In Izola, the festival fosters a community of all generations

Kino Otok filled nine venues across Izola under the roof and under the stars: Manzioli Open-Air Cinema, Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema, Odeon Art Cinema, House of Culture, Sončna dvorana of the JSKD Izola, Lighthouse Park and Beach, Largo pri špini and Manzioli Palace. The films on the programme came from Slovenia, Europe and the world, with an important focus on local filmmakers. We hosted workshops, panel discussions, a masterclass, lectures, a music-visual event and a number of exhibitions. Throughout the non-competition programme, we screened 44 feature films and 77 short films for adults, youth and children at 46 screenings, with 43 festival guests, including 34 filmmakers, coming to present them live.

We brought 420 children to five of the festival’s school screenings. As part of the international festival network Young Selectors for Young Audiences!, a record 53 primary and secondary school children from Istria, Ljubljana and abroad visited Izola as young film selectors.

PRO Otok has organised six events, this year strongly marked by the intertwining with the film programme through the focus Found Image. The evenings were rounded off at the Lighthouse with eclectic live musical performances by musicians from the cross-border region. The film community grew and blossomed every day, culminating on Saturday evening when we also lit twenty birthday candles and wished the festival well in its future creation of the most cinematic Island of the Home Sea.

Otok in Ljubljana begins its after-festival screenings at Kinodvor

Otok in Ljubljana traditionally brings selected films for those who missed the screenings in Izola, but this year we have also brought a good number of films that you couldn’t see in Izola. In Kinodvor, with the support of the French Institute, we continue the programme on Wednesday, 12 June at 18.30, with a multi-layered portrait of Guinea through the search for the lost film in The Cemetery of Cinema (Au cimetière de la pellicule, Thierno Souleymane Diallo, 2023). At 9.30 pm, Black Tea (2024) will open this year’s Kinodvorišče. Abderrahmane Sissako’s mysterious film talks about love and freedom, which bridges the divides between Africa and China, dreams and reality, and the past and the present. Then we take a summer break and we’ll meet again in September and October.

Otok in Ljubljana continues at the Slovenian Cinematheque

On Thursday, 14 June at 8pm, the Slovenian Cinematheque will screen Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko’s documentary Eastern Front (Shidnij front, 2023), a raw and direct close-up look at Ukraine’s eastern battle line and life on the home front in the west. After the summer break, we return with a retrospective of films by Russian director Kira Muratova.

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Art Cinema Odeon in the atmosphere of the region, the last film masterpiece at the House of Culture

At 11am, let’s immerse ourselves in the pulse of Izola with two short films about the complicated life of Mirko Andrejčič – Mirč, an Izola fisherman and unconditional lover of fishing and the sea. The documentary about Mirč the fisherman (2023) was made by the Izola-based photographer and documentary filmmaker Remigio Grižonič, who will also join us for a post-screening discussion. At 13:00, guests Guillermo Giampietro and Pavel Berdon from neighbouring Trieste, activists and creators of the experimental film Listen to Me (Escucame, 2022), born out of an activism dedicated to overcoming prejudices against what is usually interpreted as madness. At 3pm, we say goodbye to the Odeon with one last film, El Shatt – Blueprint for Utopia (2023), by guest Ivan Ramljak, about how 28,000 Dalmatians, evacuated to Egypt after the surrender of Italy, lived a model of life in post-war Yugoslavia in the heart of the desert.

Meanwhile, at 12pm, the screening of Eureka (2023) by Lisandro Alonso takes place at the House of Culture, where we will travel on the wings of a bird through space and time and discover three stories that reflect on the future of a life haunted by the ghost of colonialism.

A windy farewell to the Submarine

The epic dream adventure for the whole family, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds (Sirocco et le royaume des courants d’air, Benoit Chieux, 2023), will take place at the House of Culture at 10am, followed by a workshop in collaboration with the Trieste Sailing Museum, Good Wind!, where we will make simple wind machines.

To close the celebrations in Manzioli Square, we will travel beyond dreams

For the official farewell to the festival, we return to Manzioli Square, where at 9pm, guitar virtuoso Elvis Šahbaz will take us through the music-film event Beyond Dreams accompanied by Davorin Marc’s visuals.

Video on the beach and the Lighthouse

The screen under the stars will be lit up at 20.45 by Video on the Beach films grouped around the topic of Beyond Survival. After the screening, come to the Lighthouse to dance to the tunes of our surprise playlist.

To follow the festival programme in detail, please check the schedule of all screenings!

