The 1st Itaicine – Itaiópolis National Short-Film Festival took place between May 23rd and 26th, 2024, but the activities began on May 15th, with courses and workshops. The project was funded by Prêmio Catarinense de Cinema – Edição Especial Lei Paulo Gustavo 2023, and its official opening and the screenings and competitive sessions were held at Clube 16 de Abril. This is a traditional space in Itaiópolis: in 1928, the Cine Esperança began its activities there. In this movie theater, the films that had previously been shown at Cine Emacite, in the neighboring city of Mafra, were projected by Carlos Link.

At the official opening, the invited feature film was shown and, in the following days, as part of the official counterpart, children from municipal preschools occupied the 16 de Abril space to get in touch with the seventh art at the Mostrinhas Infantil and Azul, an experience that can mark them for the rest of their lives, especially considering that there are no commercial movie theaters in the city.

In the intervals between films such as Hansel and Gretel, there was a fun moment with the entertainers, who interacted with the children by bringing the costumes of the film's puppets out of the screen. The parallel exhibition with the artifacts used in Hansel and Gretel was another of the festival's activities, which allowed viewers to better understand the production method of animated films in a playful way, materialising what they had just watched.

An accessible session was also part of the festival's program, which featured resources such as audio description and a sign language interpreter. In the evenings, the 16 de Abril Club was the stage for the screening of short films dedicated to the general program. On the awards night and closing ceremony of the festival, the trophies included the pêssanka, a craft linked to the cultural heritage of Slavic immigration to Itaiópolis, which was undoubtedly received by the winners as a special souvenir of this city in the northern plateau of Santa Catarina.

Participants were also able to get in touch with Slavic culture at the Cultural Night, where visitors were welcomed at Casa Polaski, in Alto Paraguaçu. The dance performance by the Wiezy Polskie Folklore Group entertained the visitors who came to the festival and were able to get in touch not only with the audiovisual production of the exhibitions, but also with the cultural heritage of immigration, still preserved in Itaiópolis.

Before the festival, workshops and courses were held at Casa da Cultura, in the city center. The people of Itaiópolis had the opportunity to get in touch with and learn more about the audiovisual production chain with the Screenwriting Workshop, taught by Di Moretti, and the Masterclass by Cavi Borges. Talita Pedroza gave a talk about Libras to teachers from the municipal school system, and Sávio Leite, who gave the talk MUMIA, also launched his book at Casa Polaski, completing the pre-festival program.

Itaiópolis is a large city in terms of territorial extension, and the festival took this into consideration. For students from schools further away from the city center, there were traveling exhibitions, reinforcing the festival's commitment to disseminating audiovisual production and establishing itself as a space for audience development. The exhibitions at Casa Paroquial Hugo Dylla anticipated what will happen in the second edition of the festival, which will be held in the Alto Paraguaçu neighborhood.

The complete making of the 1st Itaicine can be seen at this link.