Have you ever wondered why the KinoFF film festival's program features these particular films and not others? After all, thousands of films are produced globally each year, but the KinoFF 2023 program includes only 35 feature and short films.
I will reveal what is hidden from the audience's view and known to a small circle of professionals.
For half a year leading up to the PÖFF and KinoFF film festivals, films from around the world are gathered on special web platforms. The selection team watches hundreds of films to choose the best. From these, the programs are assembled.
We carefully select gems from a vast list of good films submitted to the PÖFF festival and string them together into a necklace that graces three cities in Ida-Virumaa.
The process of compiling the KinoFF program is quite straightforward – review the entire list of films sent by PÖFF selectors and choose those that will make the perfect KinoFF program. This year, it was necessary to watch about 120 feature films across various genres – fiction, documentary, animation, films for children and adults.
KinoFF is a festival of the future. Its focus is on films that present different versions of the future, where the decisions and dreams of the characters can change the world and their own lives. I keep this concept in mind while going through the list. If we are looking into the future, then we do not include historical and costume films in the program.
First, I create an initial list – what I liked, which theme resonated, which story is told unusually, which genre, what new things the audience can learn, feel, and experience... When I watch a film, I keep in mind the audiences of the three cities – envisioning which city has viewers for this film.
What story will be interesting to children, teenagers, adults? What can we discuss with the audience through documentary cinema? Will, for instance, a Canadian film interest the children of Jõhvi? Are the viewers in Narva ready to discuss the experiences depicted in an Italian-Korean-Arabic-English film? Which horror film is best to show in Jõhvi, and will a musical appeal to Narvans?
Then, when the first list is compiled, I look for common themes and intersections. This is how the main theme emerges, which will become the festival's statement. This year it is about the future through love.
Now with great attention, I revisit the list, narrow it down again, and distribute it among the cities. Now a balance is needed – of formats, genres, statements. So that every viewer in their city can choose the story they want to see.
The list of selected films is discussed with the general producer of KinoFF, Yana Budkovskaya, and sent to the PÖFF team, who then reach out to the rights holders. Each film must be confirmed, a contract concluded, and only after that, the program is finalized.
At major festivals, it is considered good form to give the floor to emerging filmmakers, to show short films. For example, this year's PÖFF shorts received over 5,000 films. And the selectors honestly watch all the films! Each film is marked with a special flag so that later, when compiling the final program, films can be quickly found by the theme announced in the cassette. Each film tells about different, important aspects of the theme.
The KinoFF program includes two cassettes (collections) of short films: in Jõhvi, we will discuss love in an unknown future, and in Narva – short films by graduates of BFM and EKA, the best works of the ShootShorts project. What concerns the youth, what are they talking about at the beginning of their creative journey? We'll discuss this with the audience.
Compiling a film festival program is like meditation, where each film becomes part of deep reflection. It's magic when films created in different corners of the world, with different budgets and genres, merge into one, creating a unique cinematic event. It is an art where each film adds its shade to the mosaic of the film festival.
All the films in this year's festival program are about love in all its manifestations. The KinoFF team would like this feeling to be conveyed to the audience in Ida-Virumaa. Love for one's neighbor, country, planet. We are building the future together, and the films are a hint that we are not alone and that each of us can make this world better, using our means and possibilities.
Natalja Matšenene, KinoFF Film Program Manager