goEast Film Festival, 26 April - 2 May 2017, Wiesbaden, Germany

Every year in April, goEast transforms State Capital Wiesbaden into one of the most important international centres for Central and Eastern European cinema. Around 140 feature films, documentaries and short films, covering the seven sections of the festival, will be screened to appeal to both professional visitors and local cinema audiences alike over the seven festival days. As a project of Deutsches Filminstitut, goEast has dedicated itself to the task of bringing the diversity and richness of Central and Eastern European cinema into “the heart of the West” and reinforcing these films’ place in public consciousness. In spite of critical success at international festivals, Central and Eastern European films are still under-represented in regular cinemas.

goEast sees itself as a builder of bridges on many levels. Hand-picked programmes connect the various topics: from current cinematic positions to historical rarities, from experimental to art-house and mainstream, all made in Central and Eastern Europe. The festival sees its work always within the context of refined debates on film aesthetics, socio-political and film-theoretical topics. goEast has the function of a dialogue forum between East and West, but also as a protagonist and disseminator for creative interaction, all of which can be seen in panels and workshops, lectures and film discussions and in the cooperation with other cultural and societal institutions. Particularly the up-and-coming generation within the industry shall profit from goEast. Numerous possibilities for networking, exchange and training are offered within the scope of the East-West Talent Lab and the projects Young Filmmakers for Peace and OPPOSE OTHERING!.

goEast receives around 400 professional visitors and around 11,000 cinema visitors annually. We have already received many renowned guests at the Festival, including directors and stars such as Bence Fliegauf, Martina Gedeck, Julia Jentsch, Otar Iosseliani, Sergei Loznitsa, Jiří Menzel, Kira Muratova, Cristi Puiu, Hanna Schygulla, Jerzy Stuhr, István Szabó, Béla Tarr, Maria Schrader, Bohdan Sláma, Małgorzata Szumowska, Krzysztof Zanussi and many more.

The City of Wiesbaden and the State of Hessen have remained the principal festival sponsors, while a range of further competent partners such as the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the BHF-BANK Foundation, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland and the broadcaster 3Sat contribute to the festivals success.