The FilmFestival Cottbus team would like to thank all supporters, partners, colleagues, filmmakers and spectators who made it possible to hold our festival in 2021! We wish you happy holidays and look forward for a good 2022 and for opportunities to see and exchange ideas in person again, at the upcoming festivals, in the cinema or for a good chat over coffee.

For the FFC, the year 2021 comes to a conciliatory end. In addition to a - considering the general conditions - successful 31st FilmFestival Cottbus, we are happy with Jasmila Žbanić about the European Film Award for QUO VADIS, AIDA? (from the 2020 FFC programme) and with Juho Kuosmanen on the Golden Globe nomination for our opening film and audience and distribution award winner COMPARTMENT NO. 6. Congratulations to both filmmakers and the producers of the films!

In early 2022, we intensify scouting for the upcoming FFC, which takes place from 8-13.11.2022, and can be found - online or in person – at the filmfestivals in Saarbrücken, Trieste and at the Berlinale.

See you, stay healthy,

Your team of the FilmFestival Cottbus

Am heutigen Freitag, den 3. Dezember um 20.15 Uhr ist im ACUDkino die 5x4 Kurzfilmkollektion Kollektion zu sehen. Das 5x4 Brandenburger Festivalkino ist ein Festivalkino-Angebot der großen Filmfestivals des Bundeslandes – das FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC), die PROVINZIALE – Filmfest Eberswalde, das Jüdische Filmfestival Berlin und Brandenburg (JFBB) und das FILM OHNE GRENZEN Festival.

DIE FARBE DES DURSTES

(OT: EL COLOR DE LA SED)

R.: Gala Gracia, ES 2017, 21 Min

Spanien durchlebt eine schwere Dürre, von der besonders die ländlichen Regionen betroffen sind. Schafzüchter Medardo muss mit ansehen, wie seine Herde unter der Hitze leidet und seine Lämmer nicht an Gewicht zulegen. Als Diebe ihm auch noch Schafe stehlen, spitzt sich die Situation zu, was Medardos Prinzipien auf eine harte Probe stellt.

WATU WOTE

R.: Katja Benrath, DE, KE 2017, 23 Min

Der OSCAR-prämierte Kurzfilm erzählt die wahre Geschichte von einem Reisebus, den islamische Al-Shabaab Terroristen angreifen. Ihr Ziel: Die Christen im Bus, aber die mutigen muslimischen Mitreisenden greifen ein. Ein beispielloses Zeugnis von Solidarität und Menschlichkeit gelingt.

DURCH DEN VORHANG

R.: Arkadij Khaet, DE, 2016, 27 Min

Den Schulaustausch nach Israel hat sich Tom anders vorgestellt. Urlaub statt Gedenkstätte. Ein Vorfall stellt alles auf den Kopf. Als er im Krankenhaus auf die Holocaust-Überlebende Rosa trifft, berührt ihn

deren Leben und er beginnt Geschichte anders zu denken.

ZMIJ – DER DRACHE

R.: Angela Schuster, DE, 2016, 15 Min

Lausitz, Heimat der sorbischen Minderheit im Deutschen Reich, 1938: Ein sorbisches Mädchen wünscht sich einen Drachen, um das Schicksal seiner Familie zum Besseren zu wenden, während Erwachsene im

ganzen Land auf einen vermeintlichen Erlöser setzen.

MASEL TOV COCKTAIL

R.: Arkadij Khaet, Mickey Paatzsch, DE 2020, 30 Min

Dima soll sich entschuldigen. Dabei hat Tobi ihn antisemitisch beleidigt ... und jetzt eine gebrochene Nase. Ja, Dima ist Jude, aber viel am Hut hat er damit eigentlich nicht, doch immer nageln sie ihn darauf fest.

Pointierter Mix über Antisemitismus und die Rolle der Juden in Deutschland.

Hier geht’s zum Ticketkauf: https://acudkino.de/Programm/die_5x4-kurzspielfilm-kollektion/19482

Eine weitere Empfehlung ist der georgische Dokumentarfilm DIE ZÄHMUNG DER BÄUME (OT: TAMING OF THE GARDEN), der ebenfalls am heutigen Freitag um 19 Uhr im ACUDkino gezeigt wird. Im Anschluss findet ein virtuelles Gespräch mit der Filmemacherin Salome Jashi statt.

 Salome Jashis Dokumentarfilm hatte seine Weltpremiere in Sundance und Europapremiere im Forum der Berlinale, gewann Preise in Kiev, Miskolc, Zaragoza, Tbilisi, Paris, Kanarische Inseln, Erevan, Petersburg, Schwerin u.a.

Ein mächtiger Mann kauft hundertjährige Bäume, so hoch wie 15-stöckige Gebäude, lässt sie entlang der georgischen Küste bergen und sammelt sie in seinem Garten. In einem aufwändigen und teuren Verfahren werden die Bäume aus Privatgärten und dem öffentlichen Raum gegraben, auf riesige Laster geladen und ans Ufer befördert. Dort werden sie auf eine Fähre verfrachtet, die über das Schwarze Meer zum Garten des Mannes fährt.