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Submarine with Michele Bernardi, Tobias Wiemann and young selectors

Renowned Italian illustrator and animator Michele Bernardi, who co-created the legendary La linea and Pimpa series, will be with us today! At 10am, he will present a selection of animated films and original animation material from the filmstrip era to an audience of young and adult audiences at the Manzioli Palace. At 15:00, he will have an animation workshop with children. Meanwhile, the JSKD Izola also hosts a programme of short films for the youngest at 10am, called Magical Friendships, followed by an optical toys workshop. All these events are free of charge. At 18:00, primary school pupils from Prade Primary School come to the Cultural Centre to discuss the film Der Pfad (The Path, 2022), which was selected by the young selectors for the festival’s programme, and will have a chance to talk to the film’s director, Tobias Wiemann, after the screening. The Young Selectors are part of the European network of film festivals Young Selectors for Young Audiences!, which lives in seven countries with the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

Jan Cvitkovič with young selectors, Shoghakat Vardanyan and Bill Morrison at Art Cinema Odeon

The day starts at 10am at the Art Cinema Odeon with a screening of El eco (Tatiana Huezo, 2023), a film in which the lives of children in a remote Mexican village are linked to nature, animals and people, as well as to love, illness and death. And then there are the high school young selectors who, in cooperation with the Slovenian Cinematheque, have chosen the Venice award-winning Bread and Milk (2001) for the Kino Otok audience: at 12:00, they will present it and have a post-screening discussion with the director, Jan Cvitkovič. The IDFA award-winning documentary 1489 (2023), selected by the young student selectors at this year’s Trieste Film Festival, will be screened at 14:00, followed by a discussion with the film’s Armenian director Shoghakat Vardanyan. At 16.15, Fidai Film (Kamal Aljafari, 2024) brings together visual interventions in official Israeli archives and parts of the Palestinian archive seized by the Israeli army in Beirut. To round off the day, the final chapter of the Found Image programme begins at 6pm, a unique combination of film screenings and masterclass, featuring recent short films by Bill Morrison, one of the world’s best-known found image poets, who will talk in depth about his work.

PRO Otok with Slovenian examples of successful short films

Manzioli Palace hosts the Short Scene at Kino Otok at 3 pm, during which director Matjaž Ivanišin will present a case study of his short film This is How the Summer Ended (2022) and animator Nika Jurman will present her short animated film Borbike (2022), followed by a discussion with the participants of the screenwriting workshop and the rest of the audience.

Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema: last night with Abderrahmane Sissako’s latest film

At 21:00, we will be screening the last feature film under the stars of the year, the latest creation by Mauritanian Oscar nominee Abderrahmane Sissako, Black Tea (2024). This mysterious film about love and freedom bridges the divides between Africa and China, dreams and reality, and past and present.

Celebration at the Lighthouse

Video on the Beach will host its fourth themed programme of short films and talks with filmmakers, Beyond Evanescence, at 8.45 p.m., followed by the Nights of Lights – a lover of disco, nu-disco, re-edit and deep house with a dark wave past and an interest in psychedelia, DiscoorsettO, will be the musical guest of the evening. And to celebrate the night, we’ll blow out the candles for Kino Otok’s 20th birthday! Entrance to the entire evening programme of the Lighthouse is free.

For a detailed overview of the festival programme, please check the schedule of all screenings!

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Art Kino Odeon: from the great film humanist to the reinterpretation of archives

The great auteur Ken Loach starts a day full of films at 11am. In The Old Oak (2023), the indefatigable humanist once again describes a social reality, this time life in a once-rich mining town, where the resentment of the inhabitants is fuelled by the arrival of refugees from Syria. At 13:00, the first event of the Found Image program will take us into the field of researching archival, so-called found footage materials. At the screening of Programme of Short Films: Premio Cesare Zavattini, Gabriele Ragonesi, representative of the Audiovisual Labour and Democratic Movement (Aamod) and member of the UnArchive Festival’s Programme Council, will present the Italian AV archive, which, through various initiatives, contributes to the creation of a freer flow of information and creative possibilities. An eclectic programme of short films will follow at 4pm, after which there will be a wide-ranging discussion on the creative issues surrounding the use of found images, with guests Laura Samani, Emilija Gašić, Neil Young, Ivan Ramljak and Bill Morrison. At 7pm, the day concludes with Bas Devos’ Here (2023), a film that invites us to pay attention – to nature and to people we would otherwise not notice.

Film days also start at the House of Culture

At 14:00, a hypnotic meditation on the life of people and nature will be screened at the House of Culture. While the Green Grass Grows (2024), the latest film by Peter Mettler, is an experience of the cycle of decay and birth, in which everything flows, multiplies and continues, revealing no meaning.

