23-10-2013

In the Competition, One Première After the Next

    From 5 to 10 November, the 23rd FilmFestival Cottbus will offer the best of current East European cinematography in the Feature Film and Short Feature Competitions. 21 of the close to 700 submitted films have made it to the competitions. In the Feature Film section, 11 films from 13 countries – one international première and ten German premières – will compete for the Main Prize endowed with 20,000 and the glass award sculpture Lubina. An international jury will decide. In the Short Feature Competition, 10 contributions from 9 countries – all of which are German premières – will compete for the prize of 3,500 euros. The film-makers search for traces of the past, shed light on current affairs and shortcomings and raise the question of how we would like to live.

    With the Serbo-Croatian tragicomedy, THE PRIEST'S CHILDREN (2013), we again encounter a former award-winner. The director Vinko Brešan won the Main Prize in Cottbus in 1997. His most recent work satirises both the clergy and nationalists and was a big box-office success in Croatia. From Croatia to Poland: The black-and-white film PAPUSZA (2013) by the director-couple Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze deals with the life and work of the Polish Romani poet Bronisława Wajs. The war in Bosnia is the theme of FOR THOSE WHO CAN TELL NO TALES (Bosnia and Herzegovina 2013) by Jasmila Žbanic, whose feature-film debut won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2006. She now examines the traces of a war crime. ROXANNE (Romania, Hungary 2013) is also dedicated to the influence of the political on the private – in this case the snooping of the secret service. The director Vali Hotea and his team brought together the “who is who” of new Romanian cinema for this film. The Slovenian-Croatian film CHEFURS RAUS! (2013) by Goran Vojnović relates the difficulties of finding one’s bearings in a country in which one was born but now no longer exists in this form. The film was already a crowd-puller on the weekend it hit the cinemas. In THE WITHERING (Serbia, Switzerland 2013), the protagonist is faced with the decision of giving up the land of his parents in the remote province to start a new life. The question of human action in the light of social challenges is also raised by MIRACLE, the feature-film debut of Juraj Lehotský (Slovakia, Czech Republic 2013), portraying 15-year-old Ela who leaves a juvenile shelter in search for love. The protagonists of the Ukrainian-Turkish co-production LOVE ME (2013) also share the longing for true love across all (language) barriers. The film by Mehmet Bahadir Er and Maryna Er- Gorbach will experience its European première in Cottbus. In THE GEOGRAPHER DRANK HIS GLOBE AWAY (Aleksandr Veledinsky, Russia 2013), a teacher against his will wrestles through daily life in the Siberian Permian with sarcastic humour. THE UNSAVED by Igor Cobileanski (Romania, Moldova 2012) laconically portrays growing up in the Moldovan province: petty offences or peeling potatoes in the police canteen? THE MAJOR by Yury Bykov (Russia 2013) is confronted with a different question of conscience. A five-member International Festival Jury, headed by the French- Polish actress Elisabeth Duda – performing in this year’s opening film RUN, BOY, RUN – and the German-Croatian Stipe Erceg, will decide upon the award-winners of the four Lubinas:

    The main prize of 20,000 euros, endowed by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten (GWFF), the special prize for the best director (rbb/7,500 euros) as well as the prizes for an outstanding actor (City of Cottbus) and actress (Sparkasse Spree-Neiße), each endowed with 5,000 euros.

    The principle sponsors of the 23rd FilmFestival Cottbus are the State of Brandenburg, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the City of Cottbus as well as the First Partners, Vattenfall and the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

    For further information, please feel free to contact Kristina Krause and Jessica Harmuth under +49 (355) 43107-13/-14 or via email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

    Published in Festivals
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