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Honours for East and West

goEast celebrates halftime with the winners of the Student’s Competition from East and West

Even before May 1 – the date when the new member states will join the EU – our Eastern neighbours have become a hot topic in Wiesbaden. Since Wednesday, the goEast festival – with its films from 16 countries, forums for discussion, exhibitions, parties and the popular workshops at the festival-center Villa Clementine – has facilitated many meetings and impressions of the life and the culture of the Eastern and Central European countries. In its fourth year the festival has generated even more interest amongst professionals, guests, the press and the audience: with approximately 3000 admissions in the first three days, we can again predict a noticeable increase compared to last year. Especially reassuring is the positive resonance of the young audience. More than 500 guests attended Friday’s goEast Party with DJ Shantel at the packed Schlachthof Cultural Center.

The panel “Meet the Filmschools”, presented as part of the Students’ Competition, again turned out to be highly interesting and facilitated the exchange of experiences and pan-European Information about the state of education for the film-business. The participating universities introduced their programs and then discussed European standards of Education, co-operations between universities and the growing acceptance of digital media in education. At the subsequent reception of the Export Union, new contacts could be made.

The Students’ Competition, pitting students from East and West against each other in three short-film categories, its awards-ceremony and subsequent party have become highlights of the festival. While the audience’s votes were being counted, Absolut Pictures presented the Bollywood comedy MULIT, the newest of five short films that international filmmakers shot for Absolut. Then, the new festival director Christine Kopf and Margareta Müller of the HypoVereinsbank presented the winners with the audience award and € 750 for the best short-film in each of the three categories:

Students’ Competition I (documentary and experimental films):

1. BALL OF FAME
directed by Gregor M. Schubert, University for Design (HFG), Offenbach
Miniature golfers are far from being as distinguished as golfers, but adhere to similar rituals. The centre of thief tactical strategies is the ball – from the “Turbo 7” to the “Deutschmann 83”.

and with equal votes:

2. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
directed by Nils Kleber, Film Class of the Academy of Arts at the University Mainz
Life is only seemingly a river. The soul wanders the vastness of time like the eyes take in a lanscape.

2. MECHTA / A DREAM
directed by Victoria Marinov, State Academy for Theatre and Cinematic Arts – NATFA Sofia
What are the dreams of Bulgarian children: what do they want to be, how do they want to grow up and where do they want to live? And what did the grown-ups dream of when they were children?

Students’ Competition II (short feature films):

1. KRAJ IGRE / THE END OF THE GAME
directed by Petar Oreškovic from the Academy of Dramatic Art – ADU Zagreb
Inspired by Beckett’s “End of the Game” – excerpts from the life of a married couple – the impossibility of real communication and the absurdity of life.

2. DIE LETZTE SPUR / THE LAST TRACE
directed by Michael Kuhlmann, Department of Media Design, University of applied Sciences FH Mainz
The last five minutes in the life of a prisoner-of-war – alone in the dark he questions war.

3. PISMO, VAMPIR, CAI / A LETTER, A VAMPIRE AND TEA
directed by Almir Fakic, Academy of Dramatic Art – ADU Zagreb
Alfred is a vampire-killer. One day, he goes on a search for bloodsuckers in his neighbourhood.

Students’ Competition III (animation):

1. XAEAHEPA / BADINERIE
directed by Dragomir Sholev, State Academy for Theatre and Cinematic Arts – NATFA Sofia
Ringing mobile phones make the conductor of a symphony orchestra lose his timing.

2. 180° - DIE LIEBE KENNT VIELE REZEPTE / 180 ° - A RECIPE FOR LOVE
directed by Anne Walther, Academy of the Arts, Kassel
A glass of flour falls in love with a red-wine decanter. A glass of cacao and a cookbook also play a part in this animated kitchen story.

3. WATER ON MARS
directed by Horst da Luz, University of Applied Sciences,Wiesbaden
The first Mars landing – will American astronauts find water on the red planet?

This year, the participating filmmakers are from Sofia (State Academy of Theatre and Cinematic Arts - NATFA), Zagreb (Academy of Dramatic Art - ADU), Weimar (Faculty for Design of the Bauhaus-University), Hamburg (Academy of the Arts) and Kassel (Academy of the Arts). This always-changing selection was again complimented by films from universities in the Rhine-Main area: the University of Applied Sciences Mainz, the Academy of the Arts at the University of Mainz, the University for Design Offenbach and the University of Applied Sciences Wiesbaden. After the awards ceremony, the guests and winners partied until the early morning hours in the Caligari-cinema, which was transformed into the “Elektrolounge”.

Sunday delivered two additional highlights: the Tarkowsky-matinee with the famous director’s sister and the start of the academic forum “Identity in the times after the change”.

We’d especially like to direct your interest towards our press-discussion “Young Eastern European Cinema” on May 27 2004 at the Villa Clementine. Young international directors will sit down at the “round table” to reflect on the themes and tendencies of the young cinema and focus on the new horizons for the young generation in Central and Eastern Europe. The panel will be moderated by Russian film-journalist Andrej Plachov. On May 27 at 7:00 pm goEast 2004 will conclude with the glamorous award-ceremony – three days before the new Eastern European member states join the EU.