This year, the festival’s renowned Close-Up section turns its spotlight on Estonia. Under the title “Close-Up: Estonia. Between History and Present”, the programme presents a wide range of features, documentaries and shorts: mythical tales from remote fishing villages, encounters with the folkloric Kratts, powerful youth dramas, intimate family portraits, darkly humorous animations and meditative explorations of landscapes.
The showcase will be enriched by panel discussions and Q&A sessions with numerous guests, offering valuable insights into the questions shaping Estonian cinema today: How does it reflect on the past? Which contemporary issues does it address? And what fascinates Estonian audiences most? On the Festival-Friday at noon, in cooperation with connecting cottbus, we will host a round table dedicated to content and economic aspects of Estonian cinema. The entire programme is being developed in cooperation with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
We are also delighted to announce a collaboration with our colleagues at Finále Pilsen (26.09.-01.10.). Together, we curated a special German programme for their September edition, including the features VENA (Chiara Fleischhacker, DE 2024, 116 min), FROM HILDE WITH LOVE (Andreas Dresen, DE 2024, 124 min), SEPTEMBER 5 (Tim Fehlbaum, DE 2024, 91 min) and THE FAMILY APPROACH (Daniel Abma, DE 2024, 91 min), alongside a selection of outstanding short films.
For our industry partners and media representatives: Accreditation opens today, September 15th, 2025 via the online form on the FFC website. We warmly invite you to register early and join us in Cottbus this November.
You can meet FFC-Programme Director Bernd Buder at these international festivals this September:
- Gdynia Film Festival, September, 22nd–26th– film research
- Finále Pilsen, September, 26th–28th – attending as expert at the Czech Springboard, where new projects in development receive feedback from industry professionals
The full festival line-up – with around 140 films from 30 countries – will be announced in mid-October. Alongside the competitions, expect a wide array of side sections, premieres, talks, concerts and networking events.
