From 4 to 9 November, FilmFestival Cottbus invites the public to its 24th edition. A total of 140 films from 30 countries will be screened in three competitions and ten programme sections, offering a variety of insights into Eastern and Central European cinematography. The festival starts on Tuesday, 4 November, with the premiere of the German version of WHITE GOD (UNDERDOG, Germany / Hungary 2014) by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó in the Staatstheater Cottbus.
Premieres & awards: The three competitions for feature films, shorts and youth films
The Feature Film Competition will see the world, international or German premieres of more than ten current productions from Eastern Europe competing for the Main Prize endowed with 20,000 euro and the Lubina glass award statuette. A prominent international jury will decide upon the winners. The Short Film Competition offers a platform of its own with a wide variety of themes and genres, while the films featured in the U18 – German-Polish Youth Film Competition portray everyday lives and values of the younger generation in Germany and its neighbouring country. 18 prizes with a total of 72,750 euro will be awarded at the 24th FilmFestival Cottbus.
A view of lesbian and gay lifeworlds: “queerEAST” in >Focus<
The annually alternating theme of the >FocusFocus secion to homosexual lifeworlds. Political activism, stories from everyday life and bittersweet romanticism are facets of the status quo of civil society in Eastern Europe and clearly show that homosexuality has become a key issue here in the past years. The series is curated by the Georgian director Zaza Rusadze.
Ciao Cottbus: >globalEAST< a guest in Italy
The cinematic world tour continues, stopping in Italy this year. Eastern European influences on the country’s film productions can be discussed with the Italian filmmaker Alberto Fasulo and the Albanian director Iris Elezi, among others. The two will personally present their films TIR (Italy / Croatia 2013) and BOTA (Albania / Italy 2014) in Cottbus. While TIR is about the daily ups and downs of the long-distance lorry driver Branko, BOTA takes the audience to a remote Albanian café, in which almost nothing, but then again quite a lot happens.
Close to current events: the Ukraine series in >Specials<
In light of current events, the >Specials section dedicates a film series to Ukrane. One block of short films and four feature films, including the international premiere of ONCE UPON A TIME IN UKRAINE (2014) shot on Maidan and the production GAAMER (2012) by director Oleg Sentsov, who has been detained since May of this year by the Russian secret service, offer insights into the country’s film scene. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the HFF, the FilmFestival Cottbus congratulates the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF with two short film series, “Grenzgänger” and “Künstler”, featuring works by prominent former students such as Volker Koepp.
Little ones real big: >Children’s Film<
New this year: In addition to national productions, the >Children’s Film programme will present more Eastern European films in their original lanuages, with a skilled team of interpreters providing simultaneous German translation via headphones. Exciting stories about friendship, courage and a lot of adventures await the young film enthusiasts. What of course can’t be missing is the newest rbb fairy-tale screen adaptation. Rundfunk Berlin- Brandenburg presents the world premiere of SECHSE KOMMEN DURCH DIE GANZE WELT on the festival Sunday.
A home for regional cinematography: The new >Home | Domownja< section
Successfully initiated last year as a programme series, the new section now provides a permanent home for regional and Sorbian-Wendish filmmaking. The series is curated by Dr. Grit Lemke.
Russian Day, hits & a place for discoveries: Seasoned festival sections
The festival programme naturally includes the seasoned >Polskie HoryzontyRusskiy DenNational HitsSpectrum, in tun, invites the audience to make discoveries beyond the mainstream. Eleven films, one international and nine German premieres offer once again a wide variety: from a laconically told revenge story in SUNRISE SUPERVISING (Czech Republic 2014), the visually impressive debut MARIA STOCK (Czech Republic 2014) and a female teacher gone astray in THE LESSON (Latvia 2014).
In a nutshell: The Cottbus FilmShow
For the twelfth time, the Cottbus FilmShow offers a platform for semi- and non-professional filmmakers from Berlin, Brandenburg and the Saxon part of Lusatia. Until 10 October, productions of all genres with a maximum length of 15 minutes can be submitted under the motto “Discover Your Homeland!”. FilmFestival Cottbus will present the best films in the Weltspiegel on the large screen on 3 November at 7 pm and award prizes worth a total of 2,750 euro.
A varied supporting programme with concerts, exhibitions, readings and festival parties provide entertainment outside the cinema hall as well.
The 24th FilmFestival Cottbus is supported and funded by the State of Brandenburg, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, the City of Cottbus and its first partners, Vattenfall and Creative Europe - MEDIA.
Save the date: The press conference on the 24th FilmFestival Cottbus will be held on 16 October in Berlin and Cottbus. Details will be announced in early October.
For further information please feel free to contact our PR & Marketing Managers Diana Kluge and Katrin Wollnik by phone on +49(355)43107-13/-14 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
