20th Cinema Otok screens will light up soon, surprise screening tomorrow before Wednesday’s opening

20th Cinema Otok screens will light up soon, surprise screening tomorrow before Wednesday’s opening

While today’s first screenings of Otok in Ljubljana officially kick off the festival season, preparations are in full swing in Izola for a five-day celebration of the film community from all over the world. On Wednesday, 5 June, the Manzioli Open-Air CInema officially opens the 20th edition of the 20th anniversary edition of the international film festival Kino Otok – Isola Cinema, which will enliven Izola’s cinemas, squares and parks with films, live music and other events until Sunday, 9 June. Wednesday will be a full day of films at Kino Otok in Izola, but before that, we have prepared a  surprise screening in Manzioli Square and the Salsaverde Gallery will host the opening of the Reflections exhibition by students from the Academy of Arts in Nova Gorica.

Indian film, full of song and dance, opens the festival

On Wednesday, 5 June, at 9pm at the Manzioli Open-Air Cinema, we will officially open the festival with a colourful tale of a travelling magician and his unusual encounter with children. Kummatty (1979), a film by the Indian New Wave master Govindan Aravindan, unjustly overlooked in Europe, is a paean to nature and the transformative power of rituals, and a film for all generations. The stunning cinematography of this unprecedented work of cinematic art, filled with song, dance and children’s laughter, was created by a returning Kino Otok Shaji N. Karun.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, there will be screening at the Art Cinema Odeon. At 11am, this year’s Berlinale winner Dahomey (2024) by Mati Diop; at 2pm, Juste un movement (2023) by Vincent Meessen, an innovative narrative about the life of Senegalese Maoist activist Omar Blondin Diop; at 4pm, The Dupes (1972) by Al Makhdu’un and Tewfik Saleh, a painfully topical film about three generations of Palestinians trying to flee to Kuwait.

In the evening, at 20.45, the first set of short films of the Video on the Beach programme titled Beyond Searching for Memories will be screened near the Lighthouse, followed by the first live music night – the musical performances of Iva Bobanovič and Market Garden as a part of the Night of Lights music programme at the Lighthouse, which we brought to Kino Otok in cooperation with KIŠD, and which will allow for a social gathering each evening of the festival.

Traditional pre-festival film surprise

This year’s surprise screening, which traditionally pays tribute to the people of Izola and friends of the festival, will take place the day before the opening of the festival on Tuesday, 4 June, at 21.15 in Manzioli Square in Izola. Although the title will remain a secret until the last moment, we would like to mention that it is a film from the programme of this year’s festival, which will not be screened in Izola. In case of rain, the surprise screening will be moved from the Manzioli Square to the House of Culture in Izola.

Opening of the Reflections exhibition at the Salsaverde Gallery and announcement of the Cabinet of Wonders

Just before the surprise screening, on Tuesday, 4 June, at 6 pm, the opening of the exhibition Reflections will take place at the Salsaverde Gallery in Izola, with which the Academy of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica is bringing to the festival variations of student reflections on the world, their problems and all the space in between. The exhibition will be on display until Thursday, 20 June.

From Wednesday, 5 June, to Saturday, 8 June, you can visit the Cabinet of Wonders – a one-off exhibition of Kino Otok’s cinematic memorabilia at the House of Culture and other festival venues.

We look forward to seeing you on the Island!