at the 2006 Valencia Int. Film Festival. It tells a story of a depressed middle-age man who, due to a twist of fate, finds new joy in life through working for the common good. According to Variety, "Kozole creates a mood of affectionate cynicism, with shrewd subtexts tallying foibles of contempo society" (Eddie Cockrell).

...
Wikipedia