ŠIŠKA DELUXE

Three childhood friends who, though they're now grown-ups, have little by way of success to look back on. Nevertheless they resolve to open a pizzeria in the run-down Ljubljana neighbourhood of Šiška. Though the project initially appears doomed to fail, they refuse to lose heart, full of belief in the virtues of patience.

These three friends have never really managed to escape the working-class district of Šiška, with its high-rise residential buildings; having struggled over the years to keep their heads above water with the help of various odd jobs they're certainly not kids anymore, but they've also not really managed to grow-up. Mile is probably the smartest of the three; he still lives at home with his mother, with whom he studies maps of foreign cities. Once a skinhead, Fyodor is now divorced with a young daughter whilst Zekir, the third link in the chain, was until recently a punk. When the small commercial property that once belonged to a recently-deceased aunt is vacated they come up with sure-fire business idea intended to put an end to the trio's eternal financial and private worries: a pizzeria is to be the neighbourhood's next culinary success story. Running a business isn't quite as easy as they imagine however; the restaurant has no charm, the expected crowds of diners stay away and the fledgling restaurant owners struggle to shake off old habits. It is then that Jana appears on the scene and convinces the friends to launch a pizza delivery service, to be named Šiška Deluxe: “Order a pizza and whatever else that would make you happy right now, we’ll make it happen!” The new business quickly proves a success, bringing a much needed sense of optimism to the community in the process, but are Mile, Fyodor and Zekir really happier than they were before? Jan Cvitkovič pitched this bittersweet, down-to-earth comedy at the connecting cottbus co-production market in 2013. WMH