Weitere Informationen zum Programm und Ticketkauf: https://acudkino.de/Programm/die_zahmung_der_baume/19485

An afterlife for LOVE TASTING: David Nickel's portrait about first youthful loves and the search for sexual identity in a small Polish town will be shown on 29 November in cooperation with the FilmFestival Cottbus, among others, at Kino achteinhalb in Saarbrücken. The film describes the hothouse atmosphere of the so-called "LGBT-free zones" without moralising. A youth under the pressure of not being allowed to be "different". LOVE TASTING was nominated in the youth film competition at this year's FFC. At Kino achteinhalb, which always has cinema from Eastern Central and Eastern Europe in its programme, it is shown in the series "New Polish Films", in which five to seven current and socially relevant film productions from Poland have been presented annually since 2013 in cooperation with the German-Polish Society Saar.

Further information: https://www.kinoachteinhalb.de/programm/3926/love-tasting

Network meeting between the Odesa International Film Festival and the FilmFestival Cottbus in Ukraine

At the 7th Odesa International Film Festival, a panel discussed how film festivals can invigorate civil society dialogue in Eastern Europe. The discussion was part of a network meeting that has been jointly organised with the FilmFestival Cottbus. The event is supported by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In Eastern Europe, also, the medium of film reflects on social and historical taboo issues, thereby promoting civil society dialogue. However, this can on occasion lead to political pressure being inflicted on film makers, but also on film festivals, which perceive themselves as forums for social dialogue. Representatives of renowned Eastern European film festivals now meet to evaluate the situation: what can film festivals contribute to civil society dialogue? What are the problems arising from this? To what extent do economic and political framework conditions impact on festival programme planning?

Participants of the panel discussion at the 19th July were Virgiliu Margineau, director of OWH Studios, which organises the "Cronograf" documentary film festival in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, Anna Chkonia, programme coordinator of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, Igor Soukmanov, programme director of the Listopad film festival in Minsk, Samaya Asgarova, head of the department of international relations at Azerbaijan Film, Julia Sinkyevich, director of the Odesa International Film Festival, and Bernd Buder, programme director of FilmFestival Cottbus.

Chkonia and Sinkyevich were able to report that the number of films produced in Georgia and Ukraine will increase as a result of targeted film funding next year. New funding mechanisms are aimed primarily at new talents, which should also provide for an extension of the content by which filmmakers reflect society, history and politics in their countries. Soukmanov reported on the strengthening of the independent film scene in Belarus. Beyond the production of state films, independent films bring a variety of artistic approaches and content to the screen, with which the national identity is reflected in a poignant, critical and diverse way. Thus, Buder summed up, national identity in both countries will be defined as a samle of dicerse approaches. The FilmFestival Cottbus will devote a special to the Belarussian cinema in its next edition.

In Azerbaijan, only a few feature films have emerged in the previous years which, however, managed to foster civic discourse. The feature film INNER CITY (2015) discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the rapid urbanization of the capital city of Baku, and POMEGRANATE GARDEN, which recently had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, throws a reflective light on the patriarchal structure pf the society. Asgarova reported an 80% reduction in the film budget, but was confident that it would be able to implement plans for an international film festival in Baku in 2018. In the small film industry in the Republic of Moldova, only a few films are produced, added Margineau. With the programme of his documentary film festival, he tries not only to raise the most diverse themes, but also to bring the medium film closer to children and young people.

In spite of the overall positive development, especially in the context of populist tendencies and warlike conflicts, there are also reports of several obstacles for film and film festivals. Measures such as the prohibition of distribution and broadcasting of Russian films in Ukraine, censorship attempts in several countries and the intended increase of the fee for the rental permit for foreign films in Russia are to restrict the intendend dialogue between people and cultures and thus the civil society discourse between different standpoints. In this context, the Odesa Film Festival once again appealed for the release of the Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment by a Russian court a few years ago for spurious reasons.

The network meeting of festival partners from the countries of the Eastern Partnership will be continued at the 27th  FilmFestival Cottbus. The event will also include films from the countries concerned that show how film discusses relevant social issues.

From 30th June to 8th July, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) will take place for the 52nd time. Due to its strong accent on Central and Eastern European cinema, the renowned A-Festival in the North Bohemian health resort belongs to the most important research and networking events in Cottbus’ festival calendar. In co-operation the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and connecting cottbus, the FilmFestival Cottbus invites for an East European BBQ at the 3rd July – that lunch almost became a traditional meeting point for the European film industry during the KVIFF Industry Days, where 41 new film projects will be shown in the “works-in-progress” section. The list of guests of honour of this year's KVIFF include the actor and musician Jeremy Renner, the actress Uma Thurman and Michael Showalter, whose unconventional romantic comedy THE BIG SICK opens the festival. The Georgian directress Rusudan Glurjidze, whose HOUSE OF OTHERS was awarded the DIALOG Prize for Intercultural Communication at the FilmFestival Cottbus in 2016, belongs to the jury of the "East of the West" competition, as well as Karla Stojaková, the Czech co-producer of CORN ISLAND, which won the audience award in Cottbus in 2014. KHIBULA, the new film by its director Giorgi Ovashvili, is part of the competition in Karlovy Vary.

The FilmFestival Cottbus will be represented at the KVIFF by Susann Trzewik (head of the short film competition, programme coordinator), Carolin Bloch (press spokeswoman) and Bernd Buder (programme director).

More information: http://www.kviff.com/en