At the heart of the festival are its three competitions: Feature Film, Short Film, and U18 Youth Film. In the Feature Film Competition, ten outstanding productions from 21 (co-)production countries will compete for the coveted Lubinas, the festival’s iconic statuettes.
One of the most anticipated titles is ORPHAN, the new film by Oscar winner László Nemes (Son of Saul). Set in postwar Hungary, the story follows twelve-year-old Andor, who believes his missing Jewish father will one day return—until a violent butcher claims paternity, sparking a bitter David-and-Goliath struggle. Also set in Hungary, MAYFLIES by Emília Goldberg tells the true story of a 1930s contract killer who was born a woman but lived as a man.
In TO THE VICTORY!, Valentyn Vasyanovych casts a tragicomic look into Ukraine’s postwar future. Filmmaker Roman (played by Vasyanovych himself) tries to start a new project while balancing artistic duty, the trauma of war, and his fractured family life.
Magical and deeply moving, IDA WHO SANG SO BADLY EVEN THE DEAD ROSE UP AND JOINED HER SONG by Ester Ivakič tells of a girl who believes her songs can bring the dead back to life. SUMMER SCHOOL, 2001 by Dužan Duong captures a Czech-Vietnamese community at the turn of the millennium, where 17-year-old Kein—with his striking bright-red hair—challenges the unspoken tensions within his family.
Contrasts define THUS SPOKE THE WIND by Maria Rigel, a tender, dreamlike portrait of rural Armenian life, and WROOKLYN ZOO by Krzysztof Skonieczny, an energetic coming-of-age film mixing skate culture, Romani mysticism, and 1990s Poland.
Croatian filmmaker Ivona Juka contributes BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY, a gripping drama about four gay filmmakers in 1950s Yugoslavia who risk everything for art and freedom. Goran Stanković’s OUR FATHER takes audiences inside a Serbian monastery where addiction, faith, and power collide, while Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov present TRIUMPH, a darkly comic satire about a secret military mission in 1990s Bulgaria.
The Short Film Competition condenses existential themes into poignant miniatures exploring humanity amid war, migration, and the digital future. The U18 Youth Film Competition focuses on the realities of young people coming of age in a changing world.
Tickets are now available at filmfestivalcottbus.de
The FilmFestival Cottbus is principally funded by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the City of Cottbus. Additional support comes from Creative Europe MEDIA, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Sparkasse Spree-Neiße, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Our media partners are radioeins, radio3, and the Lausitzer Rundschau.
