Retrospective on the Move: The First Cross-Border Waypoints of Our Film Journey

Retrospective Oriente Vzhod / Occidente Zahod – Border Through Film and History, part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025, launched its international tour in the first half of 2025. By July, it had visited eight countries and presented 31 films across 54 screenings, ranging from classics of Slovenian and Italian cinema to contemporary festival highlights, documentary essays and animated films.

International audiences have engaged with the complex, multilayered stories along the Slovenian–Italian border through a cinematic language that spans poetic auteur work, archival materials and socially critical filmmaking. Many titles reached new viewers, an important boost for filmmakers who remain active and are building their international visibility.

The journey began in April where the project was born: in the Gorizia region, in the twin city of Nova Gorica and Gorizia, this year’s European Capital of Culture GO! 2025. Together with the Slovenian Cinematheque, we continued with screenings in Ljubljana.

The first international stop was Timișoara, Romania, hosted by the Ceau, Cinema! festival. This was followed by Belgrade, with screenings at the Yugoslav Cinematheque (in cooperation with the Sava Association); Kosovo, with three stops in Prizren, Peja and Pristina (in cooperation with DokuFest, Kino Armata and Jusuf Gërvallo); and Germany, where we collaborated in Zittau with the cross-border Neisse Film Festival. In June we visited the Kino Otok – Isola Cinema festival in Izola and held a special screening in Opatija, Croatia. Our programme was also welcomed with great interest by the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna, with which we have a long-standing partnership.

The retrospective continues over the summer at the Slovenian Cinematheque’s open-air cinema and as part of the travelling cinema Kino Istra – Cinema Istria, which brings film art to border communities of the Slovenian Littoral.

We warmly thank all our partners who make this journey possible: Ceau, Cinema!; the Sava Association; DokuFest; the Slovenian Cinematheque; Kino Otok – Isola Cinema; the Neisse Film Festival; the Austrian Film Museum; SKICA; the Italian Cultural Institute; Kino Istra – Cinema Istria; the Slovenian Film Centre; and other partners, as well as the cinemas, festivals, audiences and collaborators who accompany us on this cross-border film journey.

We look forward to the autumn leg of the tour, with stops in Berlin, Szolnok (Hungary), Turin, Bologna, Rome and other European cities. Cinema continues to open spaces for dialogue and reminds us that borders can also be bridges.