With the AusbildungsTicket to the 20th Neiße Film Festival
The 20th edition of the Neisse Film Festival will take place from May 23 to 28. This year, the film festival in the border triangle on the Neisse will once again offer a full program with around 100 films in three competitions and various film series as well as exhibitions, concerts and more. There are some new features for the audience for the anniversary: For example, the festival program will be presented in compact form in a new, handy festival planner as well as in full in the further developed festival app. In addition, tickets for all film screenings will be available online in advance for the first time via the official homepage. Students can once again look forward to a special offer: with the BildungsTicket, they can attend all film screenings for 20 euros. The personalized ticket is available on presentation of a valid ID at all festival box offices.
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, one of the patrons of the festival, praised the festival in his greeting on the occasion of the anniversary: "The power that draws us to the cinema also brings the team of the Neiße Film Festival together year after year. The NFF has long since become a cultural institution in the border triangle, with a loyal regular audience that appreciates Eastern European films beyond mainstream cinema." His colleague Martin Půta, Captain of the Liberec region and also patron, adds: "20 years in human life is not exactly a lot. In the case of a film festival, however, it is a considerable stage. In May, the twentieth, anniversary edition of the Neisse Film Festival will take place, which has not only long since come of age, but also continues to mature from year to year, developing and connecting regional cinemas."
The 20th Neiße Film Festival will open on 23 May at the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theater in Zittau with the opening film "Franky Five Star" by Birgit Möller, a surreal tragicomedy about the search for oneself, which confronts the self-optimization mania of our society with humour and imagination. Afterwards, DJ Ludmila Pogodina will set the musical mood for the coming festival days in the theater foyer.
As usual, three productions each from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic will compete in the festival's main competition for the best feature film. Whether designed as a mystery drama or set in the East German provinces: All of the films tell stories that shed light on many facets of our coexistence and are about people facing up to their past and present and exploring boundaries. In the competition for the best documentary film, nine films are also competing on topics that touch and move: Environmental protection, special living conditions, social injustice, but also art and music. The short film competition, for which the Student Council of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is once again donating prize money of 1,000 euros this year, presents a total of 34 short and entertaining entries. Whether fictional, documentary, animated or experimental - the trinational program impresses with its diversity and originality.
Under the title "Post Soviet Union", the focus series of the 20th festival edition deals with the social and political legacy of the former Soviet Union. The films in the series reflect the most diverse aspects of life, whether political, economic or social - from intellectual debates to the concrete conditions of everyday life. The geopolitical radius of what was once the largest territorial state in the world forms the thematic bracket for a polyphonic, cinematic kaleidoscope of stories. The exhibition "Post-Soviet Lifeworlds" by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship can also be seen at the Alte Bäckerei cultural café and the Kunstbauerkino cinema in Großhennersdorf.
In addition to the competitions, the "Regionalia" series features current contributions from regional filmmakers dedicated to life in Lusatia, on the border or Sorbian film. The three country series "Polski Blues", "České panorama" and "Deutsches Fenster" reflect current filmmaking in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. In addition, the Centrum Panorama in Varnsdorf, Czech Republic, will once again be showing film classics in 70mm format on the largest cinema screen in Europe. And for young cinema fans, a separate series will show two children's films.
The awards ceremony will take place on May 27 at the Kühlhaus in Görlitz. In addition to the best feature films, documentaries and short films and the audience favorites, awards will also be presented for the best acting performance, the best screenplay and the best production design. In addition, the festival's special prize is awarded to a film that is dedicated to understanding the cultural and ethnic differences between different countries or the similarities between them.
The icing on the birthday cake of the festival's anniversary is the concert by the Russian band Pussy Riot, which can be experienced open air at the Görlitz Kühlhaus on May 27 following the award ceremony. The feminist artists' collective is now one of the best-known creative ensembles in Russia - and one of the most critical. The group's extraordinary performance is loud and always combined with a political-musical-brute art event, because their confessions, demands and convictions should be heard.
Other highlights of the supporting program include the improv show "Imjoy & DJ M^OD" on 24 May at the Varšava cinema in Liberec, the puppet show "Filmautomat" on 25 May at the Varnsdorf municipal theater, concerts by Irish singer/songwriter Aoife Wolf and Laura Guidi & Band on 26 May at Café Hotspot Görlitz and Kulturfabrik Meda Mittelherwigsdorf respectively, and a guided tour of the film locations in Görlitz on 27 May.
Since 2004, the Neisse Film Festival has offered young filmmakers a forum, presented established films and directors to the public and focused on specific topics. Its cross-genre and tri-national character is special and unique, with events at more than twenty venues in the three countries along the Neisse. The festival has thus developed into a cultural bridge for film fans and arthouse cinemas from the neighboring countries. Every year, the film festival focuses on the connections and relationships between the people of Eastern Europe and the respective cinematic examination of the past and present. In addition to three competitions and various film series, the transnational program also offers events such as concerts, readings, exhibitions and parties.
Michael Lippold
E-mail: michael.lippold(at)kunstbauerkino.de
Mobile: +49 (0) 171 - 43 42 464
