Fortress Europa
Border in Film and History
June 17 to 20, 2025
At a time when its leaders are frantically calling for the militarization of Europe, it seems strange that this same Europe would continuing talking about embracing inclusion, equality, and diversity. Europe has always been cut up and divided by borders: certainly by those on which its official bastions stand – the police, the immigration offices, etc. – but even more by the immovable borders that define and enforce those who are excluded, humiliated, and ignored and that are carried in the heart and spirit of "the European." Over time, Europe has dug its trenches on different fronts, but the goal remains the same: prosperity and democracy for the few who determine everyone's reality. The films in the retrospective program Fortress Europe do not use the aforementioned ingredients (slowly cooking the frog), but instead – using their respective film languages – uniformly hold up a mirror either to Europe's cartography or its treatment of "the stranger" standing on the wrong side of the line. (Varja Močnik)
This film program is part of the retrospective Oriente Vzhod/Occidente Zahod – Border in Film and History, part of the official European Capital of Culture 2025 program of Nova Gorica and Gorizia. This multiannual project initiated by Kinoatelje in collaboration with numerous partners has developed out of annual symposia examining topics such as the significance of archival material, local film cultures, and cinematic and televisual practices within the broader historical and contemporary cross-border context.
At a time when its leaders are frantically calling for the militarization of Europe, it seems strange that this same Europe would continuing talking about embracing inclusion, equality, and diversity. Europe has always been cut up and divided by borders: certainly by those on which its official bastions stand – the police, the immigration offices, etc. – but even more by the immovable borders that define and enforce those who are excluded, humiliated, and ignored and that are carried in the heart and spirit of "the European." Over time, Europe has dug its trenches on different fronts, but the goal remains the same: prosperity and democracy for the few who determine everyone's reality. The films in the retrospective program Fortress Europe do not use the aforementioned ingredients (slowly cooking the frog), but instead – using their respective film languages – uniformly hold up a mirror either to Europe's cartography or its treatment of "the stranger" standing on the wrong side of the line. (Varja Močnik)
This film program is part of the retrospective Oriente Vzhod/Occidente Zahod – Border in Film and History, part of the official European Capital of Culture 2025 program of Nova Gorica and Gorizia. This multiannual project initiated by Kinoatelje in collaboration with numerous partners has developed out of annual symposia examining topics such as the significance of archival material, local film cultures, and cinematic and televisual practices within the broader historical and contemporary cross-border context.
