YouTube-born comedy becomes Slovenia's biggest film hit
Ljubljana, 17 July - Evolving from a YouTube series, the low-budget comedy satire Pr'Hostar has become the biggest ever hit in independent Slovenia, attracting 209,859 cinemagoers in less than eight months since its release.
Ljubljana
The team of filmmakers who produced Pr' Hostar, Slovenia's biggest film hit.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
File photo
The comedy, which relies heavily on vulgar and even obscene humour, has thus beaten the 2010 teen comedy Gremo mi po svoje (Going Our Way) with 208,646 viewers and the 2007 drama Petelinji zajtrk (Rooster's Breakfast) with 183,093 viewers.
Created by an independent team of non-professional filmmakers based on their eponymous YouTube series, Pr'Hostar became an instant hit, drawing more than 25,000 viewers in the opening week at the end of October 2016 to bag three Golden Reel awards for 25,000 viewers in just 11 days.
The title takes its name from the small countryside hotel that the story plot revolves around. The business is on the brink of collapse due to its greedy boss and incompetent staff. Worried that they might lose their jobs, the staff are doing their best to sabotage the hotel's sale to a foreign buyer.
The comedy has been directed by Luka Marčetič and written by Goran Hrvaćanin and Dejan Krupić, who also appear in the leading roles along with a line of non-professional actors. The team produced the film on their own without any external financing.