In the Video on the Beach section, Kino Otok supports screenings of film production by new generations of emerging filmmakers, which explores the wealth and daring of film expression in both form and content.  In addition to Slovenian independent production, the section also screens films from neighbouring countries and beyond. Video on the Beach is not a competition programme, but rather, it functions as an exploratory platform that enables not only public screenings of films, but also a dialogue, an exchange of ideas and experiences between the visiting established filmmakers and those who are either at the beginning of their film career or those whose work places them outside the established spaces of conventional and market-oriented filmmaking.

We call on young filmmakers (young at heart, that is) from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Austria and beyond to submit their works, which, if selected, will be screened during the festival in a relaxed atmosphere under the stars in close proximity to the Lighthouse beach in Izola.

The selected authors will be entitled to:

• festival pass that enables access to all screenings, PRO and other events,
• free-of-charge camping at the festival camp Scamp,
• presentation of their film in the official festival catalogue.

There are no restrictions on film genres. Documentary, fiction, experimental or animated shorts should first and foremost be marked by unbridled, free and affiliative spirit that in one way or another does away with a series of constructed social, religious, cultural, ethnic, political, intergenerational and, of course, expressive barriers.

Length of submitted films: under 30 minutes. Films completed in 2021 or 2020 will be given priority. There are no limits to the number of entries by one filmmaker, but these have to be submitted separately. Video on the Beach does not require a submission fee.

You are invited to submit a completed online SUBMISSION FORM with attachments by Friday, 7 May 2021.

Video on the Beach programmers are Matevž Jerman, film critic, editor, curator, director and co-founder of Society for Short Film Promotion Kraken, and Programme Assistant at the Slovenian Cinematheque, and  Mila Peršin, an author who focuses on film programming, film directing and acting while studying at the AVA Academy of Visual Arts, and works as part of the DobraVaga gallery team.

For more information please write to video@isolacinema.org. We are looking forward to receiving your submission(s)!

See you at Otok!

The post Extended Deadline for the Submissions of Shorts is 7 May first appeared on OTOK.

In the Video on the Beach section, Kino Otok supports screenings of film production by new generations of emerging filmmakers, which explores the wealth and daring of film expression in both form and content.  In addition to Slovenian independent production, the section also screens films from neighbouring countries and beyond. Video on the Beach is not a competition programme, but rather, it functions as an exploratory platform that enables not only public screenings of films, but also a dialogue, an exchange of ideas and experiences between the visiting established filmmakers and those who are either at the beginning of their film career or those whose work places them outside the established spaces of conventional and market-oriented filmmaking.

We call on young filmmakers (young at heart, that is) from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Austria and beyond to submit their works, which, if selected, will be screened during the festival in a relaxed atmosphere under the stars in close proximity to the Lighthouse beach in Izola.

The selected authors will be entitled to:

• festival pass that enables access to all screenings, PRO and other events,
• free-of-charge camping at the festival camp Scamp,
• presentation of their film in the official festival catalogue.

There are no restrictions on film genres. Documentary, fiction, experimental or animated shorts should first and foremost be marked by unbridled, free and affiliative spirit that in one way or another does away with a series of constructed social, religious, cultural, ethnic, political, intergenerational and, of course, expressive barriers.

Length of submitted films: under 30 minutes. Films completed in 2021 or 2020 will be given priority. There are no limits to the number of entries by one filmmaker, but these have to be submitted separately. Video on the Beach does not require a submission fee.

You are invited to submit a completed online SUBMISSION FORM with attachments by Monday, 3 May 2021.

Video on the Beach programmers are Matevž Jerman, film critic, editor, curator, film director, co-founder of Society for Short Film Promotion Kraken, and Programme Assistant at the Slovenian Cinematheque, and  Mila Peršin, author who focuses on film programming, film directing and acting while studying at the AVA Academy of Visual Arts, and is part of the DobraVaga gallery team.

For more information please write to video@isolacinema.org. We are looking forward to receiving your submission(s)!

