Introducing the Competition Jury
One year before the 25th anniversary of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, the festival team is delighted to introduce the members of the international Competition Jury. The chairwoman of this year's international goEast Competiton Jury is Italian producer and programming consultant Nicoletta Romeo, artistic director of Trieste Film Festival. Joining her is Romanian actress Ilinca Manolache, who is currently making waves with her stellar performance in the lead role of Radu Jude's most recent outing DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD. The line-up continues with multi-award-winning Czech film producer Jiří Konečný, founder and proprietor of Endorfilm (Prague), who has had nine films selected as national Oscar candidates to date. Director, curator, activist and performer Hamze Bytyçi, a native of Kosovo, will also be serving on the jury; Bytyçi is also the founder and artistic director of the Berlin-based Romani organisation RomaTrial e.V. and the international Romani film festival "AKE DIKHEA?". Finally, Warsaw-born Hamela Maciek rounds out this year's jury line-up – Maciek is a journalist, producer and filmmaker who has enjoyed a long-term collaboration with the BBC Channel, among other career highlights. Out of competition his documentary IN THE REARVIEW will be screened during goEast this year,
The international film critics' organisation FIPRESCI will be represented at the festival by a three-member jury. Bulgarian film critic and journalist Bojidar Manov has accompanied the evolution of goEast since its very first edition in 2001. He is a member of the European Film Academy as well as an author and translator. Katrin Hillgruber works as a freelance journalist and film and literary critic for diverse newspapers, radio broadcasters and the online film magazine "artechock". Last but not least, Romanian film critic Catalin Olaru serves as artistic director for multiple festivals.
The East-West Talent Lab Jury also features three esteemed members this year. First up is multiple-award-winning Dutch documentary filmmaker Jessica Gorter, whose work often deals with the life and history of the former Soviet Union. Apart from her jury work, Jessica will screen the German premiere of her latest documentary THE DMITRIEV AFFAIR in Germany Joining her is Dagmar Mielke, who has worked as an editor for RBB/ARTE since 2004, following employment with various other editing departments and activities as an author and director. Finally, Maciej Nowicki is chairman of the board of directors of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland, one of the largest human rights organisations in Central and Eastern Europe. A trained lawyer, Nowicki is also an expert in human rights, the rule of law and documentary film, and the director of the WATCH DOCS film festival in Warsaw.
The RheinMain Short Film Award Jury
This year's jury also features three members from diverse backgrounds. Garegin Vanisian, born in the USSR, is a lawyer, as well as an author, film programmer, journalist and co-founder of the cultural non-profit "Filmkollektiv Frankfurt – Projektionsraum für unterrepräsentierte Filmkultur e.V.", which has been active since 2013. Saul Judd is a freelance curator and programmer – he has also been responsible for the video art selection at "LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt International" since 2010. Philipp Aubel has been a member of the QUEER Filmfest Weiterstadt team for ten years, where he is in charge of curating the program, on a volunteer basis. He is primarily employed as a project director responsible for the working area "Young Film Scene" within the BJF (The German Federation of Film Clubs for Children and Young People), where he maintains the informational network and is currently preparing the 59th edition of the "Werkstatt der Jungen Filmszene".
goEast Press Breakfast
Festival director Heleen Gerritsen presented the program of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film today (Wednesday, 17 April) in the scope of a breakfast get-together with members of the press at Wiesbaden's Caligari FilmBühne. It is particularly pleasing that the representatives of the funding organisations present announced their comprehensive support for future festival editions, including the 25th edition next year. goEast is showing 91 films from 40 countries from Wednesday, 24 April, to Tuesday, 30 April.
Festival attendees can look forward to twelve German premieres, one international premiere and a world premiere. The diverse sections, numerous lectures and film talks, as well as the third edition of the accompanying program, a veritable journey of cinematic discovery entitled "Cinema Archipelago", all promise engaging experiences.
"I am delighted that we will soon be opening goEast for the 24th time," said Ellen M. Harrington, director of DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, which has been hosting goEast for 24 years. Harrington extended a warm thank you to all of the festival's sponsors for their many years of extensive support. "I hope the festival's many compelling films and thought-provoking discussions help to reduce the distance between the different parts of Europe and facilitate many interesting encounters."
In the goEast Competition section, current film productions will by vying for a chance to take home the festival's three main prizes, awarded by an international jury: the "Golden Lily" for Best Film (endowed with 10,000 euros); the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (7,500 euros); and the CEEOL Award for Best Documentary Film (endowed with 4,000 euros in prize money). In addition, a dedicated jury representing the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) will be awarding two prizes of its own.
Heleen Gerritsen, who has served as goEast's director since 2017, explained: "In 2024, we're starting once again with a very strong Competition section that's full of variety, in which the productions – whether we're talking about documentary or fiction films – reflect both the reality and absurdity of everyday life in Central and Eastern Europe. The filmmakers here employ a very wide range of cinematic languages and approaches in their works, from satire to hyperrealism. However, one thing remains valid throughout: the personal is political. In films such as 1489, MADINA, KIX, BAURYNA SALU, A PICTURE TO REMEMBER, OXYGEN STATION and many other entries to the Competition, personal stories are linked to a wider context."
More than 200 guests from the Central and Eastern European film branch are expected to attend the festival in Wiesbaden.
