20 May First films and guests announced, focus on found footage films
The International Film Festival Kino Otok – Isola Cinema is celebrating this year. Over twenty editions of the festival and intense gatherings dedicated to film, we have developed a multi-generational community dedicated to the exploration of cinema, society and the world: a community of viewers, creators and professionals. Over two decades, we have been developed the festival programme focusing on the powerful force of film as a form of expression and communication, stimulating curiosity, understanding and connection in its many forms. This anniversary edition will look back at the history of the festival, examine the contemporary film landscape and reflect on the future of Kino Kino Otok, cinema and society. The first festival screening will light up the screen tomorrow, 18 April, when an important classic of Iranian and world cinema will be screened in Gorizia, Italy.
The main action of the 20th International Film Festival Kino Otok, which will bring to life a number of festival locations in Izola between 5 and 9 June 2024, will also spread to Ljubljana and satellite locations in Slovenia and abroad in May, June and until the autumn months. This year, too, there will be a number of films that reveal the power of cinematic expression, accompanied by their authors, ready to engage in a dialogue about film, filmmaking and the diverse themes that their films address. A rich programme of films and other activities, Submarine, will highlight and broaden the perspectives of children, young people and families. Professionals from different fields related to film will meet and be educated at PRO Otok. And last but not least, the festival action will spill over to numerous locations around Izola, where visitors will be able to enrich their festival experience with other cultural and artistic content.
On the 20th edition of the festival, we will screen new films by filmmakers who have regularly enriched the festival programme for two decades: Essential Truths of the Lake (2023) by Lav Diaz, Eureka (2023) by Lisandro Alonso, Black Tea (2024) by Abderrahmane Sissako, While the Green Grass Grows (2024) by Peter Mettler, Dahomey (2024) by Mati Diop, El Shatt – A Plan for Utopia (2023) by Ivan Ramljak, The Golden Thread (2022) by Nishthe Jain and a programme of recent short films by Bill Morrisson. The programme will also be enriched with films by filmmakers who reveal new, innovative cinematic languages, such as Emilia Gašić’s 78 days (2024), Tatiana Huezo’s Echo (2023), Oscar Alegria’s Zinzindurrunkarratz (2023), and Bas Devoz’s Here. Additionally, historical classics by Ildikó Enyedi, Tawfik Saleh, Govindan Aravindan and Kira Muratova, whose retrospective of films will be screened on the Island of Ljubljana, at the Slovenian Cinematheque and the Kinodvor in the autumn, will not be missed.
Programme for professionals dedicated to found footage film
One of the sections of this year’s PRO Otok is the Found Image programme, dedicated to the creation of found footage films. Aimed at both professionals and the general public, the programme will feature several collections of short found footage films; Alina Marazzi and Gabriele Ragionesi will present UnArchive, a new Italian film festival entirely dedicated to this type of film expression; and there will be a short films programme and a masterclass by Bill Morrison, returnee to Kino Otok. He is an American independent filmmaker whose experimental work often explores the aesthetic and narrative effects of the decay of analogue film material, and his last film, Incident (2023), was composed, perhaps uncharacteristically for his expression, of footage from surveillance cameras and body cameras worn by American cops.
Cross-border film-poetry festival stop in Gorizia
On 18 April at 6pm, we will be screening Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s timeless masterpiece Silence (Sokout, Iran/Tajikistan/France, 1998, 76′) at Gorizia’s Kinemax, which offers a multilayered insight into Iranian culture and the way people think, creating a world that is at once stunning, beautiful and also extremely complex. The screening is presented in collaboration with the festival’s co-producer, Kinoatelje, and festival partner, the Academy of Arts at the University of Nova Gorica.
The film was part of the Young Selectors pre-selection at the Slovenian Cinematheque in January this year, as part of the European network of film festivals Young Selectors for Young Audiences! Therefore. We would like to cordially invite students from both sides of the border to the screening of the film in its original language with English subtitles!
