Kinolasek is the first independent mini film festival in Białowieza dedicated to women filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe. In August 2021, the festival took place for the first time, only thanks to the grassroots, collective self-organization of filmmakers and friends of filmmakers but also passionate lovers of film art from the Bialowieza Forest region. For 3 days films of such directors as Yulia Shatun, Tetyana Kononenko, Nadia Parfan, Alina Manolache, Oksana Karpovych, Daria Yurkevich were screened in the evenings.
Screenings took place during the full moon, with sounds coming from the forest and nearby Narewka river. The introduction to the screenings in the form of a short lecture was prepared by the Polish culture journalist Agata Pyzik, who specializes in the cinema and art of Eastern Europe.
After last year's event, Kultura Kresu Foundation established cooperation with the Ukrainian independent feminist festival Filmafest, which premiered the same year. Filmafest, organized by the Freefilmers collective (some from Mariupol) and Kinolasek, planned to join forces and prepare this year's event in Poland and Ukraine, both online and on locations.
Unfortunately, due to the tragedy of the war that happens in Ukraine and the closure of the border zone on the Polish side, both festivals will not take place this year.
Freefilmers & Filmafest:
Kinolasek
