Since the event coincides with celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, three films are dedicated to war: Aleksandr Kott's "Fortress of War" (Brestskaya krepost), Fedor Bondarchuk's "Stalingrad" and Aleksandr Proshkin's "Expiation" (Iskuplenie).

Other highlights include Proshkin's "Patients" (Pacienti) and Mikhail Ugurov's biography of Anton Chekhov, "Brothers Ch" (Bratia Ch).

The first such event of its kind at the Cinematheque has been organised by the Ljubljana-based Forum of Slavic Cultures and Planeta Kino, the Russian film promotion agency, with support of the Russian Embassy and Russian Culture Ministry.

Andreja Rihter, the head of the Forum of Slavic Cultures, told the press today that the event marked the forum's in-depth foray into film, an area that had not previously been in the focus.

She hopes the effort will eventually lead to Slovenian film being showcased in a similar event in Russia and the Ljubljana Film Festival having a section dedicated to Slavic film production.