goEast 2019 – Winners Announced at Festival of Central andgoEast 2019 – Winners Announced at Festival of Central andEastern European Film: Main Prize for ACID // Best DirectorGoes to THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD

ACID (KISLOTA, Russia, 2018, directed by Alexander Gorchilin; production: Sabina Eremeeva) is the winner of the main award at the 19th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film – the Golden Lilly for Best Film, endowed with 10,000 euros in prize money. The five-member international jury under the direction of Teona Strugar Mitevska justified their choice by observing that the masterful debut film manages to make the energy and desperation of the millennial generation tangible. As the jury emphasised in their statement: “This is a brilliantly written and constructed story, convincing from the beginning through the end in the way it follows its characters in their urban contemporary setting.”

The evening awards ceremony at Caligari FilmBühne served as a fitting grand finale for goEast 2019. Following on a week full of cinema, virtual reality, discussions, lectures and exhibitions, featuring screenings of 109 films and more than 200 film guests from the international cinema scene, the winners of the Competition were revealed and awards with a total value of 36,000 euros were presented.

Adilkhan Yerzhanov won the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (endowed with a prize of 7,500 euros) with THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD (LAZKOVOE BEZRAZLICHIE MIRA, Kazakhstan, France, 2018). As the jury explained in their statement: “Set in a world full of absurdity and indifference, this film is a visually stunning and moving drama about love, the complexity of human conditions and relationships, seasoned with deadpan humour. This is modern and classic cinema in the same package, which confirms the director as an auteur power.” The jury praised the director’s artistic talent for details, evident in frames full of poetic beauty, minimalist yet stylised interiors, calm but expressive faces and rich and colourful landscapes.

The film HOME GAMES (DOMASHNI IGRI, Ukraine, France, Poland, 2018, directed by Alisa Kovalenko) was honoured with the Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity, accompanied by prize money in the amount of 4,000 euros. The film, which portrays a young Ukrainian woman pursuing her dream of a professional football career with persistence and conviction in spite of her socially precarious family situation, inspires hope, according to the jury, which commented further: “This film treats the idea of new family structures in multiple regards, and on many levels as well as in diverse forms.”

The jury presented an Honourable Mention to COLD NOVEMBER (NËNTOR, FTOHTË, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, 2018, directed by Ismet Sijarina) for “bravely and truthfully telling the story of national trauma through the perspective of a person next door.” The film, set in Pristina in 1992, addresses the war in former Yugoslavia while telling a tale of everyday life and survival in the darkest of times.

Festival director Heleen Gerritsen expressed her happiness at the realisation of another successful edition of goEast: “goEast 2019 was once again characterised by an incredible amount of diversity in genres and by genuine dialogue: at the film talks, in the cinemas, but also at the parties and interdisciplinary event series ‘Pan-European Picnic’, filmmakers and artists from Central and Eastern Europe and the audience from Wiesbaden and the surrounding area came into contact with one another. Our efforts to establish a stronger presence for the festival out in the city definitely paid off.”

The FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award in the fiction feature category went to THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD (LAZKOVOE BEZRAZLICHIE MIRA, Kazakhstan, France, 2018, directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov) “for a colourful fairy tale composed through camera-driven humour,” as the jury put it in their statement. The film relates the bittersweet story of a Kazakh family as a mafia tragicomedy with existential underpinnings à la Camus.

In the documentary film category, STRIP AND WAR (Belarus, Poland, 2019, directed by Andrei Kutsila) took home the second FIPRESCI Prize. The jury honoured the documentary film about a war veteran and his stripper grandson (which celebrated its world premiere at goEast) “for the detached representation of the coexistence of different values and generations”.

For their piece AFTERMATH VR: EUROMAIDAN, artist duo Alexey Furman and Sergiy Polezhaka received the Open Frame Award for virtual reality works, presented by the BHF BANK Foundation and endowed with prize money in the amount of 5,000 euros. In the duo’s VR project, the viewer slips into the role of a demonstrator during the protests at Kiev’s Maidan Square. According to the jury, the work transforms the beholder into an active participant who can intervene in events through a combination of immersive storytelling and the interactive potential of virtual reality, adding further: “The experience leaves a lasting impression, creating a memory over time [with this] unique journalistic format [that] bears a great potential for social relevancy.”

The jury awarded an Honourable Mention to TRAIL OF ANGELS by Kristina Buožytė for the film’s great display of creative ingenuity. “The challenge of creating a poetic journey through the imagery of a traditional painter has been done respectfully and intelligently,” as the jury explained in their statement.

This year saw the first presentation of the RheinMain Short Film Award, supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and endowed with 2,500 euros in prize money. The jury, composed of representatives of cultural associations from the Rhine-Main region with an Eastern European focus, selected I CAN BARELY REMEMBER THE DAY (MALO SE SJEĆAM TOG DANA, Croatia, 2018), a directorial debut from Croatian actor Leon Lučev, explaining their choice by noting that the film adeptly interweaves contrasting themes of life and death, joy and grief with one another. “The director develops that which the protagonist is incapable of expressing through the cinematography, the choice of stylistic devices as well as the brilliant performances from the ensemble cast. This is a touching film,” as the jury emphasised.