See you at Otok!

The post Video on the Beach 2021 Open Call: Submit Your Short Films Till 3 May first appeared on OTOK.

On Sunday, 30 August, we bid farewell to the 16th Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival in Izola. It was a special edition, envisioned and organised in times of great uncertainty. Nevertheless, the festival screenings started on 16 July in Sv. Anton and in the course of the following weeks continued Koper, Nova Gorica, Tolmin, Sežana, Idrija, Cerknica and Ljubljana. In the latter, the festival will continue until 15 September with the last screening at Slovenian Cinematheque, when festival screenings move to the Cinesquare.net online VoD platform until 21 September.

To conquer this challenge, we longed for – probably more than ever! – and also received support from everyone involved. Despite all the implementation limitations, the five festival days in Izola were fuelled by palpable optimism amongst the team and the visitors. We truly thank everyone, who joined us! Together we proved that with a shared vision anything is possible.

We are looking forward to your feedback on this year’s edition, and especially to ideas for future film gatherings.

Once again, thank you for a fabulous ending of the summer, and wish you all the best until we meet again!

Warm regards,

Kino Otok team

The post Thank You For Being a Part of Kino Otok! first appeared on OTOK.

In the Video on the Beach section, Kino Otok supports screenings of film production by new generations of emerging filmmakers, which explores the wealth and daring of film expression in both form and content.  In addition to Slovenian independent production, the section also screens films from neighbouring countries and beyond. Video on the Beach functions as an exploratory platform that enables not only public screenings of films, but also a dialogue, an exchange of ideas and experiences between the visiting established filmmakers and those who are either at the beginning of their film career or those whose work places them outside the established spaces of conventional and market-oriented filmmaking. One Video on the Beach evening is dedicated to the view on foreign productions of shorts, each year presented in partnerships with film festivals from Europe and beyond. This year’s partner festival will be Odense International Film Festival, the leading short film festival in Denmark (which incidentally also has the submissions open till 1 April).

We call on young filmmakers (young at heart, that is) from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Austria and beyond to submit their works, which, if selected, will be screened during the festival in a relaxed atmosphere under the stars in close proximity to the Lighthouse beach in Izola.

The selected authors will be entitled to:

• festival pass that enables access to all screenings, PRO and other events,
• free-of-charge camping at the festival camp Scamp,
• presentation of their film in the official festival catalogue.

There are no restrictions on film genres. Documentary, fiction, experimental or animated shorts should first and foremost be marked by unbridled, free and affiliative spirit that in one way or another does away with a series of constructed social, religious, cultural, ethnic, political, intergenerational and, of course, expressive barriers.

Length of submitted films: under 30 minutes. Films completed in 2020 or 2019 will be given priority. There are no limits to the number of entries by one filmmaker, but these have to be submitted separately. Video on the Beach does not require a submission fee.

You are invited to submit a completed online SUBMISSION FORM with attachments by Wednesday, 15 April 2020.

Video on the Beach programmer is Matevž Jerman, film critic and Programme Assistant at the Slovenian Cinematheque. As a curator and co-organizer, he cooperates with several film festivals (FeKK, Liffe, FSF,…). He has co-founded the Society for Short Film Promotion, Kraken, which fosters the growth of independent Slovenian production and overall development of short film. Jerman has written and directed several shorts and music videos.

For more information please write to video@isolacinema.org. We are looking forward to receiving your submission(s)!

See you at Otok!

The post Extended submission deadline for shorts at the Video on the Beach – till 15 April first appeared on OTOK.

in accordance with the announcement of the epidemic in Slovenia due to the increasing number of COVID-19 coronavirus infections and the necessary measures for the protection of the population, Otok Institute has postponed all planned public events from 12 March 2020 until further notice.

