Illuminating cinematic glimpses into Soviet history, seldom heard stories from today's Ukraine and Russia and case studies on the political repression of those who think differently - the range of topics and contributions from Ukraine and Russia at this year's edition of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is broad. Due to the current political situation, the 15th edition of the festival, hosted by Deutsches Filminstitut and taking place from 22nd to 28th April 2015 in Wiesbaden, Germany, will devote even greater attention to the two countries.

In addition to the remarkable auteur cinema currently coming out of Russia, goEast will focus on the societal and political situations in both Ukraine and Russia, including the conflict between the two countries, in numerous parts of this year's festival programme. Russia is represented by not one but three individual entries to the Competition for Fiction Features and Documentaries. Andrey Konchalovsky's BELYE NOCHI POCHTALONA ALEKSEYA TRYAPITSYNA / THE POSTMAN'S WHITE NIGHTS (2014) and Aleksey Fedorchenko's ANGELY REVOLYUTSII / ANGELS OF REVOLUTION (2014), two unique fiction features, shine in the Competition section, where they are also joined by Denis Shabaev's radical and impressive debut documentary film VMESTE / TOGETHER (2014).
Kirill Adibekov's rhythmic experimental improvisation YA NE GO (2014) is part of the Open Frame Award - Experimental Film and Video Art Competition and will be on display as an installation in Museum Wiesbaden from 23rd April to 3rd May.
All four of these contributions will be making their German premieres at goEast, and the latter will even be celebrating an international premiere.

Six documentary films and a panel discussion on topics of great current relevance are assembled in the Specials section under the title "The Other Russia, the New Ukraine". The trilogy UKRAINE, NOVEMBER 2014 (Ukraine 2014), from Mykhailo Moskalenko, Marina Zhukovskaya and Tetiana Kuzminchuk among others, traces the fortunes of three very different groups of protagonists from various regions in Ukraine. All three films are international premieres and will be shown on Friday 24th April at 6.00 PM, with the filmmakers in attendance.
As a sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who has been in police custody in Moscow since May 2014 for his involvement in the Euromaidan movement, goEast will show THE MOSCOW TRIALS (Germany 2013) from Milo Rau on Friday 24th April at 10.00 PM. Using re-enactments of court cases against artists and curators, Rau's film investigates the subject of creative freedom in the arts.
Tatiana Brandrup's CINEMA: A PUBLIC AFFAIR (Germany 2015), to be shown on Thursday 23rd April at 4.00 PM, documents the quiet but adept protest on the part of those fighting to keep Moscow's "Musei Kino" film museum alive.
The chamber drama-like documentary film WHEN IT BLINDS, OPEN YOUR EYES (Austria 2014) from Ivette Löcker, screening at goEast on Friday 24th April at 4.00 PM, paints an intimate and warm-hearted portrait of the lost "Perestroika Generation".
Finally, a panel discussion on the topic "Everyday Life in Russia, Everyday Life in Ukraine? How to Go On, What to Do?", organised in co-operation with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Hessen e.V., will take place on Monday April 27th at 8.00 PM. Participants include filmmakers Marina Razhbezhkina (Moscow), Marina Zhukovskaya (Odessa), Irene Langemann (Cologne) and historian Dr. Anna Veronika Wendland (Marburg). hr-iNFO editor Eberhard Nembach will serve as moderator for the discussion.

In the Beyond Belonging section, producer Pavel Kostomarov will present his most recent project, KIEV/MOSKVA / KIEV/MOSCOW (Russia, Ukraine 2015), as a work in progress on Saturday 25th April at 8.00 PM, in which a directors' collective accompanies "ordinary" everyday heroes who are attempting to maintain some sense of "normality" in the midst of war.

The masterful films of Moscow director Marlen Khutsiev, the subject of this year's goEast Homage, provide revealing glimpses into and cinematic reflections on the history of the Soviet Union. In all, the Homage features six of Khutsiev's works, and, to top it off, the old master himself is scheduled to appear for an extensive workshop interview on Monday 27th April at 6.00 PM.

15th Annual goEast Film Festival from 22nd to 28th April 2015 in Wiesbaden
From 22nd to 28th April, goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will take place for the 15th time in Wiesbaden, Germany. Every year since 2001, the festival, hosted by Deutsches Filminstitut, has presented cinematic work from Central and Eastern Europe in all its great artistic and thematic diversity. Whether unconventional auteur films or mainstream productions, fiction features or documentaries - the selected works are impressive cinematic feats, most of which have yet to be discovered by the Western film market. The richness of Central and Eastern European auteur cinema is on display in the 16 contributions selected for the Competition for Fiction Features and Documentaries. Moving, idiosyncratic and ground-breaking productions paint a nuanced portrait of the societies of Eastern Europe. Filmmaking in time of war is one of the core themes of this year's edition of goEast.


Current images for the festival can be downloaded at:
http://www.filmfestival-goeast.de/presse

Applications for festival accreditation for representatives of the press interested in covering the festival can be found at: http://www.filmfestival-goeast.de/presse


goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by Deutsches Filminstitut and supported by numerous partners. The festival is primarily funded by the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland, the BHF-BANK Foundation, the Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the Federal Foreign Office and Krušovice. Media partners include among others 3sat, the FAZ, hr-iNFO and the city magazine sensor.


More information at: www.filmfestival-goeast.de