Six cinematic festival days in the border triangle
With the AusbildungsTicket to the 20th Neiße Film Festival
From May 23 to 28, the Neisse Film Festival will celebrate its 20th edition. Once again this year, the film festival in the tri-state region along the Neisse River offers a full program featuring around 100 films in three competitions and various film series, as well as exhibitions, concerts, and more. To mark the anniversary, there are several new features for the audience: The festival program will be presented in a compact format in a new, handy festival guide, as well as in full on the updated festival app. In addition, for the first time, tickets for all film screenings are available for advance purchase online via the official website. Students can once again look forward to a special offer: With the “AusbildungsTicket,” they can attend any film screening for 20 euros. This personalized ticket is available upon presentation of valid identification at all festival box offices.
Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer, one of the festival’s patrons, pays tribute in his anniversary message: “The power that draws us to the movies also brings the Neiße Film Festival team together year after year. The NFF has long since become a cultural institution in the border triangle, with a loyal core audience that appreciates Eastern European cinema beyond the mainstream.” His colleague Martin Půta, Governor of the Liberec Region and also a patron, adds: “Twenty years in a person’s life isn’t exactly a long time. In the case of a film festival, however, it represents a significant milestone. This May marks the 20th, anniversary edition of the Neisse Film Festival, which has not only long since come of age but also continues to mature, evolve, and connect regional cinemas year after year.”
The 20th Neisse Film Festival will open on May 23 at the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in Zittau with the opening film “Franky Five Star” by Birgit Möller, a surreal tragicomedy about the search for one’s true self, which confronts our society’s obsession with self-improvement with humor and imagination. Afterward, DJ Ludmila Pogodina will set the mood for the coming festival days with music in the theater foyer.
Trinational Competitions for Feature Films, Documentaries, and Short Films
As usual, the festival’s main competition for best feature film features three productions each from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Whether structured as a mystery drama or set in the East German countryside, all the films tell stories that shed light on many facets of our shared lives and focus on people who confront their past and present and test boundaries. In the competition for the good documentary, nine films also compete on topics that touch and move audiences: environmental protection, unique living conditions, social injustice, as well as 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 tri-national program captivates with its diversity and originality.
Focus: “Post-Soviet Union”
Titled “Post-Soviet Union,” the Focus series of the 20th edition of the festival explores the social and political legacy of the former Soviet Union. The films in the series reflect a wide variety of aspects of life—whether political, economic, or social—ranging from intellectual debates to the concrete realities of everyday life. The geopolitical scope of what was once the world’s largest country by area serves as the thematic framework for a polyphonic, cinematic kaleidoscope of narratives. In addition, the exhibition “Post-Soviet Lifestyles” by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship is on view at the Kulturcafé Alte Bäckerei and the Kunstbauerkino in Großhennersdorf.
In addition to the competitions, the “Regionalia” series features current works by regional filmmakers dedicated to life in Lausitz, along the border, or Sorbian cinema. The three country-specific series—“Polski Blues,” “České panorama,” and “Deutsches Fenster”—reflect current filmmaking in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. In addition, film classics in 70mm format will once again be screened at the Centrum Panorama in Varnsdorf, Czech Republic, on Europe’s largest movie screen. And for young movie fans, a special series will feature two children’s films.
The awards ceremony will take place on May 27 at the Kühlhaus in Görlitz. In addition to awards for the best feature films, documentaries, and short films, as well as the audience favorites, prizes will also be presented for the best acting achievement, best screenplay, and best production design. In addition, the festival’s special prize will be awarded to a film dedicated to fostering an understanding of the cultural and ethnic differences between various countries or the commonalities they share.
The icing on the cake for the festival’s anniversary celebration is a concert by the Russian band Pussy Riot, which will perform outdoors at the Görlitz Kühlhaus on May 27 following the awards 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 performances are loud and always involve a politically charged, musically intense, and forceful artistic event, as their statements, demands, and convictions are meant to be heard.
Other highlights of the supporting program include the improv show “Imjoy & DJ M^OD” on May 24 at the Varšava Cinema in Liberec, the “Filmautomat” puppet theater on May 25 at the Varnsdorf City Theater, the concerts by Irish singer-songwriter Aoife Wolf and Laura Guidi & Band on May 26 at Café Hotspot in Görlitz and at the Kulturfabrik Meda in Mittelherwigsdorf, respectively, as well as a guided tour of film locations in Görlitz on May 27.
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@kunstbauerkino.de
Mobile: +49 (0) 171 - 43 42 464