The upcoming 14th edition of the CEE Animation Forum brings exciting news for European animated series creators: the Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award, with a €50,000 cash prize, will be given to one exceptional project on the path to international co-production.

dok.incubator is looking for ambitious film projects from Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, as well as co-productions with these countries, to join the 2026 workshop. The renewed edition brings an expanded two-part workshop format, more international tutors, direct feedback from decision makers, and a stronger focus on marketing, audience building, and smart distribution strategies. The program is open to a broad spectrum of formats, including documentary TV and web series, hybrid films, web-based narratives, and other innovative cross-genre projects with a strong documentary core. Deadline: June 1, 2026.

The upcoming feature-length creative documentary "Green is the Fire's Tint" has been selected for the Docs-in-Progress Showcase of Docs by the Sea at Cannes Docs 2026. 

First- and second-time directors are yet again set to compete for top honours at the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival, taking place in Cluj-Napoca from June 12 to 21, 2026. Twelve films from around the world will vie for the coveted Transilvania Trophy and other accolades in the Official Competition, while ten works will compete for the top prize in the What's Up, Doc? section.

Submissions are now open for the Baltic Event Co-Production Market, the leading international co-production platform in Northern Europe, a part of Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event. The upcoming edition will once again present the prestigious Eurimages Co-Production Development Award and continue accepting youth and children’s film projects. 

Tbilisi, Georgia Lab 7:10, a newly launched creative development platform based in Georgia, announces the first edition of Storytelling Residency 7:10, an intensive program dedicated to the development of early-stage feature film projects.

On 6 May 2026, the National Film Centre of Latvia announced the results of its 2026 annual film production grant competition.

Eight projects have been chosen for the 12th European Genre Forum, a six-month development programme aimed at emerging European genre filmmakers. The selected projects represent eight different countries.

The Awards

 CLOUDS MOVE WITH GREAT SPEED (UKR 2025), directed by Roman Ostrovskyi and produced by Iryna Kyporenko for MONS Production, has been honoured with the Golden Lily for Best Film (endowed with prize money in the amount of 10,000 euros) at the 26th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film in Wiesbaden. The International Jury, chaired by Salomé Alexi, explained its selection with the following statement: “From the entire competition, one film stood out with unquestionable urgency. It highlights the importance of documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Created by a filmmaker who became a soldier out of necessity and personal responsibility, it bears witness to the unbearable and portrays humanity under inhuman circumstances. For their courage as director and producer, the jury awards the Golden Lily for Best Film to Roman Ostrovskyi and Iryna Kyporenko for CLOUDS MOVE WITH GREAT SPEED. We hope the clouds will move with great speed towards the sky of a peaceful and free Ukraine.”

The awards ceremony at Caligari FilmBühne represented the grand finale for an emotional and eventful festival week at goEast in the festival’s 26th year. It was the first edition under the direction of Rebecca Heiler, who succeeded Heleen Gerritsen in the role of Festival Director in June 2025. After seven days full of cinematic art, workshops, numerous discussions, lectures, film talks and exhibitions, featuring screenings of 76 films and with more than 120 guests from the international film industry present in Wiesbaden, the winning films of the Competition and the RheinMain Short Film Competition, as well as the winning projects of the East-West Talent Lab, were honoured and presented with prizes valued at a total of 26,000 euros.

Director Ivana Mladenović won the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (endowed with 7,500 euros) with SORELLA DI CLAUSURA (ROU, SRB, ESP, ITA 2025). The grotesque comedy follows a well-educated, unemployed woman on her journey through life. In the words of the jury: “Tonight, we want to award a director’s talent for revealing the absurdity of everyday life by skilfully juggling contrasts. A director with a surprising and refreshing female gaze. For her ability to use dark humour to encourage us to rethink the role of women on the margins of society, and for the risks she takes in her search for a cinematic language, the jury awards Ivana Mladenović the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director for her film SORELLA DI CLAUSURA.” The film was co-produced by goEast Portrait guest Ada Solomon and the director herself.

OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE (ARM, NLD 2025), directed by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan, was honoured with the goEast Award for Best Documentary Film, endowed with 1,000 euros in prize money. The documentary tragicomedy depicts everyday life in an Armenian home for seniors as residents rehearse for a theatre performance. As the jury explained: “The film we have chosen to award approaches each of its protagonists with great patience, tenderness and honesty. Following the rehearsal process of a play in a retirement home, the filmmakers succeed in portraying each character with love and humanity, creating space for their free expression and shattering stereotypes about aging. The goEast Documentary Award goes to OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE, directed by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan and produced by Agasi Azarian.”

 

A Special Mention went to THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE (POL 2025), directed by Iga Lis. This portrait of a hard-working woman takes the viewer along to Poland, where, amid the hustle and bustle of tourists on the Baltic coast, Miecia, the “Queen of Łeba”, has been running her smokehouse with humour, rigour and unwavering standards for forty years. According to the jury’s statement: “For its fresh, intimate and empathetic portrayal of a generation drifting away, with careful attention to both place and character, we decided to award a Special Mention to a promising young voice of Polish cinema. The Special Mention goes to Iga Lis for THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE.”

3sat Feature Film Broadcast Selection: THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY

As part of its long-standing media partnership with goEast, 3sat selects a film from the festival’s Competition program each year. The chosen film is then presented in the 3sat program the following year in connection with the goEast festival week.

This year, the selection team from 3sat chose the hybrid documentary film THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY (CHE, KOS, FRA, USA 2025) by Dea Gjinovci. In the words of the selection committee: “A father-daughter journey of a special kind. She delves into the past of a small village in Kosovo and into her own family’s history. Dea Gjinovci artfully blends layers of memory, mixing documentary observation with the theatrical stage. Her film offers a rich tapestry: peaceful village scenes alternate with periods of violence when the Albanian minority was driven out and Kosovo was engulfed in war. In doing so, THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY succeeds in telling a touching story that is personal and universal at the same time.  We get a glimpse of the possibility of reconciliation, and we see the impossibility of forgetting across generations.”

The film is slated to celebrate its television premiere on 3sat during the 2027 edition of goEast. The festival is delighted to see this media partnership with 3sat continue and treasures the opportunity it presents for bringing cinematic art from Central and Eastern Europe to a television audience moving forward.

FIPRESCI Awards

For the FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award in the fiction feature category, the FIPRESCI jury, composed of Silvia Bahl, Stojan Sinadinov and Mariola Wiktor, chose to honour CAT ON MY MIND (LVA 2025), directed by Laila Pakalniņa. The jury explained its selection with the following statement: “Everything that happens on screen is fiction, because everything was created as inspired by photo negatives from the 1960s to the early 1980s found in a dustbin. CAT ON MY MIND by Laila Pakalniņa is not a traditional narrative but a visual poetic exploration and an original film essay on the memories and emotions of the people in the photos. It is also a deep reflection on human perception and the nature of cinema.”

The FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award in the documentary film category in 2026 went to OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE (ARM, NED 2025), directed by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan. In the words of the FIPRESCI jury: “OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan is more than an ordinary portrait of elderly residents in a post-Soviet-era Armenian retirement home. It depicts with subtle humour and sensitivity how art therapy transforms loneliness and losses in their lives. Protagonists in this movie still resist the uncertainty of a world full of brutal political conflicts and tensions.”

RheinMain Short Film Award

The RheinMain Short Film Award, sponsored by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and endowed with 2,500 euros in prize money, went to KISMET (SVN, HRV 2024) by Žiga Virc. According to a statement from jury members Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Dascha Petuchow and Pavel Schnabel: “A revolution rarely starts loud. It begins quietly, deep inside a human being, with the decision to take a different path. In a whirlwind of traditions and expectations, the film consistently tells its story through a dense, almost documentary-like cinematography, from the perspective of a young girl, and negotiates the question of fate and the possibilities that are actually available to her. The result is a vivid picture, condensed into 15 minutes: a moment of self-presentation, of questioning the roles that the actresses consciously reproduce, adopt, or reject. For his compelling film KISMET, we congratulate Žiga Virc on winning the RheinMain Short Film Award.”

East-West Talent Lab Awards for Up-and-Coming Film Professionals

In the East-West Talent Lab, realised once again with the generous support of Renovabis, the annual Project Market Pitch took place in front of a three-member jury, consisting of Bettina Brokemper, Veronika Janatková and Aliaksei Paluyan, and a large audience featuring numerous industry representatives.