At the same time, in accordance to currently known information, we are continuing the preparation of the 16th International Film Festival Kino Otok – Isola Cinema, which is scheduled for June 3-7, 2020 in Izola, before and afterwards also in Ljubljana and other locations around Slovenia. At the same time, we are closely monitoring all developments and are ready to adjust our plans as necessary. We will keep you informed of any changes.

All information regarding coronavirus in Slovenia is collected on the portal of the state administration of the Republic of Slovenia: https://www.gov.si/teme/koronavirus/.

Stay well and see you soon,

Otok team

The post Notification first appeared on OTOK.

We invite everyone who loves film and would like to undergo informal practical training in the field of organising film and cultural events to joins us and build an unforgettable film experience with us. We offer you experience in an international environment, a possibility of completing obligatory practical training, socialising with established international filmmakers and new friendships. We will provide you with the knowledge and the skills that will enable you to initiate and carry out similar projects and programmes in the field of culture, education and youth work, and at the same time, we would also like to continue our cooperation in the following editions of the festival.

Through the years Kino Otok has spontaneously developed into a space of informal practical training. We devote special attention to including interested people in the form of mentored practical training in the numerous areas of festival organisation and the related cultural and educational programmes of the Otok Institute. We cooperate with numerous organisations like universities, youth centres, student clubs and cultural societies. We also encourage international cooperation of peers from Slovenia and abroad.

In a pleasant work atmosphere during the festival, our mentors will assist you in numerous areas of:

• taking care of international festival guests,
• managing festival venues and logistics,
• managing the festival camp,
• photo and video documenting of the festival,
• Submarine – Otok for Kids, the film-educational programme for children,
• and more.

A month before the festival, we will also be glad to receive your help at:

• distribution of promotional materials,
• promotion of the festival.

Daily presence in Izola is necessary during the festival dates. During the festival, we offer you:

• accommodation in the festival camp,
• meals,
• a festival pass affording you free entrance to all festival venues in your free time.

If you want to cooperate with us, please fill in the ONLINE APPLICATION FORM by 10 April, 2020.

For further information please contact Volunteer Coordinator Aljaž Markelj at volunteers@isolacinema.org.

On your request you will be given a certificate of participation. We are looking forward to responsible candidates who will happily co-create this year’s festival and perhaps become part of our annual organisational team or future creators of new film connections.

See you at Otok!

The post Join the 16th Kino Otok – Isola Cinema Team! first appeared on OTOK.

In the Video on the Beach section, Kino Otok supports screenings of film production by new generations of emerging filmmakers, which explores the wealth and daring of film expression in both form and content.  In addition to Slovenian independent production, the section also screens films from neighbouring countries and beyond. Video on the Beach functions as an exploratory platform that enables not only public screenings of films, but also a dialogue, an exchange of ideas and experiences between the visiting established filmmakers and those who are either at the beginning of their film career or those whose work places them outside the established spaces of conventional and market-oriented filmmaking. One Video on the Beach evening is dedicated to the view on foreign productions of shorts, each year presented in partnerships with film festivals from Europe and beyond. This year’s partner festival will be Odense International Film Festival, the leading short film festival in Denmark (which incidentally also has the submissions open till 1 April).

We call on young filmmakers (young at heart, that is) from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Austria and beyond to submit their works, which, if selected, will be screened during the festival in a relaxed atmosphere under the stars in close proximity to the Lighthouse beach in Izola.

The selected authors will be entitled to:

• festival pass that enables access to all screenings, PRO and other events,
• free-of-charge camping at the festival camp Scamp,
• presentation of their film in the official festival catalogue.

There are no restrictions on film genres. Documentary, fiction, experimental or animated shorts should first and foremost be marked by unbridled, free and affiliative spirit that in one way or another does away with a series of constructed social, religious, cultural, ethnic, political, intergenerational and, of course, expressive barriers.

Length of submitted films: under 30 minutes. Films completed in 2020 or 2019 will be given priority. There are no limits to the number of entries by one filmmaker, but these have to be submitted separately. Video on the Beach does not require a submission fee.

