KINOOKUS is an association of young professionals in the audio-visual, educational, scientific, artistic and managerial fields, coming together over projects that bring multidisciplinary and holistic approaches to questions of land, to new models of culture and society, and to the innate complexity of human being-in-the-world. The name of the Association – Kinookus – implies a thematic conjunction
of food and film and the development of aesthetic taste for beauty and good, for the art of film and for art in general. Kinookus also means education in the sense of awakening and refining the senses for rare and forgotten tastes (aesthetic and gastronomic), especially those that are in danger of becoming extinct in a globalized, homogenous world. MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
KINOOKUS is a food film festival which, in exploring issues of industrial food production and its consequences for the planet, tells the story of “ordinary” men and women who engage their creativity and resourcefulness in trying to overcome the existing, collapsing socio-economic model. The Festival structure (Cinexperience – competition and retrospective, Cinefocus – lectures and meetings, Cinexperiment – educational workshops, Cinelocus – an open-air market for local, traditional and organic products) strives to express all the abundance of the story of food as well as different aspects of its profound meaning for the life of mankind. It includes feature-length films, shorts, and documentaries, many of which struggle to find their way to the distributors and wider public. The films share a common theme of critical thinking about the complex relationship between man and his environment with a special emphasis on the production of food. The winning feature-length film is awarded the Big Oyster prize and the best short film receives the Little Oyster. All festival events including film screenings are held in carefully selected outdoor public spaces in and around Ston, giving additional value to the city’s cultural heritage. The recently renovated walls of Ston (Fortress Arcimon) and other buildings of special historic significance (Orsan in Mali Ston) are highlighted by the festival’s layout. Open-air screenings are also a way of re-introducing the public to the distinctive pleasures of a vanishing Croatian tradition: the outdoor summer cinema. CINEFOCUS is a meeting place for scientists from different fields and a locus of multidisciplinary exchange about conceptions of food production and consumption. Festival guests and visitors participate in lectures given by international experts and discussions on different aspects of food: gastronomic, artistic, social, ethnological, and philosophical. The lectures are always paired with thematically connected film screenings and tastings of delicious dishes. The overall experience is a feast for all the senses. CINEXPERIMENT is the educational section of the Festival, fully oriented towards film and food education for young people. Here, young people learn how to master film techniques, storytelling strategies and film analysis, balancing traditional skills with new technologies. An emphasis on original teaching methods and learning through play encourages the sensibility of the young, raising their awareness of the fragility of natural balances and directing their attention towards life in all its forms. CINELOCUS is an open-air market of local, traditional and organic products at the heart of the festival. The unique output of those small producers and family craftsmen who fight constantly to preserve the old, traditional ways of cultivation is featured. The Festival organisers profoundly believe that the stories and customs of the local population as well as the tastes, colours and smells of their traditional products are the nicest and best way for guests to feel the spirit of the place they are visiting.