Submarine continues its trip into a weekend full of films and workshops

After a packed morning of school screenings, Submarine takes a spin on the carousel of images, from camera obscura to social media, with And the King Says, What a Fantastic Machine (2023) at 6pm today at the House of Culture, exploring media culture in detail and asking provocative questions about society and the images that surround us with a challenging wit. And we’re announcing a guest appearance on Saturday, with the renowned Italian illustrator and animator Michele Bernardi presenting his world of animation in a masterclass at 10am in the Manzioli Palace, tailored for young and adult audiences, and then continuing with a hands-on animation workshop with children at 3pm. On Saturday at 18:00, young selectors from Prade Primary School present will present Der Pfad (The Road, 2022), an adventure about two children and a dog escaping from the Nazis, and have a discussion with the film’s director, Tobias Wiemann.

The longest night in the Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema

The film 78 days (78 dana, 2024) by the young Serbian director Emilija Gašić, who will also talk about its making, intertwined with the experience of the time of the NATO bombing of Belgrade, before the screening at 9pm, is a film of out-of-the-box videos that portray the life of three sisters, in which friendships, first kisses and disappointments are overshadowed by the fear of the NATO bombs (78 dana, 2024). At 23.15, the night stars will be winked at by the powerful and tender musical Manga d’terra (Basil Da Cunha, 2023), which draws its explosive material respectfully from the personal stories of the inhabitants of the Lisbon ghetto, a tribute to women’s indomitable perseverance and the therapeutic power of music.

Friday is also a day of a get-together at Largo pri Špini

On Friday, we’ll be hanging out in Izola’s charming smallest event square. At 9pm, at Largo pri Špini, Italian director Laura Samani will present her short film L’estate è finita – Appunti su Furio (2023), a journey through the memories of past summers in search of lost love and ourselves. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director.

Video on the Beach and Nights of Lights

Video on the Beach at 20.45 will screen a programme on the theme Beyond Atmospheres, and the musical programme Nights of Lights will start at 23.00 with a concert by Andrej Stanič, who will take to the stage with his project Caro Mio. Angelica & Alex Sasch will take the stage next.

For a detailed overview of the festival programme, check out the schedule of all the film screenings!

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Art Kino Odeon, a space of diverse film poetics

The day at Art Cinema Odeon starts at 11am with The Golden Thread (Nishtha Jain, 2022), a highly cinematic, detailed and spectacular depiction of the decline of jute production. At 1.30pm, with the support of the Embassy of Spain, we take Spanish director Oscar Alegría’s super-8 camera on a journey through the footsteps and byways of his shepherd grandfather in Zinzindurrunkarratz (2023), and after the screening, we will talk to him about his cinematic experience of the shepherds’ world, full of fields, animals, wind, rituals, memories and more. At 4pm, the film Snatched from the Source (2023) reminds us of the shocking fate of the last surviving Slovenian victims of the Nazi Lebensborn racial programme, and after the screening we will discuss this with the filmmakers, director Maja Weiss and screenwriter Nataša Konc Lorenzutti. At 7pm, another guest will be present – British director Neil Young, internationally known as a film critic, who will present Point d’impact (2022), an experimental film about the YouTube landscape of hardcore Eurovision fans at a time when Switzerland rose like a phoenix from the ashes of oblivion four years ago.

Submarine at the House of Culture begins its journey among children, young people and families

This year, Submarine brings a thoughtful selection of films and activities that, in addition to their artistic value, address current socio-social themes and important topics for young people and children. The varied programme is designed to inspire all generations of viewers and especially calls for families and friends to come together. It is just such a family film that opens the Submarine: at 18:00 in the House of Culture, the visually and emotionally stunning animated film Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo (Marya Zarif, André Kadi, 2022) will be screened. Full of beautiful music, fragrances, stories and friendly neighbours, the everyday life of the curious Dounia in the multicultural Syrian city of Aleppo is interrupted by war, and the home and passport that Europeans take for granted become a dream come true for her.

Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema with a big Italian blockbuster

At 9pm, with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute, we open the Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema – in There is Still Tomorrow (C’è ancora domani, 2023), director and lead actress Paola Cortellesi gives an insightful and innovative portrayal of the everyday life of a working-class Roman family after World War II – poverty, domestic violence, women’s rights and a mother’s determination to break the vicious cycle of normalised abuse that permeates from one generation to the next. This bittersweet drama, shot in a neorealist style but spiced with a touch of humour and modernity, has been a hit among the Italian audiences!

