BÁJANJE is a short experimental film in which author Neža Jamnikar explores elements of Slovenian folklore through movement and a fantastical tale. The focus of the research is on the intertwined interpretations of motifs from Slovenian folk dances, music, old-faith (pagan) rituals, and symbols, which are experimentally woven into the physical and conceptual embodiments of the Krivopete and Vedomci—entities from Slovenian folklore and mythology—and are gradually revealed through the film’s fictional narrative.
On their journey toward “the knowing,” three women traverse hills and forests, twist their bodies, utter incantations, and make offerings. They dance around the maypole until, in their half-dream state, they hear incomprehensible words that guide them to the “other side of the sky.”
LANGUAGE : Slovenian COUNTRY : Slovenia YEAR : 2024 DURATION : 14m DIRECTOR, EDITOR : Neža Jamnikar DOP : James Risbey SOUND DESIGN : James Risbey DANCERS : Gea Erjavec, Simona Kočar, Kaja Marion Ribnikar, Kristina Slapernik, Katarina Bogataj, Neža Jamnikar PERFORMERS : Janja Habe, Darja Jamnikar, Lidija Lončarič TEXT AND VOICE : Neža Jamnikar ORIGINAL MUSIC (lyrics: folk song): Brina & String.si – ‘Pobelelo polje’ MUSICIAN (folk song): Janja Habe Financially supported by the Municipality of Velenje, Culture Moves Europe, and donators.
Director statement : BÁJANJE was created as the first part of a trilogy in which Neža Jamnikar explores themes of her own history and identity as a Slovenian (part i), an embodied memory of her family’s home country of Yugoslavia (part ii), and an exhilarating journey of re-imagining her becoming in this world (part iii).
BÁJANJE is a sort of homage to Slovenian folklore and the history of the development of Slovenian culture. As a dancer and choreographer, Neža’s main creative language in making this film is movement. As in all of her works, she undertook extensive theoretical research before production, reading numerous books and articles about Slovenian mythology, tales (and their characteristics and structures), symbolism, pagan rituals—many of which remain part of everyday life today, magical entities that dominate many fantastical stories, folklore dances and music, objects and places of significant importance to Slovenian culture and old-faith customs, etc. The third-person narration in the film draws its inspiration from the tale Nevidna stran neba in the book Iz nevidne strani neba, in which author Pavel Medvešček collected stories and information from Old Believers in the Posočje region of Slovenia about the Old Faith as a way of life as our ancestors lived it before Christianisation. The overall film structure and several specific movement sections were developed through research on circular movement—a pattern found in many Slovenian rituals and in other cultures, often leading to a trance state or ‘traveling between worlds’. The film was shot with a digital camera and almost entirely outdoors— with one location holding a special significance to my family’s personal history—while the closing section was filmed indoors and uses practical effects.
The film is dedicated to Neža’s oma (grandmother), with whom she was very close; she passed away a year before shooting began.
Bio :Neža is a freelance movement artist working at the intersection of live performance and film. She holds a BA in Dance and Choreography from the Dance Academy Ljubljana (Slovenia, 2014) and an MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from IWAMD, University of Limerick (Ireland, 2016).
She is deeply invested in creating an embodied archive of knowledge from various somatic practices and in combining those practices with improvisation to develop her movement praxis. Improvisation and instant composition are also central to her performance and film work. Her projects are research-based and collaborative, currently focusing primarily on ideas derived from socio-political spheres and psychological states.
Since 2009, Neža has (co)created, collaborated on, and performed in feature-length dance pieces, films, and short works with artists and companies across Slovenia, Europe, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. She has won awards for her solo dance work ‘Saudade’ and for the short films ‘Love, Instantly!’ and ‘BÁJANJE’.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
