23-11-2020

goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film presents the last winner of its 20th edition // ZANA receives the Audience Award

    The competition section of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film,  

    consisting of 16 was supposed to take place from May 5-10 2020, was postponed to  November due to Corona. Thanks to the commitment of the festival team and the support  of sponsors and funders, the 20th edition of goEast was able to take place beyond the  actual festival period. The presentation of opening film SERVANTS / SLUŽOBNÍCI (Director:  Ivan Ostrochovský) was also postponed to November. As a sign of solidarity, the 33rd  exground filmfest had adopted the section in its entirety. However, due to continuing travel  restrictions and event bans, the films could only be shown online, accompanied by pre recorded film talks with the filmmakers. The audience was able to vote online for their  favourite film. 

    Antoneta Kastrati won the goEast Audience Award with her film ZANA (Kosovo, Albania  2019). In this personal film, the filmmaker links traumas of the Kosovo war to the intimate  story of her protagonist. In a visually convincing way, Antoneta Kastrati succeeds in making  a film about the impact of history on contemporary Kosovo as well as the story of her protagonist's emancipation, an Impressive role by Adriana Matoshi.  

    Axel Imholz, head of the cultural department of the state capital of Wiesbaden, accepted  the prize on behalf of the city and expressed his thanks to the teams of both festivals: "It is  wonderful to see that the amazing festivals in our city do not see each other as competitors but as partners in the effort to create a great and special cinema culture in Wiesbaden. I  would like to thank everyone involved for this team spirit".  

    The trophy, the Silver Lily, was designed by artist Joachim Harbut. The goEast Audience  Award, which is being presented for the first time, is endowed with a cash prize of 1,500  euros. 

    Head of Festival Heleen Gerritsen is delighted about the opportunity to award the prize in  this special anniversary year: "In May we divided all goEast prizes between the competition  participants in a spirit of solidarity - the main prizes were thus only awarded symbolically.  An exception was the audience award, which was financed through crowdfunding. I had  very much hoped to be able to present the prize in person at exground, but this year, with  no cinema, no parties and no guests, we are nevertheless happy about any support we can  give to filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, some of whom are having to fight the  pandemic harder than we here". 

    The Audience Award was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign,  which was awarded by "kulturMut", the joint crowdfunding platform of the Aventis  

    Foundation and Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain. 

    Should it be possible by then, exground filmfest plans to present their programme in  Wiesbaden's cinemas between 11 and 20 December 2020, including the goEast competition. 

    The main jury awards were already awarded online during the goEast festival week in May,  with the prize money being divided equally among the filmmakers in the competing sections. 

    The 21st edition of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will take place  from 20 to 26 April 2021. 

    An overview of prize-winners of the 20st goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern  European Film: 

    Golden Lily for Best Film 

    ROUNDS / V KRAG, Bulgaria, Serbia,France, 2019, directed by Stephan Komandarev 

    Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director 

    NOVA LITUANIA, Lithuania, 2019, directed by Karolis Kaupinis 

    Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity 

    IMMORTAL / SUREMATU, Estonia, Lithuania, 2019, directed by Ksenia Okhapkina

    Honourable Mention 

    IVANA THE TERRIBLE / IVANA CEA GROAZNICĂ, Romania, Serbia 2019, directed by  Ivana Mladenović 

    International Film Critic's Award – FIPRESCI (fiction feature) 

    ROUNDS / V KRAG, Bulgaria, Serbia, France 2019, directed by Stephan Komandarev 

    International Film Critic's Award – FIPRESCI (documentary film) 

    STATE FUNERAL / PROSHANIE SO STALINYM, Netherlands, Lithuania, 2019, directed by  Sergei Loznitsa 

    Open Frame Award 

    WHISPERS, Poland, 2019, directed by Jacek Nagłowski, Patryk Jordanowicz 

    Open Frame Award – Honourable Mention 

    BABYN JAR, VIRTUAL MEMORY, Ukraine, 2020, directed by Alona Stulii 

    RheinMain Short Film Award 

    IN BETWEEN / NË MES, Kosovo, 2019, directed by Samir Karahoda 

    RheinMain Short Film Award – Honourable Mention 

    VIRAGO, Estonia, 2019, directed by Kerli Kirch Schneider 

    Renovabis Research Grant for documentary film projects with a human rights focus 

    HOME IS WHERE THE FILMS ARE, Kosovo, directed by More Raça 

    goEast Development Award 

    SHUT THE FUCK UP!, Ukraine, directed by Taisiia Kutuzova  

    You can find photo materials in our download section: 

    www.filmfestival-goeast.de/de/presse/downloads.php

    goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut &  Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are  the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Hessen State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts,  Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Renovabis, BHF BANK Foundation, Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung  für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the German Federal Foreign Ministry, the Federal Foundation for the Study  of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany and Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds. Media partners  include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.