You are invited to submit a completed online SUBMISSION FORM with attachments by Wednesday, 1 April 2020.

Video on the Beach programmer is Matevž Jerman, film critic and Programme Assistant at the Slovenian Cinematheque. As a curator and co-organizer, he cooperates with several film festivals (FeKK, Liffe, FSF,…). He has co-founded the Society for Short Film Promotion, Kraken, which fosters the growth of independent Slovenian production and overall development of short film. Jerman has written and directed several shorts and music videos.

For more information please write to video@isolacinema.org. We are looking forward to receiving your submission(s)!

See you at Otok!

The post Video on the Beach 2020 Open Call: Submit Your Short Films Till April 1st first appeared on OTOK.

Socialising at Film Events for the Entire Family

At the Koper Youth Centre, we will kick off with a programme for the youngest. On Wednesday, 13 November, we will follow the pictorial story Three Little Goats and Other Stories from Butai performed by a kamishibai theatre group. We will also be joined by the legendary book – and now also animated – character Muri the Cat (Boris Dolenc, Jernej Žmitek, 2018). Pre-school children will be able to watch Moomins and the Winter Wonderland (Ira Carpelan, Jakub Wronski, 2017), where a truly magical winter festivity awaits us. In the morning on Sunday, 17 November, we will move to the Gravisi Mansion, where The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear (Philip Einstein Lipski, Jørgen Lerdam, Amalie Næsby Fick, 2017) will take us on an amazing journey.

At a shadow puppets workshop, children over the age of six will be able to learn about how they are made and used in puppet shows and film animation. We will also watch short films by the pioneer of silhouette animation Lotte Reiniger. In the afternoon, we will return with new episodes of Koyaa (Kolja Saksida, 2019), in which the popular character Koyaa and his friend Mr. Raven get involved in playful adventures with everyday objects.

Often, films open the door to the worlds of other people that we would otherwise not get to know up close, they teach us to wonder about the world around us and to think critically. In Koper , the Film Club will again open its doors, which will remain open throughout the school year. It will offer regular film-related meetings accompanied by talks, critical reflection and film festival programming. On Thursday, 14 November, we invite children aged between 12 and 15 to the introductory meeting where we will present the programme of the Film Club. After it, we will join the fun road adventure of two teenagers in Goodbye Berlin! (Fatih Akin, 2016), which received the 2017 EFA Young Audience Award. The next day, we will be able to see this year’s winner, also the favourite of the young audience in Izola, Kickboxer (Johan Timers, 2018), a film about a hot-blooded girl named Bo. We will spend Saturday afternoon in the fun company of the aspiring vlogger Binti (Frederike Migom, 2019). She and her father have lived in Belgium her entire life, but now both face the threat of being forcibly deported from the country.  We will also present My Grandpa Is an Alien (Dražen Žarković, Marina Andree Škop, 2019), a sci-fi adventure film for children that has received numerous international awards. Giro Giro Film will close on Sunday with Mirai (Mamoru Hosoda, 2018), a contemporary Japanese animation about a magical journey through time. The film was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature in 2019.

Stories about Daring Dreams for Youth

This year, in cooperation with the Koper Youth Centre, we will organise more events for the young, especially if they like not only film, but also music. With their stories, two documentaries will inspire everybody interested in searching for their own path in complicated and uncertain circumstances. On Thursday, 14 November, we will search for the path to freedom outside the traditional shackles with the rapper Sonita (Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, 2015). On Friday, 15 November, we will follow the incredible story about the concert that Iron Maiden’s lead singer held in the besieged Sarajevo in 1994 in Scream for Me Sarajevo!  (Tarik Hodžić, 2017). On Sunday, 17 November, Špela Čadež, the internationally most established Slovenian maker of animated films, will visit us and, after the screening of her short animated films, tell us how to create one’s dreams.

