The 24th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film (24-30 April) kicks off today at the Caligari movie theatre in Wiesbaden, Germany, with Levan Akin’s gentle transgender drama Crossing [+lire aussi :
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interview : Levan Akin
fiche film], which also opened the Panorama section of the latest Berlinale. Prizes totalling €21,500 await the winning films, including the coveted Golden Lily for Best Film, the Award for Best Director and the CEEOL Award for Best Documentary Film.

A distinguished jury will apply its professional expertise in order to single out the best among the contenders. It consists of Trieste Film Festival artistic director Nicoletta Romeo; Romanian actress Ilinca Manolache, who stood out with her performance in Radu Jude’s latest effort, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World [+lire aussi :
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interview : Radu Jude
fiche film]); acclaimed Czech film producer Jiří Konečný; Kosovar director, curator, activist and performer Hamze Bytyçi, who serves as the artistic director of the AKE DIKHEA? international festival for Romani cinema in Berlin; and Polish journalist, producer and filmmaker Maciek Hamela, whose latest documentary In the Rearview [+lire aussi :
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Delving into the pressing conflicts of our time – from armed confrontations to family struggles – the films in the competition propose a glimpse into the varied landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe. Notable entries include Luka Beradze's darkly humorous political satire Smiling Georgia [+lire aussi :
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interview : Luka Beradze
fiche film] and Mokalake Tsmindani’s mystery-drama Citizen Saint [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tinatin Kajrishvili
fiche film], both from Georgia and both premiered at last year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; Olga Chernykh's multi-generational essayistic portrait of the Ukrainian war A Picture to Remember [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]; Mladen Djordjević’s social horror-drama Working Class Goes to Hell [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mladen Djordjević
fiche film], which celebrated its world premiere at Toronto; and the latest IDFA winner, the intimate family documentary 1489 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Shoghakat Vardanyan
fiche film] by Shoghakat Vardanyan, for which she draws on the tragic disappearance of her brother in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.

Besides placing a special focus on Central Asia, Dmitrii Davydov's Siberian drama Plague and Askhat Kuchinchirekov's tale about the end of childhood Bauryna Salu [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], together with Maryna Vroda's pastoral drama Stepne [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] and Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész's coming-of-age documentary KIX [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], unfurl compelling narratives set against the backdrop of post-Soviet society. Aizhana Kassymbek's feminist drama Madina and Kumjana Novakova's poignant documentary Silence of Reason [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] deal with themes of female trauma and resilience, while Gergö Somogyvári's observational documentary Fairy Garden [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] sheds light on the struggles of a trans woman in Hungary. Ivan Tymchenko's magical-realist biopic Oxygen Station [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ivan Tymchenko
fiche film] and Nicole Philmon's documentary on the celebration of Victory Day in Russia, 09.05.2022, provide unique perspectives on historical and contemporary events, while Andrei Cohn's theatrical tragedy Holy Week [+lire aussi :
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interview : Andrei Cohn
fiche film] explores anti-Semitism in 19th-century, rural Romania. Finally, Andrei Kashperski's satirical mini-series Processes uses biting humour to comment on recent Belarusian history and the Russo-Ukraine War.

A large delegation from Kosovo and Albania, including filmmakers Antoneta Kastrati and Gentian Koçi, will present their Albanian-language works that have shaped the region's cultural identity and will take part in the Kosovo-Albania Special Focus, curated by filmmaker Blerta Zeqiri. As for the annual Symposium, this year it is titled “The Other Queers – Cinematic Images from the Periphery of Europe” and is dedicated to the various cultural backgrounds from the “imaginary East”.