Vodka, meme exhibition and short Films for Evening Strollers // Talents Take Flight // Accreditation and Press Conference
Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 2 March 2020
International meets local: with the generous support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the “Pan-European Picnic” programme is back for its second edition this year. The project aims to make Central and Eastern European culture in the region visible. One of this year’s highlights is an evening short-film walk scheduled for the festival Friday, 8 May: expanding cinema beyond the silver screen, the films featured here will be projected onto the walls of houses, bridge pillars and shop windows in Wiesbaden’s Klarenthal district. Participants can expect a cinema experience that shows the neighbourhood in a new light. The idea for this unorthodox screening comes from the Hamburg-based artist collective “A Wall is a Screen”. In a re-definition of public space, the audience will stroll through a section of Wiesbaden that is also populated by many individuals with Central and Eastern European roots – an experience bringing Wiesbaden residents of diverse backgrounds and age groups together that is sure to open up unfamiliar perspectives, both regarding the films on display and the architectural surroundings.
In a curated exhibition, film critics Vladan Petković (Serbia) and Vassilis Economou (Greece) are bringing online meme culture to the goEast Festival Centre. As exhibition co-ordinator for goEast’s Pan-European Picnic Anastasiia Melai explains: “Memes are an important expression of today’s vox populi, the voice of the people. They demonstrate in a humorous way what’s going on in society at large and in people’s heads in particular, just as cinematography does too.”
In the scope of interactive language courses in an Eastern European supermarket, the Pan-European Picnic’s role as a cultural intermediary comes to the fore: under the guidance of a language tutor, attendees have the opportunity to buy goods in Polish or Romanian. Afterwards, there’s not much standing in the way of that next shopping spree in Warsaw or Bucharest!
Finally, in a casual, congenial atmosphere, the cultures of East and West will encounter one another on Saturday, 9 May, between 10 am and 3 pm at Wiesbaden’s Schlossplatz square. Guests large and small will come together over goulash and music and experience Central and Eastern European culture up close at a host of stands representing cultural associations from the Rhine-Main region. Actor Ivan Shvedoff, among others known for Babylon Berlin, will join us once again for a multi-lingual scenic reading.
This rich cultural experience will be rounded off by the RheinMain Short Film Award: eight short films from Central and Eastern Europe will be competing for the prize, endowed with 2,500 euros and presented by a jury composed of independent cinema operators from the Rhine-Main region.
Up-and-Coming Talents Take Flight
Young filmmakers still have the chance to register for the East-West Talent Lab until 5 March. In goEast’s programme for emerging artists, 30 filmmakers present their current projects, develop them further and extend connections among their peers and within the film industry. New points of focus this year are the ethics of working with actors and protagonists, as well as the production of serial formats. The grand finale is a public pitching session, presided over by a three-member jury made up of editor Jutta Krug (WDR/ARTE), feature-film producer Kirill Krassovski and producer/author Ira Tondowski. The most innovative project is honoured with the goEast Development Award, featuring a cash prize of 3,500 euros. In addition, a research grant, also valued at 3,500 euros, is awarded to a documentary film project with a focus on human rights issues. As Andrea Wink, co-ordinator of the talent development programme at goEast, states: “The East-West Talent Lab has become a crucial component in the development landscape for young filmmakers. goEast fosters young talents from Central and Eastern Europe here. Aside from providing a forum for the development of new projects, the goEast Development Award also brings them a significant step closer to realisation.”
Accreditation and Press Conference
Members of the press can register for accreditation for goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film from now until 24 April at: Accreditation
The press conference for the 20th anniversary edition of goEast will take place at 11 am on 29 April at Wiesbaden’s Caligari FilmBühne. Please contact us to RSVP if you would like to attend.
