At the heart of the festival are the three competitions for feature, short, and youth films. In the Feature Film Competition, ten outstanding works from 21 (co-)production countries compete for the coveted Lubinas, the FilmFestival Cottbus trophies, and prizes worth a total of €27,500. Altogether, seven juries will award prizes worth €52,500 across all sections.

Among the most anticipated titles is ORPHAN by Oscar-winner László Nemes (SON OF SAUL) – a powerful post-war story about 12-year-old Andor, whose search for his father turns into a battle of truth and identity. Also from Hungary, MAYFLIES, the debut feature by Emília Goldberg, is inspired by the true story of a contract killer in the 1930s who was born a woman but lived as a man.

The programme spans from magical realism – as in IDA WHO SANG SO BADLY EVEN THE DEAD ROSE UP AND JOINED HER SONG by Ester Ivakič – to bold coming-of-age stories like SUMMER SCHOOL, 2001 by Dužan Duong, set within a Czech-Vietnamese community at the turn of the millennium.

In TO THE VICTORY!, Valentyn Vasyanovych imagines post-war Ukraine through a tragicomic lens, following a filmmaker torn between exile, family, and art.

Visual poetry meets raw energy in THUS SPOKE THE WIND by Maria Rigel and WROOKLYN ZOO by Krzysztof Skonieczny, while Ivona Juka’s BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY takes us to 1950s Yugoslavia, where four queer filmmakers risk everything for their freedom.

In OUR FATHER, Goran Stanković explores faith, addiction, and power within a Serbian monastery, and Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov’s TRIUMPH delivers a darkly comic satire about a secret military mission in 1990s Bulgaria.

The Short Film Competition condenses existential questions into 12 cinematic miniatures from 14 (co-)production countries, addressing humanity amid war, migration, and the digital age. The U18 Youth Film Competition presents 7 films from 7 (co-)production countries, capturing the realities and transformations of growing up in a rapidly changing world.

Discover the entire programme including panel talks about post-war filmmaking in the successor countries of the former Yugoslavia, Estonian cinema and films giving an insight into the totalitarist character of the contemporary Russian society here.

The 35th FilmFestival Cottbus marks a milestone year, taking a strong step toward sustainability. In close cooperation with connecting cottbus (coco), our long-standing co-production market, we’re proud to carry the Green Events certification, underlining our commitment to ecological, social, and economic responsibility.

Industry professionals can still apply for accreditation via our website – join us for screenings, panels, and networking in Cottbus!

We can’t wait to welcome you to Cottbus for another inspiring week of cinema and industry exchange.

Warm regards,
Your FFC Team