Kino Mediteran reached its 50 000thvisitor last weekend, in the cinema in Bol on the island of Brač, at the screening of the Estonian children’s film “Eia’s Christmas at Phantom Owl Farm”. This project of revitalizing cinemas in Dalmatia, includes 30 Dalmatian towns on the islands, the coast and inland. This huge result coincides with the presentation of the project in Lisbon at the conference of the network of European cinemas, Europa Cinemas, where Kino Mediteran will be presented as one of 12 cinemas in the centre of this network of 1100 cinemas from 43 countries.

Kino Mediteran continues to break records. Last weekend, in Bol on the island of Brač, the 50 000thticket was sold in 2019. This is the first time this project of revitalizing cinemas reached this number of viewers, and the result is even more significant because the towns that this project reaches have less than 5 000 residents.

A little reminder: the project Kino Mediteran was started in 2012 in order to organize regular cinema screenings in small towns on Dalmatian islands, the coast and inland. The leader of the project is the Mediterranean Film Festival Split, and the program focuses on independent films, so it makes us very happy that this ticket was sold for the screening of the Estonian children’s movie, Eia’s Christmas at Phantom Owl Farm, screened as a part of Zagreb Film Festival guest screenings.

Even though Kino Mediteran started its story as a travelling cinema in 2015, in collaboration with local partners, through investment competition of the Ministry of Culture, 13 cinemas and open-air cinemas were equipped and this enabled them to be opened regularly all year round. Kino Mediteran, through models of public-civilian partnerships, manages this area with its programs and logistics, and it achieves excellent results. Other than that, on about 20 locations, the program is realised through the model of travelling cinema with one van and all necessary cinema equipment.

In 2018, 126 films were screened in 26 towns and in 702 screenings. The total number of visitors was 48 628, a number that has been surpassed in October this year. The average was 69 visitors per screening which made Kino Mediteran one of the most visited cinemas in Croatia, and this number is especially significant since most towns covered by the project are small.

Since 2016, Kino Mediteran has been a member of the European network of independent cinemas, Europa Cinemas. Its biennale conference is being held this week in Lisbon. Europa Cinemas has chosen Kino Mediteran as one of the 12 cinemas in focus to be presented at the conference among 1100 cinemas from 43 countries.

Kino Mediteran is being organized with the support of the National Foundation for development of civil society, Kultura Nova, Croatian Audiovisual Centre and all local partners, towns and municipalities that the project is being held in.