22/04/2015 - The 15th goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Films in Wiesbaden will launch a new project entitled Young Filmmakers for Peace

The 15th edition of goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Films in Wiesbaden opens today, 22 April, with the screening of the competition title Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile] by Małgorzata Szumowska, which won a Silver Bear.

Besides the traditional competitions and the East-West Talent Lab, the festival, which takes place until 28 April, will launch a new pilot project called Young Filmmakers for Peace, with the support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Young Filmmakers for Peace is as much concerned with the making of films under the conditions of violent conflicts as it is with the making of films about such conflicts. The participants have the chance to take part in individual events from goEast’s East-West Talent Lab. Young Filmmakers for Peace is expanded thematically by the Beyond Belonging section, which is dedicated to the theme “Film Against War: On Trauma and Reconciliation” and includes newer films such as All Things Ablaze by Ukraine's Oleksandr Techynskyi and George Ovashvili's Corn Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: George Ovashvili
film profile], but also titles such as The Blacks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zvonimir Juric, Goran De…
film profile] by Zvonimir Jurić and Goran Dević.

This project “shows our commitment to the continuation of a cultural dialogue between East and West, and ultimately represents our own way of working towards peace and promoting democracy”, says festival director Gaby Babic. 

As for the main competition, 18 films, including Under Electric Clouds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], No One's Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], The Reaper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zvonimir Jurić
film profile], Flotel Europa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Naked Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Kebab & Horoscope [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Koza [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile] and Želimir Žilnik's latest film, Logbook_Serbistan, will compete for the following prizes: the Award for Best Film (worth €10,000), the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (€7,500), the Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity (€4,000) and the FIPRESCI Prize.

The full competition list can be found here.

In the side programmes, the Homage-Portrait programme will be dedicated to a legend of Soviet Thaw-era cinema, Marlen Khutsiev, and the festival's traditional Symposium will honour the work of legendary German film producer Artur Brauner.