The Pitch-the-Doc Award, a non-cash prize package consisting of consulting services valued at 500 euros, went to the project DREAMS COVERED IN CHROME from director/producer Trëndelina Halili from Kosovo. According to the jury: “In a town where the mountains are eaten from within, where the tunnels swallow the men, it is the women who remain. Through the collective female voice, the filmmaker moves with poetic precision between the daily harsh reality and the night, where dreams can articulate what daily life cannot.”

I ONLY PRAY TO SARA KALI (ROU) from Romanian director Mihaela Drãgan was awarded the Renovabis Research Grant (endowed with 3,500 euros). As the jury explained: “In the spirit of her saint, embodying endurance and power, the filmmaker takes us on her personal quest to find belonging. Reclaiming her own community narrative, the filmmaker gives a voice to an underrepresented part of society and sets out to fight the institutional power and to save their sacred tradition against cultural voyeurism.”

The jury awarded a Special Mention to the film project ROUND GLASSES (UKR) from director Kyrylo Naumko, commenting: “We are delighted that the filmmaker, with charming humour and in a unique way, raises the moral questions that our society in Europe is currently grappling with. We encourage the filmmaker to find an answer to this existential question, even if the men with round glasses are silent.”

DFF Patrons’ Circle Audience Award

The new goEast Audience Award, sponsored by the DFF Patrons’ Circle and endowed with 1,000 euros in prize money, went to the documentary film THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE (POL 2025) by Iga Lis.

The 26^th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film took place in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 21 to 27 April. In addition to a wide-ranging Competition section and intensive encounters in the cinema, this year’s festival highlights included guest appearances by internationally celebrated filmmakers and representatives of film institutions. This year’s Symposium, entitled “Cinematic Strategies of Resistance”, was met with a very high degree of enthusiastic participation and sold-out cinema screenings. The 2026 goEast Portrait, devoted to the work of esteemed Romanian producer and chair of the European Film Academy Ada Solomon, featured films drawn from the past 20 years of her illustrious career. With the thematic focus program on “Revolution”, made possible with the generous support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the festival explored new territory and facilitated socially relevant panel discussions and in-depth reflections on the significance of film and cinema for society.

Here is a full overview of this year’s award winners:

1. Golden Lily for Best Film

CLOUDS MOVE WITH GREAT SPEED (UKR 2025), director: Roman Ostrovskyi

2. Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director

SORELLA DI CLAUSURA (ROU, SRB, ITA, ESP 2025), director: Ivana Mladenović

3. goEast Award for Best Documentary Film

OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE (ARM, NLD 2025), directors: Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan

4. Special Mention of the International Jury

THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE (POL 2025), director: Iga Lis

5. 3sat Broadcast Selection

THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY (CHE, KOS, FRA, USA 2025), director: Dea Gjinovci

6. FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award (fiction feature)

CAT ON MY MIND (LVA 2025), director: Laila Pakalniņa

7. FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award (documentary film)

OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE (ARM, NED 2025), directors: Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan

8. RheinMain Short Film Award

KISMET (SVN, HRV 2024), director: Žiga Virc

9. Pitch-the-Doc Award

DREAMS COVERED IN CHROME (KOS), director/producer: Trëndelina Halili

10. Renovabis Research Grant

I ONLY PRAY TO SARA KALI (ROU), director: Mihaela Drãgan

11. Special Mention East-West Talent Lab

ROUND GLASSES (UKR), director: Kyrylo Naumko

12. Audience Award

THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE (POL 2025), director: Iga Lis

The goEast catalog is now available in the download section of our website. You can also find images related to the festival there.

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 HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, the State Capital Wiesbaden, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany and the solidarity initiative of the German Catholics with the people of Central and Eastern Europe Renovabis.

Primary media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Introducing the Juries

goEast is delighted to announce the chair of 2026’s international Competition Jury:  award-winning Georgian director and screenwriter Salomé Alexi. After her studies at Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts and La Fémis in Paris, where she graduated from the film directing department with honours in 1996, Alexi founded the production company 3003 Film Production in 2012 and has been producing her own films ever since. Her short film FELICITA (GEO 2009) won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Her feature-film debut LINE OF CREDIT (GEO/FRA/DEU 2014) premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section. Her most recent work, NUTSA AND LANA GOGOBERIDZE, OR THE DARKNESS IS NEVER COMPLETE (GEO/FRA 2024), staged together with her mother Lana Gogoberidze, celebrated its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Forum Special section. In addition, she has translated texts by François Truffaut and Robert Bresson into Georgian.

