goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film hosted by the Deutsches Filminstitut, differs conceptually from many other film festivals in that it not only presents the most recent productions from Central and Eastern European countries but also includes a comprehensive series of historical programmes. One of its main focal points, in addition to the Competition, is an interdisciplinary Symposium with lectures, discussions and an accompanying film series: in 2013 the Symposium presents the most exciting decade in Yugoslavian film history under the title “Bright Black Frames – New Yugoslav Film between Subversion and Critique”. The 13th edition of the Festival from April 10-16 also introduces with the goEast Homage one of the most prominent representatives of the New Wave in Hungarian film, Miklós Jancsó.
Interdisciplinary Dialogue
The objective of each goEast Symposium is the engagement with cinematic as well as socially relevant issues in Central and Eastern European countries, past and present. An interdisciplinary dialogue between film scholars, historians, political scientists, ethnologists, film makers and the festival audience affords profound insights and dares to think out of the box. The scholarly lectures and discussions are accompanied by a film series. The goEast Symposium has been dedicated in the past to such diverse topics as the New Right in Eastern Europe or the history of humour in Eastern European film.
New Yugoslav Film or the “Black Wave”
The French Nouvelle Vague and the Italian Neorealism of the 1960’s also influenced cinematic creativity in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. However, the Eastern European waves clearly disassociated themselves from each other and from the Western European developments with regard to content and form. The goEast Symposium 2013 “Bright Black Frames – New Yugoslav Film between Subversion and Critique” deals with the history of Yugoslavian film and focuses on the enormous creativity of its most exciting decade. From the beginning of the 60’s to the early 70’s, numerous films were made in Yugoslavia which led to such aesthetic innovations as the docudrama and the new avantgarde cinema, but also fell victim to censure. Party officials and toe-lining intelligentsia disparagingly labelled as “Black Wave“ all those films which shed light on social ills or focused on marginalized groups, as well as those which criticized the authorities and official ideology. The films depicted the stark reality of socialist Yugoslavia, as opposed to the officially proclaimed vision of a socialist society.
Backgrounds and Analyses, Film Classics and New Discoveries
From April 12-14, the goEast Symposium, under the direction of Dr. Gal Kirn (film theorist/ philosopher, Berlin) and Vedrana Madžar (film theorist, Berlin), brings together contemporary witnesses and scholars through lectures and an accompanying film series, explores not only the history of origins but also personal memories, and examines the specific notion of “black” in Black Wave. In addition to films by Dušan Makavejev, Želimir Žilnik, Aleksandar Petrovic and Živojin Pavlovic, considered the classics of Yugoslav film, “Bright Black Frames” also presents films by less famous film makers such as Bahrudin ‘Bato’ Cengic, Krsto Papic, Karpo Godina or Jože Babic who are, however, no less relevant. Special focus is placed on short films which for the first time thematise unemployment and the labour conditions of guest workers and thus address controversial problems which are still very much an issue today. Finally, the Symposium examines the legacy of the New Yugoslav Film and brings into question the current “nationalisation” of the Yugoslavian film history.
This year’s goEast Homage is also dedicated to a key protagonist of the New Wave in Eastern Europe: the Hungarian director Miklós Jancsó. The selected films document his 60 years of creative process, which culminated with the Best Director award for RED PSALM (MÉG KÉR A NÉP) in 1972 in Cannes.
goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is supported by numerous partners: Main sponsors are the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts and the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland and the BHF-BANK Foundation.
Save the date: The goEast Press Conference will take place on April 4, 2013 at 11 a.m. at the Caligari FilmBühne, Marktplatz 9, 65183 Wiesbaden.
Press Contact: Host:
Cornelia Reichel Deutsches Filminstitut – DIF
0611 / 23 68 43-14 Schaumainkai 41
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 60596 Frankfurt am Main
goEast Film Festival This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Friedrichstraße 32 www.filmfestival-goEast.de
65185 Wiesbaden
