The competition section of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film,
consisting of 16 was supposed to take place from May 5-10 2020, was postponed to November due to Corona. Thanks to the commitment of the festival team and the support of sponsors and funders, the 20th edition of goEast was able to take place beyond the actual festival period. The presentation of opening film SERVANTS / SLUŽOBNÍCI (Director: Ivan Ostrochovský) was also postponed to November. As a sign of solidarity, the 33rd exground filmfest had adopted the section in its entirety. However, due to continuing travel restrictions and event bans, the films could only be shown online, accompanied by pre recorded film talks with the filmmakers. The audience was able to vote online for their favourite film.
Antoneta Kastrati won the goEast Audience Award with her film ZANA (Kosovo, Albania 2019). In this personal film, the filmmaker links traumas of the Kosovo war to the intimate story of her protagonist. In a visually convincing way, Antoneta Kastrati succeeds in making a film about the impact of history on contemporary Kosovo as well as the story of her protagonist's emancipation, an Impressive role by Adriana Matoshi.
Axel Imholz, head of the cultural department of the state capital of Wiesbaden, accepted the prize on behalf of the city and expressed his thanks to the teams of both festivals: "It is wonderful to see that the amazing festivals in our city do not see each other as competitors but as partners in the effort to create a great and special cinema culture in Wiesbaden. I would like to thank everyone involved for this team spirit".
The trophy, the Silver Lily, was designed by artist Joachim Harbut. The goEast Audience Award, which is being presented for the first time, is endowed with a cash prize of 1,500 euros.
Head of Festival Heleen Gerritsen is delighted about the opportunity to award the prize in this special anniversary year: "In May we divided all goEast prizes between the competition participants in a spirit of solidarity - the main prizes were thus only awarded symbolically. An exception was the audience award, which was financed through crowdfunding. I had very much hoped to be able to present the prize in person at exground, but this year, with no cinema, no parties and no guests, we are nevertheless happy about any support we can give to filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, some of whom are having to fight the pandemic harder than we here".
The Audience Award was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign, which was awarded by "kulturMut", the joint crowdfunding platform of the Aventis
Foundation and Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.
Should it be possible by then, exground filmfest plans to present their programme in Wiesbaden's cinemas between 11 and 20 December 2020, including the goEast competition.
The main jury awards were already awarded online during the goEast festival week in May, with the prize money being divided equally among the filmmakers in the competing sections.
The 21st edition of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will take place from 20 to 26 April 2021.
An overview of prize-winners of the 20st goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film:
Golden Lily for Best Film
ROUNDS / V KRAG, Bulgaria, Serbia,France, 2019, directed by Stephan Komandarev
Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director
NOVA LITUANIA, Lithuania, 2019, directed by Karolis Kaupinis
Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity
IMMORTAL / SUREMATU, Estonia, Lithuania, 2019, directed by Ksenia Okhapkina
Honourable Mention
IVANA THE TERRIBLE / IVANA CEA GROAZNICĂ, Romania, Serbia 2019, directed by Ivana Mladenović
International Film Critic's Award – FIPRESCI (fiction feature)
ROUNDS / V KRAG, Bulgaria, Serbia, France 2019, directed by Stephan Komandarev
International Film Critic's Award – FIPRESCI (documentary film)
STATE FUNERAL / PROSHANIE SO STALINYM, Netherlands, Lithuania, 2019, directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Open Frame Award
WHISPERS, Poland, 2019, directed by Jacek Nagłowski, Patryk Jordanowicz
Open Frame Award – Honourable Mention
BABYN JAR, VIRTUAL MEMORY, Ukraine, 2020, directed by Alona Stulii
RheinMain Short Film Award
IN BETWEEN / NË MES, Kosovo, 2019, directed by Samir Karahoda
RheinMain Short Film Award – Honourable Mention
VIRAGO, Estonia, 2019, directed by Kerli Kirch Schneider
Renovabis Research Grant for documentary film projects with a human rights focus
HOME IS WHERE THE FILMS ARE, Kosovo, directed by More Raça
goEast Development Award
SHUT THE FUCK UP!, Ukraine, directed by Taisiia Kutuzova
You can find photo materials in our download section:
www.filmfestival-goeast.de/de/presse/downloads.php
goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Hessen State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Renovabis, BHF BANK Foundation, Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the German Federal Foreign Ministry, the Federal Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany and Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds. Media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
