The Espoo Cin\u00e9 International Film Festival launches Cin\u00e9stesia \u2014 a festival strand dedicated to the intersections between cinema, visual arts, and artists\u2019 moving image practices. The programme brings together a curated selection of both contemporary and archival screenings, a professional cross disciplinary seminar, and collaborative exchange to strengthen global networks within the moving image field. Cin\u00e9stesia positions itself as a necessary forum connecting artists, filmmakers, curators, and institutions to build shared knowledge, encourage critical debate, and contribute to a more cohesive, vivid, and visible moving image ecosystem. Cin\u00e9stesia is part of the 37th edition of the Espoo Cin\u00e9 International Film Festival held 21\u201330 August 2026 at different venues across Espoo and Helsinki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to enhance collaboration and dialogue across different art forms, practices, and traditions more than ever before in times of uncertainty and profound transformation in the cultural sector. The artists\u2019 moving image field in Finland is and has always been highly transnational by its nature. Cin\u00e9stesia is a new chapter in that continuum. Having over a decade of experience in the audiovisual field, and now with Espoo Cin\u00e9, we have observed that a new generation of film lovers is particularly hungry for fresh ideas, meaningfully curated programming, and fruitful encounters. This is precisely what lies at the heart of Cin\u00e9stesia\u201d, says Tytti Rantanen, the executive director of Espoo Cin\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The artistic content of Cin\u00e9stesia is shaped in collaboration with an annually invited leading international curator. The inaugural edition welcomes renowned UK-based film scholar and critic Erika Balsom whose curatorial contribution will draw together filmmakers and visual artists engaging in shifting boundaries between cinema and art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For years now, there has been a lot of doom and gloom about the supposed \u2018death of cinema.\u2019 I see how the current state of the film industry might inspire this kind of pronouncement, but if we look to where cinema meets visual art, or where experimental film meets documentary, we see that the contemporary moment is exceptionally vibrant. The works included in Cinesthesia are proof that the most exciting work with the moving image today is happening at the edges of cinema”, states Erika Balsom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cin\u00e9stesia will also spotlight two artists in focus: London-based artist and experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers and Beirut-based filmmaker and film programmer Nour Ouayda. Their bodies of work reflect distinct yet complementary approaches to contemporary filmmaking, spanning from speculative character-driven narratives to embracing the fluid possibilities of docufiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The screening programme is accompanied and enriched by the Cin\u00e9stesia International Seminar on Film and Visual Arts (25\u201326 August 2026) that brings together keynote lectures and in-depth artist talks with Cin\u00e9stesia\u2019s international guests, along with several panel discussions. The Seminar opens a series of conversations addressing key questions in contemporary moving image practices and its curation, as well as a critical reflection on the persistence of analogue and material processes in an increasingly digital landscape.
Cin\u00e9stesia is made possible through the generous support of the Saastamoinen Foundation. The foundation has already invested in the teaching and research of analogue film and photography at the Academy of Fine Arts (Uniarts Helsinki) and supports the Academy\u2019s alumni participation in the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto residency. Cin\u00e9stesia, in turn, strengthens these connections between the field of fine arts and the film industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Espoo Cin\u00e9 International Film Festival launches Cin\u00e9stesia \u2014 a festival strand dedicated
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