04/04/2007

The goEast Central and Eastern European Film Festival (March 28-April 3) has drawn to a close in Wiesbaden, with four awards worth a total €29,500 presented by an international jury presided over by Romanian filmmaker Lucian Pintilie.

Best Film (and €10,000) went to Euphoria, the feature debut of Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev. This enchanting love story set in a hostile steppe – winner of the Golden Lion Cub at the 63rd Venice Film Festival – was lauded by the jury for its "visual richness" and its portrayal of "emotional disorientation".

Meanwhile, Serbia’s Srdan Golubovic was named Best Director for The Trap [+see also:
trailer
film profile] , a striking, sensitive yet pitiless portrait of a wounded society that oscillates between hope and cruelty. The film is told from the perspective of a builder, who becomes a mercenary in order to save his ill son.

The German/Serbian/Hungarian co-production was described as a "skilful transposition of a story of crime and punishment".

Best Documentary went to Poland’s Marcel Lozinski for How To Do It (Jak to sie robi), a "striking and ironic film" that examines the techniques of an advisor to politicians whose ability to motivate his young students knows no bounds.

The prize for Artistic Originality in the Expression of Cultural Diversity was won by Ognjen Svilicic’s Armin [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a Croatian/German/ Bosnian-Herzegovian production. The title had its world premiere screening at the Berlinale Forum sidebar in February.

In the film, the Croatian helmer tells the story of a father and a son from a Bosnian village who go to Zagreb, where the latter, a gifted accordion player, has to pass a film audition. The jury appreciated this "unique and creative observation of hopes and illusions that nurture a relationship".

This year’s goEast festival attracted 9,000 visitors, 180 special guests and 80 journalists.

(Translated from French)