Young Spectators at the Kino Otok International Film Festival 2020
Regular Sessions at Festival and Cinemas (outside School Hours)
26 Aug 2020 - 30 Aug 2020
Otok InstituteArt Cinema Odeon Izola, Kinodvor Ljubljana
The 16th International Film Festival Kino Otok - Isola Cinema in Izola found itself in new circumstances in 2020 after the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown. With the cancellation of the traditional June dates, it moved to the end of August (26-30 Aug), when it finally offered a wide range of film screenings for children and young people during the five days of the festival. The film screenings of the Moving Cinema project were joined by young audience from the main festival city of Izola, a satellite location in Ljubljana, as well as from the wider coastal region.
The film My Brother Chases Dinosaurs by Stefano Cipani, the winner of the EFA Young Audience Award 2020, was shown to a diverse audience, mostly families from Izola, Koper and other smaller towns and villages in the region. The animated film The Famous Bears’ Invasion of Sicily by Lorenzo Mattoti was screened at two festival locations, in the main festival area of Izola, and Kinodvor in Ljubljana, in collaboration with their children’s program Kinobalon. The screening began at both locations with an introduction to the film. The screening in Izola was followed by a short conversation led by film expert Ana Peršič.
The screening of the film Honeyland by directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov included an audience of high school students and was programmed to connect them with the more adult audience of the festival. It began with an introductory speech by Young Programmers from high schools who chose the film for the festival program. Also, a screening of Hamada by Eloy Domínguez Serén included a high school audience and was designed to connect them with the festival’s adult audience. The introduction was provided by film expert Varja Močnik. The same goes for the film The Orphanage by Sadat Shahrbanoo, at the screening of which the introductory interview was conducted in the presence of the festival guest, co-author of the film story and side actor Anwar Hashimi.
Films
– My Brother Chases Dinosaurs / Mi fratello rincorre i dinosauri (Stefano Cipani, Italy/Spain, 2020, 101’)
– The Famous Bears’ Invasion of Sicily / La fameuse invasion des ours en Sicile (Lorenzo Mattotti, France, Italy, 2019, 82’)
– Honeyland / Medena zemja (Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov, North Macedonia, 2019, 85’)
– Hamada (Eloy Domínguez Serén, Sweden, Norway, Germany, 2018, 88’)
– The Orphanage / Parwareshghah (Sadat Shahrbanoo, Denmark, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Afghanistan, Qatar, 2019, 90’)