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Council member Mitja Čander labelled as a fiasco the situation in the country's movie industry. Problems exist with the management of the Slovenian Film Fund, programmes are not being carried out and Slovenian movies were seen by mere 23,000 Slovenians in 2006, a number that is comparable with an audience of a theatre play, he said during the session of the advisory body. The long-running debate about the work of the Slovenian Film Fund got heated up even more after the daily Delo accused it of failing to publish a call for bids for co-financing films since last December and said that the acting director, Stane Malčič, was blocking its activities. Delo quoted a Finance Ministry official as saying that Malčič, who is also the chair of the supervisory board, recently cancelled the supervisors' session, the second time he had done so. Malčič has not yet explained why the fund's director Irena Ostrouška was dismissed last October, Marjetica Mahne also told the daily.
Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti rejected the criticism, labelling it as inadmissible. Claims that the management is hampering the activities of the supervisors are unjustified as the management does not sway such powers, he said. Indeed, Mahne has been convening the sessions since Ostrouška's dismissal, Simoniti said and added that none of the minutes of the sessions have been signed by her until now. He also said that the act on public funds states that the head supervisor can be appointed acting director for a period of one year at the most in case the previous director was dismissed. The minister also explained that Ostrouška was dismissed because she violated legislation on public procurement when she was organising the 9th Festival of Slovenian Film, caused conflicts within the bodies in the fund and supported programmes that included pornographic elements. Ostrouška moreover failed to cooperate with the supervisors, failed to work transparently and failed to act as good manager.