About us

The FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC) is one of the leading international festivals of Eastern European film.
It will take place from November 5 to 10, 2024.

Founded in 1991, the festival focuses on feature films from the successor states of the former socialist countries, including all successor states of the former Soviet Union and their economically and culturally closely related neighboring countries Finland, Greece and Turkey. The FFC is an audience festival and with the co-production market connecting cottbus, an industry meeting point for Central and Eastern European cinema.

The FFC wants to show good films and give them access to the market. In addition, it aims to strengthen talents, to arouse curiosity about Eastern Europe, to question common clichés and to promote the dialogue between and with Eastern European filmmakers. Therefore, almost every film is followed by an exciting film discussion (Q&A). Networking meetings also provide opportunities for exchange between filmmakers and industry representatives.

Four competitions and other country- and theme-specific program sections offer audiences the unique opportunity to see productions from Eastern and Central Europe, which often have their world, international or German premieres in Cottbus. A total of fifteen prizes are awarded at the FilmFestival Cottbus, with a total value of more than 60,000 euros. A prominent international festival jury awards the main prize for the best feature film, the special prize for the best director as well as the prizes for outstanding acting performances - all of them receive the coveted prize sculpture LUBINA (Sorbian: the lovely one) in addition to the prize money. In addition, prizes will be awarded for the best youth and short films.

The FilmFestival Cottbus was founded in 1991. As the gateway to the East, Cottbus is located in close proximity to its Polish neighbor in the bilingual (German/Sorbian) region of Lausitz in the German state of Brandenburg. Every autumn, the city of about 100,000 inhabitants 120 km southeast of Berlin becomes the most important meeting point for international and national film guests as well as friends of Central and Eastern European film. Here, veteran directors and Oscar winners meet up-and-coming talents, Eastern European shooting stars meet German acting colleagues, and international flair mixes with a family festival atmosphere. 

"The Eastern German event is the premiere film festival for Eastern European cinema," summed up the leading U.S. industry journal The Hollywood Reporter. The steadily increasing response from Germany and abroad confirms this positive assessment. The festival is now firmly established in the city and region as the largest international cultural event. Last year, 22,000 visitors - in mathematical terms, one in five Cottbus residents - did not miss the opportunity to get a representative overview of current film production from the entire Central and Eastern European region with more than 200 films from 45 countries.