The project THE MOTHERS’ CRUSADE (Belarus, directed by Alexander Mihalkovich) won the inaugural edition of the Renovabis Research Grant (3,500 euros) for a planned documentary film treating civil and/or minority rights. The jury chose to honour this story about women in Belarus who are fighting back against abuse in a powerful male-dominated institution, namely the country’s military. “We appreciate the perspective of one mother’s courageous struggle, which gives us an insight into a much broader culture of violence in Belarus,” as the jury explained in their statement.

LANDING by Moldavia’s Ksenia Ciuvaseva was honoured with the goEast Development Award, sponsored by Russian Standard Vodka and endowed with prize money in the amount of 3,500 euros, as the best project in the scope of the East-West Talent Lab. The jury emphasised that the film is a very personal story that explores such grand themes as loss, absence and love, adding: “The filmmaker and her father are both trying to bridge a gap in time and space through the exchange of video letters. We are looking forward to seeing where this journey will take both of them.”

For 2019, goEast media partner 3sat, which has offered to purchase one film from the programme for broadcast annually since the festival’s inception, has chosen the Competition entry MOMENTS (CHVILKY, Czech Republic, Slovakia 2018) by Beata Parkanová. The film will celebrate its television premiere on 3sat co-inciding with goEast’s 2020 edition.

The 19th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film took place from 10 to 16 April in Wiesbaden, Germany. Among the highlights, in addition to an exciting Competition section, were appearances by internationally celebrated filmmakers such as Krzysztof Zanussi, Sergei Loznitsa and Jury President Teona Strugar Mitevska. The Symposium, under the title “Constructions of the Other: Roma and the Cinema of Central and Eastern Europe”, and the interdisciplinary event series “Pan-European Picnic” were also met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the festival audience and the festival’s many guests from the worlds of academia and filmmaking.

Here is an overview of this year’s prize winners:

Golden Lilly for Best Film ACID / KISLOTA, Russia, 2018, directed by Alexander Gorchilin; production: Sabina Eremeeva

Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD / LASKOVOE BEZRAZLICHIE MIRA, Kazakhstan, France, 2018, directed by Adlikhan Yerzhanov

Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity HOME GAMES / DOMASHNI IGRI, Ukraine, France, Poland, 2018, directed by Alisa Kovalenko

Honorable Mention COLD NOVEMBER / NËNTOR, FTOHTË, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia 2018, directed by Ismet Sijarina

International Film Critic’s Award – FIPRESCI (fiction feature) THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD / LAZKOVOE BEZRAZLICHIE MIRA, Kazakhstan, France, 2018, directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov

International Film Critic’s Award – FIPRESCI (documentary film) STRIP AND WAR / Belarus, Poland, 2019, directed by Andrei Kutsila

Open Frame Award AFTERMATH VR: EUROMAIDAN, Ukraine, 2018, directed by Alexey Furman and Sergiy Polezhaka

RheinMain Short Film Award I CAN BARELY REMEMBER THE DAY / MALO SE SJEĆAM TOG DANA, Croatia, 2018, directed by Leon Lučev

Renovabis Research Grant THE MOTHERS’ CRUSADE, Belarus, directed by Alexander Mihalkovich

goEast Development Award LANDING, Moldavia, directed by Ksenia Ciuvaseva

You can find photo materials in our download section: www.filmfestival-goeast.de/de/presse/downloads

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, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland, Renovabis, BHF BANK Foundation, Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the German Federal Foreign Ministry and Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds. Media partners include 3sat, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2019 OPENS FOR SUBMISSIONS

EnergaCAMERIMAGE, the biggest international film festival devoted to the art and craft of cinematography has launched the selection process for its 27th edition taking place on November 9-16 in Torun, Poland.

All filmmakers, producers and distributors are invited to submit feature films, documentaries, music videos, TV pilots and student etudes for the festival's consideration.

Please note the submission deadlines and do not miss your chance to submit your films, pilots or music videos. From now on we are accepting entries, so please go to EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2019 >> Submit your project to fill out an appropriate online entry form. See more details below.

In addition to the numerous out-of-competition festival sections, there will be a number of competitions included in the program. We now accept submissions for the following:

● Main Competition (fiction films)
● Student Etudes Competition (fiction etudes)
● Polish Films Competition (fiction films)
● Documentary Shorts Competition - up to 40 minutes running time
● Documentary Features Competition - over 40 minutes running time
● Music Videos Competition (official music videos)
● Directors' Debuts Competition (fiction films)
● Cinematographers' Debuts Competition (fiction films)
● First Look - TV Pilots Competition (pilots or 1st episodes of TV series)

Before submitting your entry, please read the TERMS AND CONDITIONS of the competitions available at our website and make sure you are able to provide an appropriate preview screener (online screeners accepted) and a final screening copy. To check out the Terms and Conditions and to fill out a film submission form go HERE.

