Mateja Zorko Pavšar, Šolski center Celje, Celje
It took a team of 200 secondary school students 42 days and the support of several professionals to create a work that aims to inspire and motivate young people and show them, through the life of the story’s leading character Emma, that giving up is never an option. This was a big first for almost everyone involved; it was the first time the director and producer worked on a feature film, the first time students took on acting, technical, and production roles, and certainly the first time any of them had attempted such an ambitious project. Instead of going on their summer vacation, the team headed out and produced a full feature film that made Slovenian cinematic history as the most watched Slovenian independent film of all time. The film received no support from the Slovenian Film Centre and the heart and spirit that went into it and drove it resolvedly past the all too many obstacles in its path (both financial and bureaucratic) have made it a success story on its own. It is a testament to hard-earned success and daring, a monument to the courage to hope and to dream, and above all to the process of open learning, where not a single soul thought twice about working hard and learning for 13 hours a day. This was an educational process that unfolded in the real world and was guided by an inspiration that comes from beyond the classroom walls. The students learned from professional actors and technical personnel, they learned from each other, and they created something real that they were able to proudly show to the whole country, as well as Croatia and Serbia and many other audiences.