The jury also features Latvian producer and director Gints Grūbe. Grübe studied philosophy and political science and is a co-founder of the production company Mistrus Media, one of Latvia’s leading film companies. As a producer, he has been involved in numerous internationally screened films, including THE CHRONICLES OF MELANIE (LVA 2016), THE MOVER (LVA 2018), MY FATHER THE SPY (LVA 2019), SAMUEL’S TRAVELS (LVA 2021), JANUARY (LVA 2022) and MARIA’S SILENCE (LVA/LTU 2024). He is a member of the European Film Academy.

Our next member of the international Competition Jury: Polish festival organiser and curator Radek Lipka, who studied philosophy and languages in Paris and Cologne, before settling in Luxemburg. He co-founded CinEast Film Festival in Luxemburg in 2008, and served as its programming director for a long period, before taking over as festival director in 2019. In addition, Lipka has been involved in numerous film projects, including retrospectives, film series and screenings for the LUX Audience Award. In 2023, along with Heleen Gerritsen, he was one of the co-founders of the Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN). In addition to his curatorial work, he is also active as a translator.

Czech director, editor, dramaturg and producer Klára Tasovská is also joining this year’s jury. Tasovská studied new media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and documentary filmmaking at FAMU. Her feature-film debut FORTRESS (CZE 2012), realised in collaboration with Lukáš Kokeš, received multiple awards and was nominated for the LUX Prize. NOTHING LIKE BEFORE (CZE 2017) celebrated its premiere at IDFA. In 2020, she founded the production company Somatic Films. Her most recent film, I’M NOT EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE (CZE 2024), which had its world premiere in the Panorama section at the Berlinale, has been featured at numerous festivals and was the Czech entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.

This year’s Competition Jury is rounded off by Eszter Tompa. Born in Transilvania, the actor, director and author began her acting training in Hungary and continued it in Germany under David Esrig. She subsequently settled in Berlin. Tompa works internationally in film, theatre, performance and object theatre and performs in eight languages. During the Covid pandemic, she continued her film studies in Romania and Spain. Her short film OEDIPUS MORNING (ROU 2020) was honoured at Transilvania International Film Festival. Most recently, she starred in Radu Jude’s KONTINENTAL ’25 (ROU 2025), which was honoured at the Berlinale and earned Tompa Best Actress awards at festivals in Chicago and Gijón, among others.

The FIPRESCI Jury

The International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI, which is celebrating its 101^st birthday this year, is represented by a three-member jury as well as a panel discussion with film critics Mariana Hristova, Mariola Wiktor and Stojan Sinadinov, moderated by Marta Moneva-Enchev. The panel, entitled “WHO OWNS THE REVOLUTION?” and devoted to the examination of filmic perspectives on revolution, remembrance culture and social upheaval in cinema, will take place on Saturday, 25 April.

This year’s FIPRESCI Jury includes Silvia Bahl, a German media and cultural studies researcher and freelance author and film critic with a particular focus on Eastern European cinema. For over ten years, she has written for diverse print and online media, including Filmdienst and Der Freitag. Joining her is Mariola Wiktor, a Polish film critic and journalist as well as a guest lecturer at the AMA Film Academy in Warsaw. Wiktor writes for numerous media outlets, such as Gazeta Wyborcza, Kino and Film&TV Kamera, and reports on international festivals. In addition, she served as the artistic director of the Forum of European Cinema “Cinergia” in Łódź. The third and final FIPRESCI Jury member is film critic, author and media expert Stojan Sinadinov from Skopje. Since the late-1980s, he has been writing about film history and theory as well as art and culture in North Macedonia and the surrounding region.

