The 19th Grossmann Festival of Fantastic Film and Wine, one of the most unique film festivals in the country, will put the spotlight on the action genre with Hollywood filmmaker John McTiernan as the guest of honour.

The festival is held in Ormož and Ljutomer in the wine-growing north-east of the country. The first two days, it will take place in Ormož and then Ljutomer will take over until Saturday.

McTiernan, who rose to fame at the end of the 1980s, will receive the Honorary Vicious Cat award. Along with the hugely successful Predator, Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance, McTiernan is also known for The Hunt for Red October and Last Action Hero.

The festival will honour his work with a retrospective that will include all these five films as well as The 13th Warrior.

McTiernan will attend all of the screenings of his films, give a master class, and discuss his filmmaking with film critic Marcel Štefančič jr.

In what is another tribute to his legacy, McTiernan will receive the 12th star on the Hollywood-style Prlekija Walk of Fame, which was last year's addition to the festivities.

The guest of honour will also chair the jury that will pick the winner of the Vicious Cat award for best film.

The six nominated feature films this year are the US production eVil Sublet, Spanish-French fantasy adventure Irati, Mexican horror Evil Eye (Mal De Ojo), Luxembourg's werewolf film Wolfkin (Kommunioun), Belgian horror Megalomaniac, and Croatian thriller Uncle (Stric).

Six short films are competing for Slak's Vicious cat award and another 16 for the Melies D'Argent award for best European fantastic short film, including the Slovenian entry, The Legend of Goldhorn (Legenda o Zlatorogu).

In another competition section, five music documentaries are vying for the Noisy Cat award.

The festival will close with the traditional gory zombie parade.