In the evening, we also meet in company of films and music at the Lighthouse

Video on the Beach will offer a thematic programme of short films titled Beyond Atmospheres, accompanied by talks with the filmmakers of at 8.45pm, followed by the music of the Night of Lights – One Cupcake Away from Koper and then a jam session. Free entry to all Lighthouse events!

For a detailed overview of the festival programme at all festival locations, please check the film screening schedule!

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A festive opening will dress Manzioli Square in the colours of dance, song and magic

The festival will open tonight at 9pm at the Manzioli Open-Air cinema with a colourful tale of a travelling singer and a magician, filled with song, dance and children’s laughter. The unusual musical Kummatty (Govindan Aravindan, 1979), which presents in a poetic documentary style the slice-of-life of people and nature in Kerala, India, transitions effortlessly into the fairytale in moments of entrancing imagination. The screening is dedicated to Helmut Groschup, co-founder of Kino Otok and long-time director of the Innsbruck International Film Festival, who passed away last year, and who was dedicated to spreading a sparkling spirit of networking and love for cinema in Izola every year. His legacy lives on in The Co-operative, a 20-year programming collaboration between Kino Otok and the Innsbruck Festival, and the film will be presented by Anna Ladinig, director of the Innsbruck Festival for many years.

An exciting start of the day at Art Cinema Odeon

The first screening at the Art Cinema Odeon at 11am is this year’s Berlinale winner Dahomey (2024) by Mati Diop, about the return to the land of origin of 26 stolen royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey, plundered by French colonial troops. Juste un movement (Just One Movement, Vincent Meessen, 2023), an innovative account of the life of Senegalese Maoist activist Omar Blondin Diop, and an adaptation of Godard’s Chinoise, screens at 14:00. The Dupes (Al Makhdu’un, Tewfik Saleh, 1972), a painfully topical film about three generations of Palestinians trying to escape to Kuwait, becomes an allegory of the multifaceted hardships of Palestinian existence. It will be screened at 16:00.

Video on the beach sees beyond the traditional ways of seeing

In the evening, at 20.45, the short film programme Beyond the Search for Memories begins, the first part of the eclectic Video on the Beach section, which traditionally brings striking short films by independent filmmakers of younger generations to the Lighthouse Park in Isola every festival evening. It is followed by musical performances by Iva Bobanovič and Market Garden as a part of the Night of Lights music programme, which is brought to Kino Otok every night until the wee hours of the night in collaboration with KIŠD.

You can check the entire programme and the schedule in detail on our website!

Programme for professionals: discovering the relevance of dusty film archives

Professionals from different fields of filmmaking and anyone interested in the journey of film from idea to screen and beyond find inspiration for their work at PRO Otok. This year, for the first time, part of the programme will be held at the Art Cinema Odeon in combination with screenings of films dealing with found footage materials.

On Friday, between 13:00 and 15:00, the programme Found Image: the Premio Cesare Zavattini Short Film Programme and the presentation of the UnArchive Festival and the Audiovisual Archive of the Workers’ and Democratic Movement (Aamod) will feature a guest presentation by Gabriele Ragonesi on the work of the festival and the movement. From 16:00 to 18:30, Found Image: a programme of short films and a conversation with found footage filmmakers will feature Laura Samani, Bill Morrison, Neil Young and Ivan Ramljak, who will discuss the creative issues of using found images.

On Saturday, between 18.00 and 20.30, we conclude with the world-renowned master of the found image, who returns to Kino Otok with his latest acclaimed short films. Found Image: A Programme of Short Films and Masterclass by Bill Morrison will bring together the experiences of the American independent filmmaker whose experimental work often explores the aesthetic and narrative effects of the deterioration of analogue film material, and whose latest film Incident (2023) analyses the killing of a black civilian on the streets of Chicago through the cameras on the bodies of American police officers.

The entire programme of this year’s Kino Otok can be found here.

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Films and guests of the 20th Kino Otok – Isola Cinema Festival in Izola

The film programme will bring more than 44 feature films and 77 shorts to Slovenian screens, as well as numerous guests, many of them returning to the festival with their latest films. In Izola, films will be screened under the stars at the Manzioli and Arrigoni Open-air cinemas and at the Video on the Beach near the Lighthouse, under the roof of the Odeon Art Cinema, the Cultural Centre and other locations.

