Speaking with FNE, Cottbus FF programme director Bernd Buder said the festival is still accepting film submissions through 15 July. “We have widened our territory this year to include Greece, Turkey and Finland,” he told FNE. Among this year’s specials there will be a focus on Montenegro and on Lower Silesia, which includes the area around Wroclaw, Poland. The festival will also mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “We will be reflecting on the transition period, was it too fast, and how did it affect us,” Buder said.

Among the team at Karlovy Vary were festival CEO Andreas Stein, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg funding advisor Brigitta Manthey, and Nikolaj Nikitin joining Cottbus FF this year as a festival consultant.