We look forward to your film submissions: https://www.filmfestivalcottbus.de/en/program-en/film-submission/film-submission.html

Here are the regulations for the 34th festival edition:  https://www.filmfestivalcottbus.de/en/program-en/film-submission/regulations.html

The Estonian kung-fu comedy THE INVISIBLE FIGHT wins 9 prizes at the Estonian Film and Television Awards

The film won awards for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor, among others. THE INVISIBLE FIGHT, an absurdly comical adventure about a border guard who ends up in a monastery after a group of flying monks have made a mess of his life, was screened in the FFC's Feature Film competition.

Program director Bernd Buder is delighted with the many awards:

"THE INVISIBLE FIGHT is a very special mixture of martial art and arthouse; slapstick that manages not to make fun of its protagonists, the best entertainment with brains, but if you want, you can switch off exactly that and get fully involved in this rather absurd world that director Reiner Sarnet presents to us with his infinite imagination. A pretty weird cinematic mixture, the likes of which are all too rarely seen on the big screen. I'm delighted that the courage to make a film like this has been recognized."

Every year, one federal state uses the German Spring Festival to present itself in Estonia.

In 2024, Brandenburg is a partner of the German Spring Festival (April 9 to May 9).

For the opening of the Saksa Kevad, the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg will make a guest appearance in Tallinn with guest conductor Christian Köhler and set the silent film classic "Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror" to music in the main hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Drama.

Program director Bernd Buder is on site for us and represents the FilmFestival Cottbus.

Together with the co-production market connecting cottbus, there will be a great network meeting on April 10.
Read all about it here.

During the German Spring, we will also be presenting screenings of the two FFC films FOOLS (Tomasz Wasilewski PL/DE, 2022) and VICTIMS (Michal Blaško SK, 2022, 90 min).

You can read the complete program here - we are very happy to be part of it.

Sofia Film Fest

Bernd Buder, Program Director FilmFestival Cottbus
Lilla Puskas, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Katharina Stumm, connecting cottbus
Marcus Rabelo, German Films
Mira Staleva, Director Sofia Meetings
Stafan Kitanov, Director Sofia International Film Festival

The "Sofia Meetings" also take place parallel to the Sofia International Film Festival. Filmmakers and producers come together here to present their new projects and show excerpts from films that are currently being completed.The audience includes festival representatives, distributors, world sales agents and potential co-producers.

The three-day event traditionally opens with a networking dinner, which is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Films, MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, connecting cottbus and FilmFestival Cottbus.

Bernd Buder, FFC Program Director, is also taking part: "I am delighted to be in Sofia. Over the next two days, 27 new film projects from Central and South Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus will be presented here, which will be completed by November - a great opportunity to look for good films for the FFC. At the same time, I am delighted to be part of the jury for the Bulgarian feature film competition at the film festival, which is taking place for the 28th time. Nine brand new Bulgarian films will be screened here, from which my jury colleagues Başak Emre, producer and Dimitris Kerkinos from the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and I will select the best film."

Czech Lion Awards

The cyberpunk science fiction film Restore Point by Robert Hloz received 4 awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Editing:

Robert Hloz
CZ/SK/PL/RS, 2023, 107 Min
2041: In the "Restore Points" - a backup technology for human lives - people who have died a violent death are revived. While investigating a double murder case, Detective Trochinowska stumbles upon a system of conspiracies, corruption and abuse of power - and who is really behind the terrorist group "River of Life"? This retro-futuristic sci-fi thriller has already been dubbed the "Czech Blade Runner" in its country of production.

The prize for the best animated film was awarded to Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light by Filip Pošivač:

Filip Pošivač
Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, 2023, 82 minA magical apartment building with equally magical residents. Eleven-year-old Tony glows. His neighbor Shelly has a flashlight that makes fantastic worlds visible. And then there's this strange dark creature that seems to feed on unkindness and bad moods. Can the children uncover its secret?

Film and film festivals are bridge builders and platforms for dialogue. There must be no room for hatred, hate speech and marginalisation here.

This was emphasised yesterday by Berlinale Managing Director Mariette Rissenbeek, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth and Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner in their speeches at the ceremonial opening of the Berlinale.

Humanity and cultural diversity are enormously important for a democracy.

This is also our attitude.

The FFC team is out and about at the Berlinale all the time, always on the lookout for the best films for our programme.

MIOB - Moving Images Open Borders - is a network of seven film festivals:

FilmFestival Cottbus (DE)
Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz (AT)
Festival de Sevilla (ES)
European Film Festival Palić (RS)
Les Arcs European Film Festival (FR)
Scanorama European Film Forum (LT)
Trieste Film Festival (IT)

A network meeting was recently held in Vienna to develop activities for the next two years. Current projects were discussed and new ideas for the future were found:

How can more sustainable and diverse film festivals be created? How can emerging talents build their careers faster? Are there better ways to share our knowledge and practice?

The new projects will be announced soon.

Excellent films will be screened at the FilmFestival Cottbus!

The Association of Czech Film Critics has honoured seven films this year:

The animated film Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light by director Filip Pošivač won the Audiovisual Achievement Award and Pošivač received the Newcomer of the Year Award. The film was screened in the KIDS IN CINEMA section in 2023.

Directors Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík received the statuette for best documentary film for the Czech-Slovak co-production Photophobia.

Tony, Shelly and the magical light
Filip PošivačCzech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, 2023, 82 min
A magical apartment block with equally magical inhabitants. Eleven-year-old Tony lights up. His neighbour Shelly has a torch that makes fantastic worlds visible. And then there's this strange dark creature that seems to feed on unkindness and bad humour. Can the children uncover its secret?

Photophobia
Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík SK/CZ/UA , 2023, 71 min
Everyday life underground: the inhabitants of Kharkiv flee from Russian bombs into the underground. For an indefinite period of time. 12-year-old Niki and 11-year-old Vika play in the empty trains and tunnels, but they would rather run up the stairs into the daylight.

With over 500 guests, the co-production market "When East Meets West" at the Trieste Film Festival once again set a record number of participants.

Here, the film projects of tomorrow were pitched and excerpts from new films were shown that will soon be screened at international film festivals - perhaps in Cottbus too? Projects were discussed, ideas exchanged and partnerships forged in lively conversations - a rousing, energetic dialogue in a region that is growing together between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, thoughtful reflection on the current wars and social divisions for all of us, which directly affect many of the filmmakers present. A total of 18 prizes were awarded to support the development of the premiered projects in various ways.

For the first time, the HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award was presented for the best short film project in a competition organised by the MIDPOINT training initiative. The winner was the Ukrainian-French project UNAVAILABLE by young director Kyrylo Zemlyanyi - the story of a young Ukrainian who has fled from Russian missile fire to the west of his countnry and despairs when he can no longer reach his mother, who has remained in the war zone.

FFC programme director Bernd Buder, together with the Bosnian-Herzegovinian director Una Gunjal and the Romanian producer Anamaria Antoci shared the jury responsibilities.