Feature Film Competition
Ten (to a maximum of twelve) of the best contributions from the current East European film production here are given their German première and compete for the main award, the glass award sculpture LUBINA. The competition admits the respective directors′ first to fifth feature film.
Short Feature Competition
This competition provides an independent platform for the discovery and promotion of young film makers. Approximately ten to fifteen contributions (with a maximum running time of thirty minutes each) will be presented during the traditional >Long Night of the Shorts<.
U 18 German-Polish Youth Film Competition
After its successful start in the past year, this bi-national competition addresses in particular young visitors from both neighbouring countries. The current films for young people from Germany and Poland (in addition to feature films also medium-length films) are submitted to a joint jury of pupils from both Cottbus and Zielona Gora.
Specials
The very special film: This is where previews, tributes and homages to well-known members of the jury find their audience. In addition productions are shown, which were brought to Cottbus by cooperation activities with other national and international festivals. In reflection of Poland taking up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2011, a separate film series in the context of the so-called >Weimar Triangle< will explore the cultural relationships between Poland, France and Germany as regards their respective cinematography.
Spectrum
This section invites the audience to discover new productions beyond mainstream cinema by way of current works by either newcomers or already well-established directors as well as in the form of international co-productions – catching a glimpse of tomorrow′s trends.
National Hits
The name sets the tone: Productions that are commercially successful in their countries of origin, yet hardly known abroad, here often are presented for the first time outside their native country. Eastern European blockbusters conquer their audience – and are equally popular with both the general audience and industry visitors.
Russian Day
The >Russian Day< is fully dedicated to Eastern Europe′s most productive film industry: Witness the year′s highlights from Russia compacted into one festival day, from genre film to art cinema, from blockbuster to experimental film.
Polish Horizons
News from the neighbour – cinematic discoveries from within Poland′s vibrant film industry, presented in partnership with New Horizons Wroclaw, the country′s largest and most important film festival.
globalEAST
The search for traces of Eastern European influences on cinema world-wide continues – now as an independent programme section. From Bollywood to Brazil, from the United States to the Middle East, productions of significance from all around the world attempt to get to the bottom of Eastern European clichés.
Focus
Over the course of the coming three years, this section will investigate the diversity of Eastern Europe by following various transnational thematic guidelines. The investigation will begin in 2011 with >Eastern Europe by Regions< and a particular emphasis on individual regions in Poland and the Ukraine, the two countries co-hosting the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.
Retrospective
Alternating each year, the festival′s regional programme section presents local distinctive features of the Lusatia (Lausitz) region, of the Land Brandenburg and of the new German federal states. In 2011, the film series >Location Lausitz< will present film locations in Brandenburg on occasion of the One Hundred Years of Film in Babelsberg jubilee.
Children Film
Each festival day also provides a specific range of films for the youngest of visitors. In 2011, this film series references the retrospective on occasion of the One Hundred Years of Film in Babelsberg jubilee and – under media educational supervision – will screen children′s films shot in the Land Brandenburg from the 1930s to the present day.