East-West Talent Lab Jury

The East-West Talent Lab Jury includes Cologne-based film producer Bettina Brokemper, who founded her production company Heimatfilm in 2003 and is recognised internationally for her strong focus on ambitious international co-productions. To date, she has produced more than 50 award-winning feature films released worldwide. Joining her is Veronika Janatková, a film producer, director and curator specialising in socially and politically engaged documentary films who also runs the Prague-based production company Pandistan. Since September 2025, she has served as programming director at the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague. Rounding out the EWTL Jury is Belarusian-German screenwriter and director Aliaksei Paluyan. His documentary-film debut COURAGE celebrated its premiere at the 71^st edition of the Berlinale in 2021 and was subsequently screened at major festivals like IDFA, Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc. Paluyan is a member of the European Film Academy and founder of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy (BIFA).

RheinMain Short Film Award Jury

This year’s RheinMain Short Film Award Jury is composed as usual of three jury members active in the film industry in the Rhine-Main region. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet studied art history, philosophy and theatre, film and media studies in Frankfurt am Main, among other places, where she obtained her PhD in film studies in 2002. Between 2010 and 2020, she worked primarily as a freelance curator, author and artist. Since 2020, she has served as a professor for film at Offenbach University of Art and Design. Dascha Petuchow is an up-and-coming filmmaker and part of a production collective based in Wiesbaden. In 2021, together with fellow students she founded the production company Plotlessfilm, which is based in Frankfurt today and focusses on projects at the intersection between genre film and arthouse cinema. Pavel Schnabel, born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, studied at the Film and Television Academy (FAMU) in Prague and left the country shortly after Warsaw Pact troops invaded in 1968. He has lived in Germany ever since, where he works as a freelance author, director, cameraman and producer.

The goEast Press Conference

Festival director Rebecca Heiler presented the program of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film to the press today, Tuesday, 14 April, inside the newly renovated Caligari FilmBühne. Running from Tuesday, 21 April, to Monday, 27 April, goEast features screenings of 76 films from 40 countries.

Christine Kopf, Artistic Director at DFF shared: “For 26 years, DFF has been bringing cinematic art from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia to Wiesbaden and turning the Hessian state capital into a hotspot for film culture for a few days. I am happy, in these times of war and crisis, that we can offer a space for conversations, discussions and constructive confrontations that our democracy so urgently needs.”

Rebecca Heiler, who has been at the helm of goEast since summer 2025, explained: “In 2026, goEast is the first festival to take place in the newly reopened Caligari FilmBühne. So, we are looking forward even more to a full house and many encounters between filmmakers and cinemagoers, here and in all of our other venues. With 76 films and more than 100 events, we are bringing the countries of Eastern Europe and beyond into the region. Our newly created thematic focus turns some things upside down this year, from the festival motif to the romantic conception of revolution. The program is very brave this year, and there are both minor and major changes. I am very grateful to our whole team, our funding partners, sponsors and other partners for their commitment and support, as it is only through their efforts that such a challenging and ambitious program can be realised.”

Anna Schoeppe, CEO of HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, observed: “goEast opens up perspectives on Central and Eastern Europe that we see far too rarely, and thus creates a space for dialogue that is more essential than ever today. With Ada Solomon, we are also bringing one of Europe’s most influential producers into dialogue with the Hessian film industry and the participants of the East-West Talent Lab at goEast Film Festival. This combination of artistic excellence and targeted support for young talent makes goEast special, and it is also of great significance to us at Hessen Film & Medien.”

For Dr. Hendrik Schmehl, Head of Wiesbaden’s Cultural Department, goEast Film Festival possesses a special relevance: “goEast is a defining part of cultural life in the state capital of Wiesbaden. Its firm focus on mutual exchange that transcends linguistic and political boundaries makes the festival an indispensable part of lived democracy in our city.”

Around 120 guests from the Central and Eastern European film industry are expected to attend the festival in Wiesbaden.

EEFFN AWARD WINNING FILM: PERLA

Before the festival has even begun, the winner of the first award has already been decided. The 2026 EEFFN Award, a prize presented by the Eastern European Film Festival Network, of which goEast is a member, goes to the Slovakian family drama PERLA (AUT, SVK 2025) from director Alexandra Makarová. The film is set in 1980s Vienna, where Slovak artist Perla lives with her daughter Julia, a talented and dedicated pianist. Perla manages to scrape together just enough money every month to pay for piano lessons. Then she meets Josef, who offers her and Julia love and security. Alas, the brave mother’s past catches up with her. The film will be screened in Wiesbaden during the festival week.

