08-03-2011

goEast 2011 – Meet the East right in the middle of the West

    „Meet the East right in the middle of the West“ is the motto between April 6 and April 12,
    2011, in Wiesbaden. Under new leadership, goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European
    Film, organized by Deutsches Filminstitut, offers numerous opportunities for cinematic
    discoveries from our Eastern neighbouring countries – a forum for versatile talent and unknown
    faces, for exciting subjects and new aesthetics..

    goEast – new views

    For the eleventh edition of the film festival goEast, new festival director Gaby Babic has designed the festival section Beyond Belonging. It is dedicated to transboundary subjects beyond geopolitical dividing lines. „We show films which raise questions regarding cultural and social identities and attributions, intending to discuss these“, the festival director explains. 2011’s emphasis lies on migration phenomena in and across the Western and the Eastern societies. Beyond Belonging looks into the question how films can tell about migration and exile.


    goEast – competition

    The competition presents goEast’s most enthralling side. Ten current feature films and six documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe compete for the Škoda-Award „The Golden Lily“ for Best Film. The award – endowed with 10 000 Euros – is sponsored by Škoda Auto Deutschland. The
    foundation „Remembrance, Responsibility and Future“ sponsors the Documentary Award „Remembrance and Future“ (10 000 Euros), which will tour different domestic and foreign cities with its own film series this autumn, the City of Wiesbaden, State Capital of Hessen, sponsors the Award for Best Director (7 500 Euros), and the Federal Foreign Office sponsors the Award „for artistic originality which creates cultural diversity“ (2 000 Euros). An international jury decides about the allocation of the lucrative awards. A jury from the FIPRESCI allocates the international Film Critic’s award.


    goEast – sponsorship for up-and-coming talent

    For the fifth time already, the Robert Bosch Stiftung sponsors the Co-Production Prize in cooperation with goEast. During the festival in Wiesbaden, up to 210 000 Euros will be allocated to three ambitious projects in East and West. This year, academies from Tiflis (Georgia), Lodz (Poland), Hamburg, Kassel, and the Rhein-Main-Area participate in the goEast Students’ Competition. The BHF-BANK-Foundation donates the competition and the Award for Best Short Film from a non-German film school, endowed with 1 500 Euros and allocated by a jury, as well as three further awards (1 000 Euros each), to be allocated by the festival audience.


    goEast – palpable film history, shapable dialogue


    The Homage is dedicated to Czech film-maker and artist Jan Švankmajer, whose works were forbidden for a long time in the former CSSR. His films create a magical world of their own; surrealistic fireworks of the most diverse kinds of cinematic animation. goEast presents a retrospective consisting of a short film program and all of Jan Švankmajer’s feature films.


    The Symposium „Marching into the Picture – The New Right in Eastern European Film“, led by Dr. Grit Lemke (author / curator, Berlin / Leipzig), looks at the strengthening of the right-wing populist movements in Eastern Europe. The social phenomenon of the „New Right“ is increasingly reflected in
    films. In lectures and a panel discussion, scientists and professionals from the film trade from Central and Eastern Europe will discuss – among other subjects – questions regarding the presentability of xenophobia and violence.


    Conversations between professionals from the film trade and the audience, discussion rounds, and last but not least the parties in the goEast Special Program offer lots of opportunities for a lively exchange between international guests and audience.


    goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is being supported by numerous partners: Our main sponsors are the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, the City of Wiesbaden, state capital of Hessen, Škoda Auto Deutschland, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the foundation „Remembrance, Responsibility and Future", the BHF-BANK Foundation, the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen and the Nassauische Sparkasse.


    Press contact:


    Mirjam Schwenn Deutsches Filminstitut – DIF e.V.
    Telephone: 0611 / 23 68 43-14 Schaumainkai 41
    Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 60596 Frankfurt am Main

    Organizer:

    goEast - Filmfestival Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    Friedrichstraße 32 Internet: www.filmfestival-goeast.de
    65185 Wiesbaden