Kino Istra or Cinema Istria is a new travelling cinema of the Otok Institute, which will regularly visit 13 towns and villages without cinemas located in Istria by the end of 2021 with an excellent film and other cultural program for all generations. The program will connect Istria on both sides of the border in a unique way through film and other arts. Two to four screenings of selected newer European films will be available to both young and wider audiences per month, and the program also includes several special events to popularize the cinema experience (screenings, artists’ performances, live cinema performances and children’s workshops).
Five partner organizations from Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and the United Kingdom will together enable the implementation of 196 such events. Much of the content is dedicated to the development of film literacy and the awakening of a love of film art among school children growing up in places without the possibility of visiting the cinema, and of course the entire local community. The ultimate goal of the project is to encourage openness to European (and) auteur film as well as to encourage local communities to recognize the project as a good practice through which they can sustainably develop film culture and cultural crossroads in the future.
The activities will take place within the European project Movies in Motion, supported by the EU Creative Europe program, which explores the role of cinemas as innovative cultural centers in local communities. The project leader is the Croatian film festival Motovun, and the project partners are – in addition to the Otok Institute – the Croatian Film Association, the International Film Academy in Bologna and the British Live Cinema LTD. Future meetings in Cinema Istria will be published on the Facebook page Kino Istra, and in the coming months a website with events on the Slovenian and Croatian sides of Istria will be set up.