Focus on Georgia: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

Since 2023, tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Georgia against their government’s current efforts to cosy up to the Russian regime. While the protests of 2023 were still able to achieve some success, since autumn 2024 the government has systematically supressed any opposition. Individuals have been imprisoned on political grounds. The Georgian National Film Center (GNFC) has also been forced to conform to the administration’s agenda. In response, filmmakers have founded an independent Georgian Film Institute. In the scope of a panel discussion in Heimathafen at Altes Gericht on Friday, 24 April, a trio of experts will discuss the role of filmmakers in the current situation. Participants include director and president of the Georgian Film Institute Salomé Alexi, political scientist Gaga Gogoladze and doctor and witness to human rights abuses Reinhard Kaul-Seeger.

The accompanying short film program features eleven filmmakers who are at the same time prisoners: this ongoing film project gathers short cinematic portraits of individuals who have been imprisoned in Georgia for political reasons and are considered “prisoners of conscience“. The films respond to the increasing repression following the disputed parliamentary elections of 2024 and give faces and voices back to those who have been purposely rendered invisible by state propaganda. The series is intended to serve as a growing cinematic archive of resistance.

Q&As and Film Talks

Dramas, documentaries, comedies, satires and unique portraits from Central and Eastern Europe – the Competition program at the heart of the festival once again features the full cinematic diversity which can be found in the festival’s focus regions. The Competition offers a broad audience from Wiesbaden and the surrounding region the opportunity to get to know highlights from the contemporary Central and Eastern European film scene. All films are shown in their original languages with English subtitles – while those screening at Caligari FilmBühne also feature additional German subtitles. Q&As with film guests will take place in the respective cinemas following screenings.

In addition, attendees can also enter into conversation with the filmmakers in the scope of the goEast “film talks”. The film talk FAMILY BUSINESS on Wednesday, 22 April, brings together Hana Jušić, director of GOD WILL NOT HELP, Iga Lisa, director of BALTYK, Markéta Ekrt Válková, director of AMIRA’S CHILDREN, as well as producer Ada Solomon. The film talk FOCUS ON UKRAINE on Friday, 24 April, features Olena Gepper from Dekoloniale Ukraine, alongside Glib Lukianets, producer of FLOWERS OF UKRAINE, and Iryna Kyporenko, producer of CLOUDS MOVE WITH GREAT SPEED. Participants for the film talk A LIFE’S LEGACY on Saturday, 25 April, include Giedrė Žickytė, director of A GOODNGHT KISS, Laila Pakalniņa, director of CAT ON MY MIND, Arym Kubat Aktan, director of BLACK RED YELLOW, and Alexandra Bidian, director of SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING. Finally, the film talk SOMETIMES THIS SPACE COULD HURT YOU on Sunday, 26 April, assembles Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel, directors of KARTLI KINGDOM, Miro Remo, director of BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD, as well as Béla Varadi, co-director of THE EXHIBITION. The film talks take place at 9 p.m. in the goEast Clubhouse at Altes Gericht.

goEast Parties

The goEast parties and the cosy bar in the Clubhouse at Heimathafen in the Festival Centre provide a great atmosphere and get festivalgoers in the mood for dancing. The GOEAST PARTY@ALTES GERICHT – featuring a “revolution” theme – gets going on Friday, 24 April, at 10:30 p.m. In 2026, goEast resident DJ Janeck will be mixing his familiar beats with sounds from the Congo region. For the first time, a member of the goEast team will be commandeering the decks: alongside DJ Janeck, chief goEast editor and emerging DJ talent Stefan Schuchort aka DJ Petit Pois will be doing his utmost to drive the audience into a frenzy with goEast disco hits. The second party, LUDMILA POGODINA@SCHLACHTHOF>, takes place on Saturday, 25 April, at 11:00 p.m. Multi-disciplinary artist Ludmila Pogodina from Minsk, who has lived in Berlin since 2022, combines genres, languages and influences in crafting an eclectic setlist that spans a wide spectrum, from self-assured punk manifestos and dark electronic tracks to sensual tales about the body.

The goEast catalog is now available in the download section of our website. You can also find images related to the festival there.

The full program for the 26th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is now available on our website.

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 HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, the State Capital Wiesbaden, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany and the solidarity initiative of the German Catholics with the people of Central and Eastern Europe Renovabis.

Primary media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.