Press Release 08/2016
Cottbus, 5 Oct. 2016
Films about disruption: German-German contemporary history and European refugee experiences at the 26th FilmFestival Cottbus
From 8 to 13 November 2016, in its Specials section, the FilmFestival Cottbus will present the two film series 'Bridges and Breaks - Convergence in Post-Unification Germany' and 'Exploring the Past: German-Czech-Polish History Through the Ages'. Both series investigate the disruption of identity in the lives of people following historic upheavals.
++ Czechs, Poles and Germans - Searching for traces beyond historical distrust ++
The programme 'Exploring the Past: German-Czech-Polish History Through the Ages' investigates in particular the joint reappraisal of refugee experiences in the wake of World War II in 13 feature, documentary and animated films.
"These days, a young generation of Czech and Polish documentary film makers increasingly embark on a very personal journey of researching shared and concealed experiences within their family circle. Transnational identities often play a role here", says curator and journalist Jaroslaw Godlewski in providing a first taste of the film series. Yet this is not only about the historical change of perspective: "We currently once again experience how the experiences of refugees change people's identities, both of the refugees themselves and the individuals in the countries receiving them. We aim at exchanging thoughts also about this aspect." This is why transnational exchange is a key issue not only during a trinational student exchange. Four films will be screened also in the Polish sister city of Zielona Góra during the festival. The programme is funded by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, the German-Czech Future Fund and the German Culture Forum for Eastern Europe. Additional media seminars will be taking place at local schools in cooperation with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
++ German reunification: Reorientation and cinematic heritage ++
A retrospective titled 'Bridges and Breaks - Convergence in Post- Unification Germany' and curated by Karin Fritzsche investigates the changes in the lives of German people in the 1990s. In researching and compiling
this series, the FilmFestival Cottbus also makes a documentary contribution to the cinematic heritage of the 1990s, since many of the rarely shown films had been regarded as forgotten or even lost by now. This Festival of East European Cinema consciously includes East Germany. In its special programmes it has for many years successfully investigated also German topics and issues for which it has been rewarded with great interest on part of its audience.
The series receives funding from the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany. Both specials will be accompanied by film talks and expert panel discussions.
From 8 to 13 November, the FilmFestival Cottbus will become the most important arena for Eastern European film for the 26th time. It receives support from the Federal State of Brandenburg, the Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg GmbH, the City of Cottbus, the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
For further information as well as for broadcast- and print-quality images, please do not hesitate to contact our PR and Marketing Managers Jenni Ellwanger, Anne-Kathrin Schöler-Rensch and Maria Tschanter. Telephone: +49 (355) 4310714/-26/-13; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
