Guests, generations and stories at the 26th FilmFestival Cottbus
The FilmFestival Cottbus, internationally regarded as the leading festival of Eastern European film, will launch its 26th issue with a grand opening at the Großes Haus of the Staatstheater Cottbus. A cosmopolitan attitude and hospitality will blend with an informal festival atmosphere when international and domestic guests from the world of film meet with friends of Central and Eastern European cinema. A host of well-known film makers will turn the city into an annual venue for the film industry's 'Who is Who'.
The grand opening will be presented by actor and director Axel Ranisch (ALKI ALKI, I FEEL LIKE DISCO and other films); notable guests include the Honorary Festival President and Academy Award winner István Szabó as well as numerous representatives from the worlds of media, politics and society. Dr Martina Münch, State Minister of Science, Research and Culture for the Federal State of Brandenburg, will give one of the opening addresses. The actor Urs Rechn (roles include a part in SAUL FIA/SON OF SAUL, Academy Award 2016 for Best Foreign Language Film) is a member of the jury in the Short Feature Film Competition and will furthermore provide his skills as a DJ at the opening party at the FestivalClub Scandale, which will launch the multifaceted supporting programme.
The FilmFestival Cottbus will welcome guests not only from across various industries and many different countries, but also from different generations: the age difference between the youngest and the eldest active festival attendant is a whopping 74years. Olivia Nike Frenzel (age 16) from Cottbus is a member of the German-Polish-Czech jury of pupils in the U18 Youth Film Competition. Abraham Ascher, a historian and protagonist in the documentary film WE ARE JEWS FROM BRESLAU, was born in Wroclaw/Breslau in 1926. The FilmFestival Cottbus brings them together - a symbol for connecting the generations and guests from all around the globe, with all
their stories and films.
Almost 200 films from 45 countries with a running time of approximately 145 hours will be presented at seven venues over the course of six days, including 19 world and international premičres and 76 German premičres. 14 interpreters will provide simultaneous translation into German for the films as they are screened in their original language (with English subtitles). In part, these films have travelled from afar by courier. They hail not only from Poland, Russia, the Baltic States and Hungary, but also from Australia, the United States, Columbia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and South Korea. Almost all films have been provided in the digital screening format DCP (Digital Cinema Package). Only five films are 35 mm copies. Eight fulldome films will fill the planetarium's dome with their 360-degree format.
The FilmFestival will maintain a keen eye on the work of regional film makers in Cottbus, the Berlin-Brandenburg region and Lusatia in Saxony with the Cottbus FilmSchau. Their films will be screened at the Weltspiegel cinema on the evening before the grand opening (7 November) and compete for three awards.
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,
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..