The Legends of Slovenian Cinema upon the 100^th Anniversary of France Štiglic’s Birth

France Štiglic, one of the most prominent Slovenian filmmakers, will get his honorary place also at the Giro Giro Film, which will join Slovenian Film Week, an all-Slovenian project organised by the Slovenian Film Centre, Slovenian Film Archives and the Slovenian Cinematheque. This year, which marks the 100^th anniversary of Štiglic’s birth, presents us with a unique opportunity to celebrate his influence on the development of Slovenian cinema. On Thursday and Friday, 14 and 15 November, his legendary comedies That Beautiful Day (1962) and Don’t Cry, Peter (1964) will be screened at the Koper Youth Centre. This will be the first opportunity to see a freshly digitally restored version of Don’t Cry, Peter in Koper.

Film Workshops with European Film Education Projects

For the second school year in a row, the Otok Institute is a partner in two European film education projects supported by the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe whose contents are intended both for children and professionals in educational institutions. Two workshops will be conducted with the methodology of the Moving Cinema project. At a three-day intense film workshop for children aged between 12 and 15, we will create visual stories and make a short film. The second workshop is intended for teachers, who will perform simple exercises and will thus get a chance to again become excited about film and creative work with their pupils or students. In the framework of the European project The Film Corner, we are in the process of establishing an international film education webpage, which is why the seminar for teachers at the Giro Giro Film will present interactive exercises in film language that they will be able to use as a tool together with their pupils or students.

Giro Giro Film will take place in the centre of Koper – at the Koper Youth Centre and the Gravisi Mansion, while the school screenings will take place at Cineplexx Koper.

You can find more information and the programme at http://www.isolacinema.org/sl/filmska-vzgoja/filmsko-rajanje/

All film shows and workshops are admission free!

Giro Giro Film was organised with the help of numerous partners: Koper Youth Centre, “Santorio Santorio” Italian Community in Koper, Italian Self-Governing National Community Koper, Moving Cinema, The Film Corner, Kinoatelje.

Supported by: City Municipality of Koper, Slovenian Film Centre, Creative Europe – MEDIA, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Culture, European Social Fund.

The post Koper again Hosts Giro Giro Film – A Week of Colourful Film-related Happening for Children, Families and Youth first appeared on OTOK.

The short documentary film PLAY offers a reflection on why film festivals matter at all. As the words of the film director Želimir Žilnik add to the thoughts:  ”A festival is important not only for filmmakers, but I would say also for the people living in the city  because for them it is a moment when the cultural life starts being more vibrant, new people are coming, then, they actually have the opportunity to see something that would not be seen in the cinemas if the festival wouldn’t exist.”

The post PLAY – Moments that stay first appeared on OTOK.

The small village Topolo bordering on Italy and Slovenia has been hosting an exciting festival for over two decades, a festival that intertwines the visual, textual and sound art. This year’s 26th edition is taking place between 12 and 21 July and as it is tradition, screens a selection from this year’s 15th edition of Kino Otok – Isola Cinema. On Wednesday, 17th July, Selfie by the Italian director Agostino Ferrente (France/Italy, 2019) wil be screened. The film received the world premiere at the Berlin film festival. The director gave two sixteen year olds from an infamous neighbourhood ruled by the mafia Camorra, a mobile phone for filming, creating a shockingly truthful look into their everyday life and their friendship. Between Wednesday, 17 July and Sunday, 21 July, a musical and visual experience will be happening. Remains – Confessions to the Ghosts (Slovenia, 2018) is a film composed of the dark balladic rock of Niko Novak and unused footage from the film Mama by the director Vlado Škafar that Niko Novak and Matevž Jerman edited into untouchable, highly amorphous feelings between sight and sound, landscape and distances.

You can see the entire programme of Stazione di Topolo here. Free entry.

On Tuesday, 30 July, we will stop by with the film Selfie under the stars of Open-Air Cinema Silvan Furlan in Nova Gorica that offers socializing alongside film projections at the city square. Free entry.

See you on the Island!

The post On the Island: Kino Otok’s Summer Travels Through Music and Selfies first appeared on OTOK.