The people behind Zagreb Film Festival have started a brand new project focused solely on the youngest audiences – KinoKino International Film Festival for Children. The idea behind the project is the notion of a neighborhood cinema (Kino Europa is no longer a neighborhood cinema in the full sense of the word, as those have been replaced by multiplexes, with Europa remaining the only one in Zagreb with regular screenings, but in a more art house manner) as a place for gathering, learning, discussion, exchange of experiences and entertainment. The screening theater is a nexus of the space, but in its whole, it can be so much more than just a cinema, as film can be so much more then just entertainment.
In other words, the festival aims to be a place where new generations of film lovers and cinema goers will be introduced to the medium.
KinoKino’s premiere edition will be held from March 16th to 20th in Zagreb, at Kino Europa. The film program will include around 30 international fiction films for children up to the age of 14, including recent features and shorts, and several special programs featuring film classics for children. There will be two juries, one comprised of film professionals who have done work in children’s films, and a much tougher one – comprised of kids who will have the final word in choosing the best films in the competition.There will also be an audience award.
Apart from films, KinoKino Festival will host workshops intended for children, mentored by experts in different cultural, artistic and social fields. The idea is to give children a chance to spend time at the cinema before and after the screenings and to fill this time with learning and fun.
You can check out the schedules, workshops, trailers and full program here.