DEADLINES: 

Main Competition 
Directors' Debuts Competition 
Cinematographers' Debuts Competition 
Polish Films Competition 
- early deadline: May 31, 2019 (no fee) 
- late entry deadline: June 30, 2019 late entry fee required: PLN 300 (approx. 70 euro)

Documentary Features Competition 
Documentary Shorts Competition 
- deadline: 30 June, 2019 (no fee) 

Music Videos Competition 
First Look - TV Pilots Competition 
Student Etudes Competition 
- deadline: 31 July, 2019 (no fee) 

Please note that EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival is an ACADEMY AWARD® qualifying festival in the Documentary Short Subject category. This means that the winners of the Golden Frog in Documentary Shorts Competition will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Annual ACADEMY AWARDS® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival has also been named a STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD® qualifying festival which means that all films nominated in the Student Etudes Competition at EnergaCAMERIMAGE will qualify for consideration of the Student Academy Awards®, provided the filmmakers will otherwise comply with the Academy Rules, including being a full time student of an eligible film school and making the film as a part of the school work.

Join the selection process and see you at EnergaCAMERIMAGE!

We are pleased to announce the selection of 4 projects for our first MIDPOINT Intensive Lithuania workshop aimed at Lithuanian film professionals. The projects will participate in a 4-day workshop in Kaunas (May 5 – 8, 2019). 

The selected projects and participants of MIDPOINT Intensive Lithuania are: 

A BUTTERFLY´S HEART 
Inesa Kurklietyte (Writer/Director), Zivile Gallego (Producer)

OXYGEN 
Birute Kapustinskaite (Writer), Ernestas Jankauskas (Director), Gabija Siurbyte(Producer)

PILGRIMS 
Laurynas Bareisa (Writer/Director), Klementina Remeikaite (Producer)

TASTY 
Irena Kuneviciute (Writer), Egle Vertelyte (Writer), Ieva Biliunaite (Producer) 

Click here for more information about the workshop.

MIDPOINT Intensive Lithuania is supported by Lithuanian Film Centre. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

The first guest experts have been announced for the fifth edition of Pustnik Screenwriters Residency, which will take place in Romania this September.

During the nine-day retreat, eight screenwriters – three from Romania and five internationals – will develop their first or second feature-length screenplays. Pustnik also invites a handful of established European filmmakers to offer advice and support in the form of roundtable discussions, masterclasses, and one-to-one sessions. Furthermore, a panel of local professionals will provide an overview of co-production opportunities with Romania.

The guests already confirmed for this year’s edition are Soudade Kaadan (Syria), Laurence Coriat (France/UK) and Bianca Oana (Romania).

 

Laurence Coriat wrote Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland which was selected in competition at Cannes in 1999 and won the best British Independent Film award that year. She co- wrote Sandra Goldbacher's Me Without You, starring Michelle Williams and Anna Friel, which was unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. She went on to collaborate with Michael Winterbottom in 2006 on A Mighty Heart an adaptation of Marianne Pearl's account of her husband's kidnapping and murder, starring Angelina Jolie. In 2016, she took part in a writers room with show runner Hossein Amini and is writing for ‘McMafia’, Amini’s BBC series currently in production, directed by James Watkins.

Soudade Kaadan won the Lion of the Future award for Best Debut at Venice Film Festival 2018 for her film The Day I lost My Shadow. The film also screened at TIFF (Toronto), BFI (London), Busan and IFFR (Rotterdam). Only a few months later, her short fiction film Aziza won the 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Soudade will share professional and creative insights with this year’s residents, particularly on transitioning from short film to features.

Bianca Oana is a Romanian writer and producer who co-wrote Cătălin Mitulescu’s Loverboy, which premiered in 2012 at Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard.

She has produced Ivana Mladenovć’s documentary debut Turn off the Lights, Toto and His Sisters by Alexander Nanau, the short film A Country of Two by Neritan Zinxhiria, and the feature film Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie, awarded in 2018 with the GWIFF Best First Feature Award and the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival. Bianca is now producing Alexander Nanau’s latest documentary, Project C (working title).

Residents will be selected by Andreea Borțun (Romania) and Bryn Chainey (UK/Australia), co-founders of Pustnik. The applications received so far come from all corners of the world - from South-East Asia, to Middle East, Europe and America.

The deadline for applications is April 22 and screenwriters can apply online at www.pustnik.com. All information regarding the application process can be found under the How to apply section. There are no application or participation fees, but every resident must pay for his/her travel to Bucharest. The organisers will cover the costs of accommodation and meals, as well as transport within Romania.

The residency will be hosted at Cultural Port Cetate, a 19th century site with an incredible history of its own, located on the Romanian shore of the Danube.

About Pustnik: Pustnik is the first international screenwriters residency to take place in Romania. It aims to create an environment dedicated to productivity and clarity of thought, away from urban pressures. Pustnik is also a growing network of film professionals whose aim is to ease and encourage collaboration across the international cinema industry.

For more information: www.pustnik.com www.facebook.com/pustnik Laura Musat – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The National Film Centre of Latvia announced the following grants on 15 April 2019.