GOEAST PRIZES AWARDED TO THREE YOUNG TALENTS AND A GREAT MASTER

On 3rd of April the Award Ceremony in Wiesbaden brought to a close the seventh goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film.

During the seven days of the festival, some 150 full-length and short films were screened, accompanied by film talks, panel discussions, and an extensive sidebar programme. Ten feature films and six documentaries were competing in the main festival section. An international jury chaired by the masterly Romanian director Lucian Pintilie awarded four prizes worth 29,500 euros in total. The main award went to films from Russia, Poland, Serbia and Croatia. The high points of the festival’ were the Symposium “The Yearning for Spirituality – Film and Religion in Eastern Europe”, the reading by young German-Bosnian shooting star Sasa Stanisic, the party that followed with London DJ Russ Jones at the turntables, and the performance with media artist Pavel Braila. A further festival keynote came with the Sunday Matinee, and Katharina Thalbach as special guest.
“The festival continues to grow. Yet, this one week together with festival guests from 28 countries was coined more than ever before by an atmosphere of trust. We are inclined to see the future of the dialogue between East and West with optimism”, stated Festival Director, Christine Kopf. In 2007 goEast counted around 9,000 visitors at its screenings and events.