KINOBUSS – MOVING CINEMA

Kinobuss (Cinema Bus) is a non-profitable organization which started in 2001. It was founded by 6 young film-makers from Estonia who decided to fight against the trend of extinction of travelling cinemas and monopolised film distribution politics. Their first goal was to revitalize almost destroyed cinema culture in the countryside.
Young film-makers needed a mascot. Their leader Mikk Rand found it in the moor. Kinobuss is specially redesigned old-looking model of a KAVZ 53 bus. It is a nostalgic symbol which combines the now extinct tradition of travelling cinemas and the modern view of art and digital technology.

The idea was to organize a summer festival called "Kinobuss is coming" to travel from town to town with Kinobuss showing new and old Estonian films. Estonia has 15 counties and one condition was to visit one small village with no cinema (population between 10 and 3000 people) in each county. The programme at every stop varies a little but mainly consisting film and animation workshops, screenings – the selection of Estonian films and world cinema consisting shorts, documentaries, animations, fiction etc. Since 2005 film professionals (producers, animators, directors, camera man) have been giving a lecture about the world of films and quite specific related subjects (directing, working with children etc) in the evenings.
Also young film-makers came up with a very good idea to teach film and animation to the children. Professionals teach the basics of “audio-visual language”: elements of story, design, directing, photography and editing. Workshop team also teaches the basics of animation using drawing and cut-out techniques. The Workshop's idea is to use digital video technology - cameras, computers and programs that are meant for home users and non-professionals. The purpose of Kinobuss is to prove that anyone can make a film, even if it is short. The results of the Workshops are also shown on the Internet www.kinobuss.ee.

After three years of doing successful summer tour, many changes were needed. Kinobuss team saw that people from countryside want and need cinema all year long. In 2003 Kinobuss started to work as a project based organisation which trademark “Kinobuss” is. Company has set new goals. Since then there are 2 main activities and Kinobuss acts as a distributor and exhibitor, screening in addition to Estonian films also world cinema (European mainstream). The second important part is the film and animation workshops.

Workshops at Kinobuss tours which got more and more popular every year. Our own quality equipment allows to be mobile allowing to travel around Estonia from school to school, kindergarten to culture centres to take the art of making cinema straight to the people.

Over the years Kinobuss has educated over 15 000 kids in film and animation. It is not exaggerating to say that Kinobuss helps to create new Estonian film and animation makers generation. Definitely it has a very deep impact! In 2005 Kinobuss also started to educate adults, mostly school and activity teachers by providing special media and film workshops. Most of the schools have their own media equipment (computer, hand-cam) and even special media and film classes, but they lack of knowledge how to use a camera or different editing programmes or do not realize that filmmaking can be a great teaching tool or method.

One of the co-partners of Kinobuss is the Tiger Leap Foundation which purpose is to increase the Estonian school education quality utilizing modern information and communication technology. Kinobuss is mobile but it is also small, so partnership with Tiger Leap Foundation (who provides schools the necessary equipment) and also with local schools (how agreed to educate their teachers) have created a new film tutors for the case when Kinobuss just does not manage to visit everyone. It is also vital that the work with children and youngsters will continue after Kinobuss leaves the school.


Kinobuss is a project-based organisation which means that it is involved in different small projects in addition to its main activities.

Here is a overview of major projects in the resume:
“Against drugs with Kinobuss” - a workshop project in 2004 which was conducted by the request and support of National Institute for Health Development. 20 basic schools were visited all around Estonia. The theme of the project -drugs, tobacco and alcohol- were combined with film as children had to create shorts and animations on these subjects. It is interesting to see how the awareness of dangers of drugs and alcohol and the attitude of youngsters have put into the film.

In 2005 September , “Kinobuss in Finland” - within 10 days Kinobuss visited 10 local schools in Finland, where film and animation workshops were carried out; the approximate number of participants in workshops per school was 20.
In 2005-2006 “Kinobuss in Orphanages”, comprised 30 orphanages in Estonia, combined workshops and screenings. The belief that creative approach through cultural and artistic activities offers an unique way to stimulate and activate young people who are excluded or are at risk of becoming excluded socially, economically as well as culturally is vital. Visiting the orphanages gave distinct overview of the needs and thoughts of children without parents.

