In the Švicarija Creative Centre, on 12 June 2018, we presented the Župančič Awards 2018, the highest recognitions of the City of Ljubljana for outstanding creations in the field of art and culture, which are lastingly enriching the cultural treasure chest of the Slovenian capital and are resounding even in the wider national and international area with their excellence.

The Župančič Lifetime Achievement Award went to

film, theatre, opera, television and radio director, scriptwriter, director of photography and distinguished university professor Karpo Godina.

Karpo Godina received the award for his monumental life opus with 21 feature films, among them three cult Slovenian films, The Medusa Raft (Splav meduze, 1980), one of the best Yugoslav films of all times, Red Boogie or What’s Up Girl (Rdeči boogie ali Kaj ti je deklica, 1982) and Artificial Paradise (Umetni raj, 1990), almost hundred short films and 600 propaganda films. The artist participated in official programmes of all more noteworthy world film festivals and over hundred film panels, and for his work he received, in addition to the Grand and Small Prešeren Awards, all important film awards, over forty in total, even the Order of Merit for the advertising campaign Slovenia, my country (Slovenija, moja dežela) and the Štiglič Lifetime Achievement Award in film and television directing. Very early on he made a name for himself with short films as the key personality of the Yugoslav black wave, at the same creating conceptual art works in cooperation with neo-avant-garde artists of his time. The fundamental elements of his opus are in terms of substance his social criticism, for which he was severely reprimanded by the government, humour, irony, and on the formal level his highly cultivated aesthetics and original talent for film narration, through which the artist fully fulfils his rich creative life, and in his many years as a professor of film directing and TV-camera for directors he has been cultivating film enthusiasts among his students. The global fame of the legend of Yugoslav and Slovenian film Karpo Godina is leaving an inspiring mark on the Slovenian capital as an ever more established city of film and culture, and therefore Ljubljana has the great pleasure to honour him with the Župančič Lifetime Achievement Award.

Recipients of the Župančič Award 2018 are:

- contemporary dance ensemble EnKnapGroup

- theatre creators and circus art teachers Nataša and Ravil Sultanov

- writer, poet, translator and editor Jani Virk