Cinema in the Forest: Family Therapy (Sonja Prosenc, 2024)

The Itinerant Cinema Isonzo – Kino Soča continues its journey into August and, despite the summer heat, continues to bring cinematic masterpieces into the embrace of nature. 

On Wednesday, 3 September 2025, at 20:00, we will return to Kanal, where, together with Pečno Park and the OZON association, we will bring to life the unforgettable Cinema in the Forest. On the screen beneath the canopy of trees, the feature film Family Therapy (Odrešitev za začetnike), by director Sonja Prosenc, will come to life. The film, which was already enthusiastically presented in the Visionari section of the cross-border film festival Homage to a Vision, is a social satire transformed into a reflection on the state of humanity. Its world premiere took place at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Family Therapy, Sonja Prosenc, 2024, 122'

A young outsider, Julien, enters a seemingly perfect family and upsets its fragile equilibrium. Through the cracks in the carefully guarded family facade, the comical dysfunction of the relationships between Aleksander, Olivia, and their teenage daughter Agata is revealed. The of Family Therapy director is rooted in a personal memory: "When I was little, our car caught fire on the street. Family Therapy was born from the memory of cars passing by without stopping—but with curious eyes, observing as if they were watching rare animals on safari."

Who are the people who choose not to stop to help? At its heart, this film is an exploration of isolation, not only physical, but also emotional and social. We delve into the life of a wealthy Slovenian family who embody detachment from the reality around them. They see themselves as cosmopolitan, with friends from all over the world, but harbor a fear of "normal" people—those they perceive as ordinary individuals, whose lives seem alien to them and who could wreak havoc on their carefully controlled order. They live in a bubble, transparent and seemingly impenetrable, much like the glass house featured in the film. This metaphorical and physical barrier defines the film's main narrative setting.

Family Therapy begins as a social satire, examining contemporary social issues. However, as the layers are revealed, the story transforms into an exploration of the human condition. Is our indifference to the world around us a learned behavior, a symptom of a broader social pathology? Or perhaps we fear confronting our own vulnerability?

The traveling Cinema Isonzo – Kino Soča, active since 2024, organizes outdoor screenings in picturesque locations along the border, in collaboration with various partners in the region. The event is part of the Go Green Cinema project, which targets a broad cross-border audience, local residents, occasional foreign visitors, and participants in the official GO! 2025 program of the European Capital of Culture. The project is supported by the European Union through the GO! 2025 Small Projects Fund of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 program, managed by the EGTC GO. www.ita-slo.eu & www.euro-go.eu/spf

The project is financed by the European Union through the GO! 2025 Small Project Fund of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 Programme, managed by the EGTC GO.