We will meet filmmakers from near and far. Emilija Gašić will present herself with her film 78 days (Serbia, 2024), Oscar Allegrio visits with Zinzindurrunkarratz (Spain, 2023), Ivan Ramljak will return to Izola with El Shatt – a plan for utopia (Croatia, Serbia, 2023), Guillermo Giampetro and Pavel Berdon from Trieste with Listen to Me (Escuchame, Italy, 2022), Neil Young returns this time as the author of Point d’Impact (Austria, Poland, 2022) and director Shoghakhat Vardanyan with 1489 (Armenia, 2023).

Among the local guests we are expecting director Maja Weiss and screenwriter Nataša Konc Lorenzutti with their film Snatched from the Source (2023), Jan Cvitkovič with Bread and Milk (Slovenia, 2001) selected by the Young Selectors, Izola’s Remigio Grižonič with several short films, and the festival in Izola will be closed in a unique style with a music-film event by two locals, musician Elvis Šahbaz and filmmaker Davorin Marc.

As film guests and guests of PRO Otok, we will also be visited by an old acquaintance of Kino Otok, Bill Morrison, with several short films, including Incident (USA 2023), and Laura Samani, with, among others, her short film Summer is over – Notes on Furio (Italy, 2023).

During the Submarine programme, the young selectors will talk to Tobias Wiemann, director of The Path (2023), and at the workshop we will get to know illustrator Michele Bernardi and his animated films. After the Video on the Beach screenings, we will also talk and mingle with a number of filmmakers.

PRO Otok with a focus on found footage and the green transition in culture

PRO Otok, a programme for film professionals and others interested in the journey of film from idea to screen, will be held for the first time in a large scale at the Art Cinema Odeon, in addition to the Manzioli Palace. As part of our traditional cooperation with Motovila/CED Slovenia, we will be hosting Claudia Ziegenfuß from the Berlin-based NGO Kijufi, which coordinates the development of a Sustainability and Social Awareness Charter for young film audiences within the Young4Film network of European film festivals, for the workshop Green Transition in Culture: focus on young film audiences. In a programme dedicated to found footage film and the creative use of archival material, we will host Gabriele Ragonesi in collaboration with UnArchive Festival, with the Found Image: Premio Cesare Zavattini Short Film Programme and a presentation of UnArchive Festival and the Audiovisual Archive of the Labour and Democratic Movement (Aamod), followed by the Found Image: Short Film Programme and a discussion with found footage filmmakers. We will close with a world-renowned master of reinterpreting analogue film with the event Found Image: Short Films Programme and a masterclass by Bill Morrison. Last but not least, PRO Otok will also host Short Scene at Isola Cinema: Short Film Case Studies with Matjaz Ivanišin and Nika Jurman.

Train Again (Peter Tscherkassky, 2021), Incident (Bill Morrison, 2023)

Exhibitions and music nights at the Lighthouse

Isola Cinema doesn’t ends when the last projector shuts off and the cinema operator finishes their day. This year, in cooperation with the various Izola associations, galleries and the Academy of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica, the festival pulse of And so Much More programme will be tidal through the streets, galleries and museums of Izola, ending with the evening music programme Nights of Lights on the Lighthouse Beach, organised in cooperation with the Izola Students Club. Festival summer nights will feature performances by Iva Bobanovič, Market Garden, One Cupcake Away, Caro Mio, Angelica & Alex Sasch and a jam session.

Otok in Ljubljana and elsewhere

Since every city can be an island, Kino Otok, we will be screening a selection of this year’s film programme in June in Ljubljana (Slovenian Cinematheque, Kinodvor), Cerknica, Idrija, Sežana and Tolmin (art cinemas, members of the Art Cinema Network of Slovenia) in collaboration with our partners. The latest films by Lav Diaz, Vitaly Mansky and Kleber Mendonça Filho, as well as historical classics by Jean-Luc Godard, Tawfik Saleh and Kira Muratova, whose retrospective will be screened as a part of Otok in Ljubljana at the Slovenian Cinematheque and the Kinodvor in autumn.

Temeljne resnice jezera (Lav Diaz, 2023)

The full festival programme is available on the website kinootok.org.

Festival programme booklet (PDF): download link (in Slovenian and Italian).

Arrigoni Open-air Cinema programme leaflet (PDF): download link (in Slovenian and Italian).

Submarine programme booklet (PDF): download link (in Slovenian and Italian).

All ticket information can be found here, pre-sale of festival tickets and discounted ticket sales: mojekarte.si, at the physical sales points of mojekarte.si all over Slovenia and at Kinodvor. The festival box office at the Art Cinema Odeon in Izola will be open from 3 June.

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