ABOUT
The founder of Kinoatelje, also a sociologist and a film critic, Darko Bratina (1942-1997) had attributed an important role to the film, television and video media: he stated that it was one of the best means of understanding society, history and culture. Following his vision, the award carries his name and also selects works and authors, which besides the aesthetical values, have an additional focus towards the historical and social surroundings, hence advocating intercultural communication.
Today the award ceremony occurs as a cross-border film festival, Tribute to a Vision, taking place in the inter-regional space between Slovenia and Italy by connecting audiences and film institutions in 7 different cities (Gorizia, Nova Gorica, Trieste, Izola, San Pietro al Natisone, Udine in Ljubljana), for which the physical distance might not be great, but the cultural varieties are rather expressive and stand for the richness of our cross-border space. The festival presents the complete filmography of the selected author, the winner of the Darko Bratina award. Roundtables with the awarded guest, film projections and a professional workshop - a masterclass co-organized with our neighboring partners. The complete program is bilingual (in Italian and Slovene), except for the masterclass which is in English.
The newly designed First Crossings section brings new freshness to the festival, which aims to be a platform for exploring new film languages. In the accompanying program Award through time, we follow the fresh productions of the previous recipients of the Darko Bratina Award and we put their timeless masterpieces back on display.
DARKO BRATINA
Born in Gorizia, 30 March 1942. He was attending a Slovenian primary and secondary school, after which he enrolled at the science high school Duca degli Abruzzi in Gorizia. He graduated in 1961 and enrolled at the Faculty of Engineering in Trieste. Shortly after, he started to get interested in sociology and when he heard about the new sociology school, founded in 1962 in Trento, he abandoned the engineering studies and started studying sociology, when the faculty wasn't yet acknowledged.
In the year 1972 he became an economical sociology professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Trieste. He moved back to Gorizia in 1976 and two years later he began teaching sociology in Trieste. He advanced in his academical career until 1992, and also taught sociology of ethnical relationships from 1990 at the Faculty for International and Diplomatic Sciences in Gorizia, that was founded the same year.
Film was one of his most important interests, for which he started to develop a taste as a young man and continued to nourish it throughout his life. In Gorizia in 1977 he established the film club Kinoatelje. He was an initiator of the Slovenian film in Italy and organized the first Slovenian film retrospective. Out of that initiative the Film Video Monitor was born, an annual Slovenian film, television and video magazine.
Bratina was also very active within the Slovenian minorities: since 1976 he collaborated at SLORI (Slovenian research institute) and was the head of the institution from 1982 till 1992. He was active with the Slovenian cultural-economical relationships (SKGZ) and was a member of the main board.
In the year 1992 he was voted as senator on the PDS (the Democratic Party of the Left) in the Gorizia County and thus became the first Gorizian senator. He was reelected in 1994 on the list of the Progressives and in 1996 on the list of Oljke. Amidst this different parliamentary positions, he was a member of the Foreign Political Commission in the Senate, a member of the Italian delegation at the Council of Europe, a member of the Italian delegation to the WEU, and the President of the Italian delegation to the CEI since 28 November 1996.
He died in the village of Obernai near Strasbourg, on 23 September 1997.
Majda Bratina
Text taken from the book: Darko Bratina: progetto dialogo /projekt za dialog, edited by Giuliana Iaschi and Roman Vecchiet, Gramsci Institute of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 2004
AWARDEES
2021 Peter Zeitlinger, director of photography
2020 Srdan Golubovič, director
2019 Kim Longinotto, director
2018 Peter Mettler, director
2017 Mario Brenta, director
2016 Dalibor Matanić, director
2015 Villi Hermann, director and producer
2014 Laila Pakalnina, director
2013 Ruth Beckermann, director
2012 Karpo Godina, filmmaker
2011 Franco Giraldi, director
2010 Miroslav Janek, filmmaker
2009 Harutyun Khachatryan, director and producer
2008 Petra Seliškar, director and producer
2007 Adela Peeva, director and producer
2006 Želimir Žilnik, director
2005 Edi Šelhaus, photographer and photoreporter
2004 Demetrio Volcic, television journalist and reporter
2003 Aljoša Žerjal, cineast from Trieste
2001 Jan Cvitkovič, director
2000 Srdjan Vuletić, director
1999 Maja Weiss, director
TEAM
Mateja Zorn, festival director
Karin Kocijančič, office manager
Patricija Maličev, programme selector
Patrick Holzapfel, programme board
Mateja Sulič, coordination and communication (Slo)
Sandra Jovanovska, programme selector and coordinator of First Crossings
Aljaž Škrlep, programme selector of First Crossings and website
Dora Ciccone, selector of First Crossings
Sara Brollo, selector of First Crossings
Virgil Darelli, selector of First Crossings
Katja Pahor, Marša Marušič, Kim Lang, Orjana Velikonja Grbac and Vida Rucli, graphic design
Emanuela Masseria, public relations (Ita)
Martina Humar, translation and archiving
Urban Košir, Fabris Šulin, audio-visual documentation and technical support
Danijel Bukovec, photographer
Luka Pieri, Sara Terpin, Maja Lovrenov, Nataša Hrovat, Sara Simoncig and Fulvio Spagnul, translations
Jakob Koncut, designer of the Darko Bratina Award sculpture
PARTNERS
CO-ORGANIZERS:
NOVA GORICA: Zavod Masovna, Kulturni dom Nova Gorica, Zavod Kinoatelje, Akademija umetnosti Univerze v Novi Gorici, Xcenter
GORICA: Palazzo del Cinema /Hiša filma, DAMS Cinema – Università degli Studi di Udine, Univerza na Primorskem , Narodna in študijska knjižnica , Združenje Darko Bratina
LJUBLJANA: Slovenska kinoteka, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana international film festival Liffe, Zavod Motovila
IZOLA: Zavod Otok, Comunità Autogestita della Nazionalità Italiana di Isola
ŠPETER: Inštitut za slovensko kulturo, SMO - Krajinski pripovedni muzej
VIDEM: Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche Udine, Hybrida Circolo Arci, Robida
TRST: Casa del cinema Trieste, Bonawentura soc. coop, Associazione culturale Anno uno, Slovenski klub, La Capella Underground
FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
