Feature film Shanghai Gypsy is a love story. The main protagonists are members of the gypsyfamily Mirga. A story about four generations is narrated by Lutvija Belmondo Mirga. Lutvijais the central character of the film, a gypsy king, who decided to establish his own gypsyvillage. He names it Shanghai. Belmondo makes a living on smuggling and his power andinfluence grow large. He even gets local police and politics on his side and that helps him tobecome untouchable for law. But with the downfall of Yugoslavia, smuggling of goods is replaced by smuggling of the arms. Though lucrative, the business starts to threatenBelmondo’s personal life and he finds himself at the crossroads. Will he protect his ownfamily or is he going to sacrifice his personal happiness for business ambitions?
Slovene premiere of the film Shanghai Gypsy will happen on September 25 in Maribor in the presence of the film crew. Shanghai Gypsy was produced by Arsmedia and coproduced by Jadran Film Zagreb, RTV Slovenija and MARIBOR 2012 - European Capital of Culture.
Marko Naberšnik, director/ screenwriter
Marko Naberšnik was born in1973, inMaribor, Slovenia. After graduating from the high school in Maribor, Marko attended a film-directing course at the New York Film Academy in 1996. There he made his first short film The Beginning and it was with this film that he passed the entrance exam and began with studies of film and TV directing at the Ljubljana Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT), University of Ljubljana. In 2002 he graduated from the Academy in film and TV directing, and in 2010 he completed his Masters Degree. Marko has been working as a Docent at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and TV in Ljubljana and as a director of films, documentary films and various TV shows. So far he has directed more than 500 TV shows, among them:StudioCity(a primetime weekly informative), Victors (the national media awards in 2004, 2005, 2008), As ti tud not padu? (a hit primetime TV show), Zmago Batina – Take It or Leave It (a hit primetime entertainment show), Cheers! (Na zdravje – a hit primetime music show) and many more. Already Marko’s student films were great success: his short film With Love received the prestigious University Prešeren’s Award in 2001, his short film Pavle was awarded as the best student film at the 5th Slovenian Film Festival in Portorož in 2002 and received the Jury Award at Etuda – The International Film Festival Krakow. In 2007 Marko directed his first fiction feature film Rooster’s Breakfast, which became one of the biggest box office hits in Slovenia and a receiver of many film awards at home and abroad. At the Slovenian Film Festival in Portorož, Rooster’s Breakfast received awards for the best directing and screenplay and was chosen the best film by the audiences. Rooster’s Breakfast was regularly distributed in Bosnia and Serbia. The film also received the Victor – a national Award for special achievements and was the Slovenian candidate for the Oscar. While on tour inUSAthe film was noticed at the 4th Annual South East European Film Festival (Cinema Without Borders) inLos Angelesand received the best film award by the choice of film critics. Shanghai Gypsy is Naberšnik’s second feature fiction film.
Feri Lainšček, author of the novel
Shanghai Gypsy is based on the novel The Untouchables written by Feri Lainšček, who is one of the most notable contemporary Slovenian writers. Feri Lainšček was born in1959 inDolenci in Prekmurje. Today he lives and writes in Murska Sobota. He is a very prolific writer; his bibliography of monographic editions contains more than 100 titles. Five of his novels were turned into feature films: Halgato, Mokuš, Summer Hit, Rooster’s Breakfast, and Tractor, Love and Rock’n'roll. Shanghai Gypsy is the sixth feature film based on one of his novel. For the novel The One Brought by the Fog Lainšček rec