It's going to be exciting in November: twelve of the most recent Eastern European films will be shown for the first time in Germany in the competition for the 'Lubina'

Twelve entries from 18 co-production countries will compete for the main prize and the Lubina award sculpture at the FilmFestival Cottbus. The Short Feature Competition will feature ten more premičres, including four international premičres. From 8 to 13 November, the festival will present for the 26th time contemporary Eastern European cinema with about 200 individual entries from 45 countries.

Mature débuts and repeated success - With Rusudan Glurjidze (HOUSE OF OTHERS), Dane Komljen (ALL THE CITIES OF THE NORTH), Jan P. Matuszynski (THE LAST FAMILY), Bogdan Mirica (DOGS) and Nino Basilia (ANNA'S LIFE), not just one but five directors will have their feature film début at this year's competition, testifying to the appeal of young Eastern European cinema. Glurjidze pitched her début in 2012 at connecting cottbus (coco), the co-production market of the FilmFestival Cottbus. She tells the story of a family's difficult new arrival at a house that another family had to leave during the war. The engagement with the past is also the subject of another film that had secured funding at coco as early as in the project stage: THE PROSECUTER THE DEFENDER THE FATHER AND HIS SON by Iglika Triffonova traces an international war crimes trial based on a true story. Also previously established film makers have entered the competition with their latest films. Ivan I. Tverdovskij made it to the final selection again in 2016 with ZOOLOGY. His previous film, CORRECTION CLASS, won three awards in Cottbus two years ago, including the Main Prize for Best Film. Damjan Kozole from Slovenia competes for the Lubina with his film NIGHTLIFE. The director was a member of the DIALOG Award Jury at the 23rd FilmFestival Cottbus.

Topics and trends - Reality, truth and playing with fiction are the subject of many of the entries. HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! by Ziga Virc illustrates this film trend in an original manner, blurring the boundaries between documentary and fiction. In IT'S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE, the successful Hungarian director Szabolcs Hajdu depicts his entire family, in his own four walls. The second Hungarian entry, KILLS ON WHEELS by Attila Till, plays with comic-book elements and brings to the scene a killer commando of wheelchair users. Another film competing for the jury's favour is PLANET SINGLE by Mitja Okorn, a clever romantic comedy that captured the imagination of audiences and film critics alike in its production country Poland.

Prizes - The five members of the International Festival Jury have the task to choose from these twelve entries the winners of the following four prizes: Main Prize for Best Film, endowed with EUR 25,000 and donated by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten (GWFF); Special Prize for Best Director, endowed with EUR 7,500 and donated by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg; Special Prizes for Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Actor, each endowed with EUR 5,000 and donated by the City of Cottbus and Sparkasse Spree-Neiße, respectively.

In the Short Feature Competition, ten entries from nine co-production countries compete for the Main Prize (EUR 1,500) and the Special Prize (EUR 1,000), both donated by Druckzone Cottbus.

The FilmFestival Cottbus receives significant 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 feel free to contact our PR and Marketing Managers:

Jenni Ellwanger, phone: +49 (355) 4310714, j.ellwanger@filmfestival->
cottbus.de | Anne-Kathrin Schöler-Rensch, phone: +49 (355) 4310726,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Maria Tschanter, phone: +49 (355) 4310713,
Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


List of Titles Feature Film Competition

PLANETA SINGLI | PLANET SINGLE | PLANET SINGLE, MITJA OKORN, Poland 2016, 135 MIN

OSTATNIA RODZINA | THE LAST FAMILY | THE LAST FAMILY, JAN P. MATUSZYNSKI, Poland 2016, 123 MIN

ANAS CKHOVREBA | ANNAS LEBEN | ANNA'S LIFE, NINO BASILIA, Georgia 2016, 109 MIN

CÂINI | HUNDE | DOGS, BOGDAN MIRICA, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Qatar 2016, 104 MIN

ERNELLÁÉK FARKASÉKNÁL | IT'S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE | IT'S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE, SZABOLCS HAJDU, Hungary 2016, 81 MIN

HOUSTON, IMAMO PROBLEM! | HOUSTON, WIR HABEN EIN PROBLEM! | HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!, ZIGA VIRC, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Qatar 2016, 88 MIN

NOCNO ZIVLJENJE | NIGHTLIFE | NIGHTLIFE, DAMJAN KOZOLE, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2015, 85 MIN

SKHVISI SAKHLI | DAS HAUS DER ANDEREN | HOUSE OF OTHERS, RUSUDAN GLURJIDZE, Georgia, Spain, Croatia, Russia 2016, 103 MIN

SVI SEVERNI GRADOVI | ALL THE CITIES OF THE NORTH | ALL THE CITIES OF THE NORTH, DANE KOMLJEN, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, France 2016, 100 MIN

THE PROSECUTOR THE DEFENDER THE FATHER AND HIS SON | DER ANKLÄGER, DER VERTEIDIGER, DER VATER UND SEIN SOHN | THE PROSECUTOR THE DEFENDER THE FATHER AND HIS SON, IGLIKA TRIFFONOVA, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Sweden 2015, 105 MIN

TISZTA SZÍVVEL | KILLS ON WHEELS | KILLS ON WHEELS, ATTILA TILL, Hungary 2016, 105 MIN

ZOOLOGIYA | ZOOLOGIE | ZOOLOGY, IVAN TVERDOVSKY, Russia, France, Germany 2016, 87 MIN


List of Titles Short Feature Competition

TRANZICIJA | VERWANDLUNG | TRANSITION, MILICA TOMOVIC, Serbia 2016, 22 MIN

JA ZAKRYVAYU GLAZA | WENN ICH MEINE AUGEN SCHLIESSE | I CLOSE MY EYES, ANDREY TARATUKHIN, Russia 2016, 25 MIN

ZLE UCZYNKI | SCHLECHTE TATEN | EVIL DEEDS, PIOTR DOMALEWSKI, Poland 2016, 24 MIN

7 OWIEC | 7 SCHAFE | 7 SHEEP, WIKTORIA SZYMANSKA, France, Poland, Mexico, United Kingdom 2015, 21 MIN

GÓLYATÁBOR | WELCOME CAMP | STUDENT UNION, GYÖRGY MÓR KÁRPÁTI, Hungary 2016, 9 MIN

KREDIT | KREDIT | CREDIT, VADIM VALIULLIN, Russia 2016, 15 MIN

SINYT | DER SOHN | THE SON, HRISTO SIMEONOV, Bulgaria 2015, 29 MIN

4:15 P.M. SFÂRSITUL LUMII | WELTUNTERGANG UM 16.15 UHR | 4:15 P.M. THE END OF THE WORLD, GABI VIRGINIA SARGA/CATALIN ROTARU, Romania 2016, 15 MIN

TOATE FLUVIILE CURG ÎN MARE | ALLE FLÜSSE FLIESSEN ZUM MEER | ALL RIVERS RUN TO THE SEA, ALEXANDRU BADEA, Romania 2016, 25 MIN