13/04/2006

The goEast Festival of Central and European Film, which ended on Tuesday in Wiesbaden, has never had so many films from the former Communist bloc as it did this year for its sixth edition, with ten features and six documentaries in competition.

The East European jury, presided over by Germany’s Ulrich Gregor, awarded the Skoda Prize for Best Film (€10,000) to Tbilisi-Tbilisi by Georgia’s Levan Zakarejsvili, who "combines a sophisticated narrative structure and intelligent observation" to describe the changing living conditions in the Georgian capital.

Russia's Aleksej German Jr. was voted Best Director (€7,500) for his film Garpastum and the award for Best Documentary (€10,000) went to Croatia's Facing the Day by Ivona Juka, a film that depicts the redemptive powers of theatre on condemned souls.

The jury also gave Special Mentions to The Death of Mr. Lazarescu by Cristi Puiu (Romania) and to Labour Equals Freedom by Slovenia's Damjan Kozole.

The new award for best participation in cultural diversity sponsored by the German Minister for Foreign Affairs went to Hungary's Putyi Horvath for Death Rode Out of Persia and Czech/Slovak film The City of the Sun by Martin Sulik won the FIPRESCI award. The new award sponsored by the BHF-BANK Foundation went to Premium by Romanian filmmaker Alexandru Ionescu.

In total, over 150 films (shorts and features) were presented to the 8,000 festivalgoers. In particular, the special sections "Mainstream Made in Russia" and "Portrait – Sharunas Bartas" attracted attention, while the parallel events — as well as the round table on distribution of East European films in Germany, at which 160 guests and 80 journalists attended. "goEast has established itself as an important festival...and proves that such an event really draws attention to Eastern Europe," concluded Festival Director Christine Kopf in her speech at the closing ceremony.

(Translated from French)