Kino Otok – Isola Cinema Festival: audiences of all generations in Isola

On the second day of the festival, both adult spectators and the youngest ones with their families are already meeting in Izola. All the main festival venues are alive – the Art Cinema Odeon, the Cultural Centre and the Manzioli Palace during the day, the Arrigoni Open-Air Cinema, Video on the Beach and Lighthouse in the evening under the stars. Guests from afar include Oskar Alegria and Neil Young, and Maja Weiss and Nataša Konc Lorenzutti from nearer countries, whose films will be screened in a day full of reflection and exchange of views on film and society, and in the evening we will meet and share our impressions on the most beautiful film beach of all beaches.

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!