08/11/2005

The 15th Cottbus Festival of East European Cinema (8-12 November) will focus in particular on Hungary. Indeed, not only will it grant the Oscar winning director Istvan Szabo (Mephisto) a "Lubina" for his films and work as honorary president of the festival since 2000, but it will also dedicate Hungarian cinema quite a complete section. Indeed, 'Focus: Magyar Miracle - New Hungarian Cinema' will draw a parallel between two generations of filmmakers separated by ten years of History: those who made their debut after 1989 and those who represent the new European era. Besides the more experimental 'Outlook' programme, the Focus on Hungary also includes a retrospective on Gabor Body for the twentieth anniversary of his death.

A total of over a hundred films from 29 countries will be screened in Cottbus and in most cases premiere in Germany. This is the case for nine of the ten features in competition, amongst them there are Gravehopping, a Croatian and Slovenian movie byJan Cvitkovic (read the interview ), Johanna [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Kornél Mundruczó (Hungary), who really surprised Cannes with this underground musical version of the story of Joan of Arc, and Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile] (o.t. Stesti), a German-Czech film by Bohdan Sláma. The international jury includes Andreas Dresen (whose lovely Summer in Berlin, o.t. Sommer Vorm Balkon, will be screened amongst the "Specials") and Maciej Karpinski, script-writer and artistic director of the Polish festival of Gdynia.

On 10 and 11 November, Cottbus will also host the Connecting Cottbus co-development forum, giving 13 authors the opportunity to pitch their script for potential producers. Those meetings will be complemented by discussions on such themes as the new Hungarian tax incentive system, Hungary's potential for co-productions with Germany, and the creation of a German-Polish co-development fund.

(Translated from French)