Open Call: 5-Month Mentorship Program Kranj Foto Fest 2025

“Local Communities in an Interconnected World”, with Jošt Franko

This fully funded program provides mentorship and guidance to help participants create impactful, community-engaged photographic projects in Kranj or its surrounding areas.

Kranj Foto Fest is excited to announce a fully funded 5-month Mentorship Program for emerging photographers. Eligible participants must be either Slovenian citizens or foreigners with residence in Slovenia, with fewer than five years of professional experience, regardless of age. We invite participants to propose projects that engage with local communities, stories, places, and phenomena in Kranj or its surrounding areas, with the aim of creating meaningful narratives in the city and its region. These projects should be significant to Kranj and the communities living here, and participants should be willing to produce them within the mentorship program.

Key questions to explore during the Mentorship Program:

How do local stories inform and shape society?
What are the communities that make up Kranj and its surrounding region?
What does the history of the town look like, and what is its potential future?
How do local stories become part of an integrated world?

Over the course of five months, starting in February 2025, six selected mentees will take part in both group and one-on-one sessions with Jošt Franko, a renowned Slovenian visual artist and educator. In addition to Franko’s guidance, we will bring Laura Ettel, a visual artist and curator at Leica Gallery Vienna, to Kranj in May 2025. She will lead a one-day, in-person workshop focused on participatory exhibition-making practices, offering a hands-on activity exclusively for the mentorship recipients.

Kranj Foto Fest Mentrshipi Program 2024. Photo: Mark Breznik

Exhibition at Kranj Foto Fest 2025

As an outcome of this program, the six participants will have the opportunity to showcase the projects developed during the mentorship in a group exhibition at Kranj Foto Fest 2025. By the conclusion of the mentorship period, each mentee is expected to have completed a comprehensive project, fully prepared for exhibition at the festival in August 2025.

Guided by Jošt Franko and the festival director Fernanda Prado Verčič, participants will actively co-curate their exhibition. This hands-on collaborative process of editing, curating and producing the exhibition will offer a great opportunity for the participants to engage deeply in every step of exhibition preparation for the festival platform.

Exhibition In Memory (Of): Socially Engaged Photography, result of the Mentorship Program Kranj Foto Fest 2024. Photo: Maša Pirc, Simon Plestenjak, Primož Pičulin

Special Activity for the Mentees 2025!

Workshop “Come as You Are: Curating as Collaborative Practice” with Laura Ettel from Leica Gallery Vienna

A special highlight of the Mentorship Program 2025 is a one-day in-person workshop led by Laura Ettel, a visual artist and curator at Leica Gallery Vienna, exclusively for the six mentorship recipients, taking place in May 2025 in Kranj.

“Modern societies are marked by diverse living conditions, post-migration realities and various transcultural influences that inform contemporary photography. Which forms of actions can be interpreted as specifically curatorial and specifically artistic? Are these practices even negotiable as separate fields of action?” – Laura Ettel

This special activity, included in the Mentorship Program 2025, will focus on exhibition-making practices that address these challenges by fostering participatory strategies. During the workshop, Laura Ettel will present and analyze a case study, followed by a hands-on session where participants will curate, conceptualize, and design a show. This process aims to foster an understanding of exhibitions that encourage engagement and collaboration, helping mentees grasp the thought processes behind exhibition-making.

Laura will also include a project review session, offering valuable insights into the participants’ developing projects.

What the Mentorship Program 2025 Offers:

Free Participation: The program is fully funded, with no participation fee for six selected mentees.
Four In-Person Group Meetings: Each meeting lasts 6 hours with Jošt Franko in Kranj on Fridays from February to June 2025. Exact dates and times will be arranged based on the availability of the mentor and participants.
Two Online One-on-One Sessions: Each session lasts 1 hour with Jošt Franko.
Curatorial Workshop with Leica: A hands-on, 6-hour workshop with Laura Ettel in May 2025 in Kranj.
Exhibition Opportunity: By the end of the mentorship, each mentee is expected to complete a project ready for exhibition at Kranj Foto Fest 2025 in August. The mentor and festival team may exclude a project if the mentee does not meet the required commitments.
Exhibition Production: Kranj Foto Fest covers the costs for producing the exhibition, with the venue determined according to curatorial guidelines.
PR and Marketing Support: The festival will promote the mentees’ projects through PR and marketing activities, featuring their work in printed and digital publications with proper credit, increasing exposure.

Who can apply:

Applicants must be Slovenian citizens or foreigners with residence in Slovenia.
Open to emerging photographers, regardless of age, with up to five years of professional experience in photography, as indicated on their submitted CV.
Applicants should be prepared to develop their projects in Kranj or its surrounding areas.
Selected participants must attend all mentorship sessions and actively develop their projects.
Transportation expenses to and from Kranj, as well as expenses related to materials (e.g. films or prints) to be used during the classes, are the responsibility of the participants.

How to apply:

Submit your application by 19th January 2025 via info@kranjfotofest.org. Include:
1. 1. Your CV: in Slovene or English, clearly stating that you have no more than five years of professional experience in photography.
  1. A Project Proposal: max. 500 words, in Slovenian or English, outlining your idea for documenting a community in Kranj or its surroundings, specifying the project’s intention, its current stage (if already started) and how this mentorship program can help you complete it.
  1. A Sample of a Photographic Series: ideally related to the mentorship topic, consisting of 6 to 15 photos in JPG format. Single images should not exceed 500 kB.
Save all files in ONE ZIP file under the title Name_Surname and send it to info@kranjfotofest.org by 19th January 2025 with the email subject Mentorship Program 2025.

Timeline:

Announcement of the Open Call: 17th December 2024
Project Submission Deadline: 19th January 2025
Judging Process: 20th to 24th January 2025
Results Announcement: by 28th January 2025. The results will be published on the festival’s website and social media channels and selected participants will be contacted by email.
Beginning of the Mentorship Program: second week of February 2025
End of the Mentorship Program: second week of June 2025
Exhibition at Kranj Foto Fest 2025: 27th August to 27th September 2025

Final notes:

By being selected to participate in the Mentorship Program 2025, participants understand and agree that their images can be used to promote the festival in digital and printed materials, press and on social media.
The primary language of this mentorship program will be Slovene, and the language of the workshop with Laura Ettel will be English.
The organiser reserves the right to cancel the mentorship in the event of circumstances beyond their control.

Deadline to apply:

19. 1. 2025

About Jošt Franko

Jošt Franko is a Slovenian photographer, visual artist, and educator whose work explores themes such as migration, forced displacement, workers’ rights and marginalised communities. His artistic practice combines photography, text, fieldwork and collaboration, focusing on narratives often overlooked or unheard.

Franko is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the 2023 Aftermath Project and TED Fellowship, and has exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Finnish Museum of Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Art Ljubljana, and the Museum of Modern Art Klagenfurt. He holds a master’s degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

About Laura Ettel

Laura Ettel is a visual artist and curator at Leica Gallery Vienna. She holds a degree in Film and Media Studies and was trained in fine arts and photography at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, as well as in cinematography at the Vienna Filmacademy. She has been a researcher in media art archiving and curating at the Center for Image Science at Danube University in Krems, Austria.