Ljubljana, Slovenia
$500 - $1500 / Day
I am a Slovenian citizen, born in 1979. Since 2001 I have been working as an investigative journalist, Middle East and Africa correspondent and a filmmaker. I started my career on Radio Student in Ljubljana and then went on to work for national weekly Mladina and Slovenian edition of Le Monde Diplomatique. Between 2012 and 2015 I was working for national public television RTV SLO. Throughout the years I was reporting mainly from the following countries and regions: East Timor, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey (Kurdistan), Palestine (Gaza), Egypt, South Sudan, Libya, Algeria and Western Sahara. For RTV SLO I made two documentary films, The Coalition of Hatred (Koalicija sovraštva; 2014) and Frontlines of Kurdistan (Fronte Kurdistana; 2015). The Coalition of Hatred, which dealt with neonazi and racist groups in Slovenia, their international relations and connections with the biggest Slovenian right-wing party SDS, was commended by CIRCOM in the category ‘Investigative journalism’ in May 2015 in Dundalk, Ireland. Frontlines of Kurdistan, which I filmed during some of the worst clashes between Kurds and Islamic state members in Iraq and Syria, received an award for ‘Outstanding accomplishment’ by Slovenian Association of Journalists in November 2015. Since then I have been a freelance filmmaker. In cooperation with Slovenian film production company Staragara and RTV SLO I filmed and directed two documentaries about Assyrian/Syriac communities in South-East Turkey and Iraq. The first one is titled The Three Holy Ones (Troje svetih; 2017). It tells the story about three monasteries (they are among the oldest in the world) and their adjacent Christian communities. The second, titled Guardians of Civilization (Varuhi civilizacije; 2018), features a story about a young Assyrian sculptor and his father, an esteemed Iraqi artist, who want to renovate ancient statues that were destroyed by islamists. I also took part in the documentary The Weight of Chains (Težina lanaca; 2010) and starred in another one, titled Chaos of the World (Kaos sveta; 2014). I also wrote three books: a non-fiction one, titled Gaza under siege (Obleganje Gaze; 2011) and two novels Shadows don’t burn (Sence ne gorijo; 2015) and Death for Life (Smrt za življenje; 2017). I continue to film in the Middle East and I am currently expanding my field of work into Western Africa. I am also part of organizational team behind Kranjska Gora International Film Festival, which we started in 2016.
Documentary is unfortunately available only in Slovenian language (subtitles) but features beautiful footage of three Assyrian/Syriac monasteries that are among the oldest in the world: Mor Augin in SE Turkey and Rabban Hormizd and Mar Mattai in NW Iraq. It is also a story about adjacent Christian communities and their endless struggles for survival in the midst of war and sectarian madness.
Nenos Thabit Pataq is a young, aspiring Assyrian sculptor, following in the footsteps of his father, a well known Iraqi artist Thabit Mihael. The story begins in 2015 in Erbil, where Pataq family sought refugee after being driven out of their town Bakhdida in Nineveh by islamists a year earlier. The desire to renovate destroyed Assyrian statues drives young Nenos back home.
I visited Gaza in November 2012, shortly after the massive bombing raids by Israeli military and documented the destruction and victims of the military campaign as well as rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions due to the blockade of the territory.
Documentary is a product of a 14-month long investigation into Slovenian racist and neonazi groups, their organization, international relations and connections with Slovenian secret service and biggest Slovenian right-wing party SDS. It is considered the most relevant work on xenophobic groups ever produced in Slovenia.
I filmed this TV documentary in December 2014 and January 2015 in the region of Kurdistan. In Iraq I accompanied Kurdish forces peshmerga as they successfully attacked ISIS positions around mount Sinjar. In Turkey I interviewed activists connected to the struggle for Kurdish autonomy. In Syria I spent a week with YPG fighters as they fought for the control of a now legendary town Kobani.
I starred in this documentary alongside legendary Slovenian journalist Ervin Hladnik Milharčič and Slovenian activist Tomo Križnar. We were talking individually about the state of the world and reached some common conclusions - hence the title.
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