In 2005 Kinobuss started to train teachers – how to make their own film, 2006 autumn started long term animation and film courses for children in the national KUMU Art Museum.Kinobuss also has been abroad many times: 2003 a small film-tour in Sweden, 2004 we had screenings in Latvia. Twice in Finland, in 2005 a 10 days workshop tour in local schools while also introducing an Estonian children’s film “Röövlirahnu Martin” and in 2006 during the biggest cultural festival in Finland, Helsinki Festival. Kinobuss with an filmmusick band Kriminaalne Elevant (Criminal Elephant) carried out an open-air screening-perfomance „Nosferatu“.The mute film „Nosferatu“ (1922) was projected on the wall of BioRex cinema while the band played in the backround.

KB also has had couple of bigger international projects in its resume. “Teaching with Animation” (“Development and Implementation of a self-training computer-assisted Animation Program as an innovative Didactic Tool for Teachers in the basic School System”, 2005-2007) is a pilot-project under Leonardo da Vinci II education programme. Its goal is to develop a manual and curriculum for schools, training how to use an animation as a teaching tool in school lessons. Film-language is an excellent way to make pictures, characters move and also lessons more interesting (sometimes even the boring ones. It also ables to make documentaries of experiments, tests (chemistry, physics) etc. The project is now in the final phase as the tool is about to be done. There are five co-partners in the projects, educational and film organisations from Denmark, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom and Estonia (Kinobuss). In this matter the manual has been created on relying to the knowledge of professionals, experiences of local teachers in all participating countries. It makes it possible to use the tool widely everywhere. The manual is going to be available in English and in the mother languages of all project partners.

“Digital eLearning” (2006-2007) project with co-partners from Northern-Ireland (WheelWorks) and Finland (Arx Center form Hämeenlinna). The aim of the project is to exchange media and film education methods. During this co-project Kinobuss has made different workshops, using various teaching methods. First project was held in deaf children’s school called Helen's school. The aim was to introduce photographical and visual basics using photo- and video cameras. Second workshop will held with coperation Good Deed Foundation youth club "Together" where during one day Estonian and Russian youth are making films about good deeds that change the world.
In autumn 2007 two projects which combine film and environment will start. First“Environment: teaching with film” is also part one “Digital eLearning” project.

The workshops will be held in different basic schools. The aim is to widen children’s knowledge of environment, point out the critical issues in nature, take the teaching process outside – combine film-making and teaching process. Also the teachers are going to participate so they would learn themselves the art of making a film, how to use necessary programmes etc., so in the future they can continue teaching through audiovisual language.

The second major project which will start on autumn 2007 is “SchoolFilm Festival” . All young school children who are film lovers, amateurs, film-fans can participate making their own shorts, animations etc. First a pre-selection will be carried out and the best films will enter the Schoolfilm festival main programme. The main event will take place in November.

And! This summer Kinobuss turnes into Kinolodi (Cinema Boat)! A short-film festival “Kinolodi 2007 – I short film festival” is going to take place during 8.-18. August. It is an adventure, a film festival on boat as well on land – screenings on film tent, inside the boat and first time the main film of the day will be shown on the sail of the boat!

Since the beginning, Kinobuss has had many different film and animation makers or simply fans from all around the world participating in summer tours. They have been teaching and sharing their experiences. People from Germany, L

atvia, Serbia, Pakistan, Hungary, Denmark, France and England which makes it quite international? Through them the word about tiny mobile cinema in Estonia has spread around and every year interesting offers and invitations for projects come along.

Also Kinobuss has its own French photographer who has travelled along for four years. His name is Raphael Gianelly Meriano and in 2005 he published Kinobuss photo album.

To sum up, I would like to quote one newspaper which said the following about Kinobuss “ they are coming and preaching about the religion, called the art of cinema”.