The other festival sections include this year's Symposium, which bears the title "The 'Other' Queers – Cinematic Images from the Periphery of Europe". Curators Jasmina Sepetavc and Yulia Serdyukova have made it their mission to bring forgotten, libidinous, creative and marginalised queer film images into the spotlight and to make queer cinema from Central and Eastern Europe accessible for a broader audience.
In the Program NEW VOICES FROM CENTRAL ASIA, goEast, in co-operation with the ZDF/ARTE short film series "Kurzschluss", is screening a finely curated program of short fiction and documentary films from a vibrant region. The proudly maladapted ANARCHO SHORTS are back with a selection of headstrong short films showcasing an anarchic spirit, chosen collaboratively by the goEast team.
In the special FOCUS: Kosovo & Albania section, realised in co-operation with the Albanian National Center of Cinematography and the Kosovo Cinematography Center and featuring the participation of diverse special guests, goEast is presenting an excursion into the film histories of both countries. The new HUMAN RIGHTS SUNDAY is taking place in co-operation with Poland's WATCH DOCS International Human Rights Film Festival and represents the fulfilment of a desire to create a dedicated outlet treating human rights and democratisation in cinema.
Under the slogan RHINE, WINE & RHYMEZ, a riverboat outing on the Rhine invites attendees to listen as film guests recite their favourite poems in diverse Central and Eastern European languages, accompanied by live translation into English. Come join the festival crew for an elegant literary cruise past Biebrich Palace and the half-timbered houses, vineyards and castles of the Rheingau.
This year's archive presentation, realised in co-operation with ArteKino Classics, is devoted to Hungary. MERRY-GO-ROUND (HUN, 1955), directed by Zoltán Fábris, is the featured film presentation at the Matinee on Sunday, 28 April, at Caligari FilmBühne. Moreover: The Yugoretten are back! The Balkan artists network with the ironic moniker returns for a second edition, under the direction of curatorial triumvirate Borjana Gaković, Mateja Meded and Boris Hadžija, with a host of performances, film screenings, networking events and discussions revolving around ex-Yugoslavian family histories and stories.
This year's thematic focal points include women and queer culture, migration and the country of Kosovo in the context of former Yugoslavia. This year's IN MEMORIAM spotlight honours filmmaker OTAR IOSSELIANI and goEast's first artistic director, SVETLANA SIKORA. Together with the European film education project CinEd, of which DFF is a partner, goEast is providing children and adolescents with an opportunity to get better acquainted with films from Central and Eastern Europe in the scope of the program KIDS GOEAST – CINED IN WIESBADEN UND FRANKFURT AM MAIN.
Anna Schoeppe, managing director of HessenFilm & Medien, is greatly looking forward to goEast, as she shared: "For their 24th festival edition, the goEast team has once again curated a diverse film program. goEast offers its audience the opportunity to experience highlights of contemporary Central and Eastern European cinema and occupies a very special place in Hessen's film festival scene with this unique focus. goEast also manages to create lots of space for cultural dialogue and professional exchange among filmmakers from a range of countries, which further bolsters the festival's image. I'm looking forward to experiencing another exciting festival edition!"
For Wiesbaden city councilwoman Patricia Becher, goEast Film Festival is particularly relevant in the present moment. In her words: "The state capital of Wiesbaden is closely connected to our Eastern European neighbours, in a variety of ways, and many of the traces of our city's history point to the East. Through cinema, goEast opens nuanced perspectives of a multi-faceted region to us and encourages mutual exchange with numerous international filmmakers and cinema lovers. It is a great joy to have this festival take place in the state capital."
Karin Wolff, managing director of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, which is sponsoring the innovative "Cinema Archipelago" program for the third year in a row, observes: "This year's goEast will once again be an emotional and rich festival – also in the section that Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain is delighted to support once again: We are looking forward to a lively encounter between Kosovo and Albania – from the still conflict-ridden former Yugoslavia – in Wiesbaden, and to formats like the Competition section, the Symposium and the riverboat cruise through wine country, with their respective focal points."
Finally, goEast wouldn't be goEast without parties. On Friday, 26 April, the SCHLACHTHOF SOLI PARTY FOR UKRAINE will take place at Kulturzentrum Schlachthof under the motto "Faїno", which means "fine" or "beautiful" in Ukraine and promises to acquaint party-goers with the greatest musical treasures from the last 32 years of (still ongoing) Ukrainian independence. All proceeds from the party will be donated to humanitarian aid organisations. At the GOEAST PARTY@MUSEUM WIESBADEN on Saturday, 27 April, Wiesbaden club legend DJ Janeck is inviting film guests and festivalgoers to the Festival Centre to dance the night away to international disco beats from the 1970s and '80s.
The full program is now available on the festival website. The 24th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will kick off at 7 pm on Wednesday, 24 April, followed by a screening of this year's opening film, CROSSING (SWE/DNK/FRA/TUR/GEO, 2024) by Georgian director Levan Akin, at Wiesbaden's Caligari FilmBühne.
Accreditation
Members of the press can apply here for accreditation for goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. Accreditation grants admission to the film screenings in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt and Gießen. In addition, during the festival period accredited industry guests and members of the press receive access to an online media library featuring an extensive selection of festival programming.
