1. Russian Day - Highlights of the Year
With the establishment of a „Russian Day“ the festival is paying tribute to the Russian cinema which has found its way back to its former glory and reputation after years of stagnation. Future years will also see this programme making the public and professional visitors better acquainted with the cinematic "highlights of the year" from the most prolific filmmaking country of Eastern Europe.
This will be accompanied for the first time this year and in cooperation with the Connecting Cottbus East West Co-production Market by a specific platform to promote the German-Russian film dialogue. Structured as a roundtable discussion, this meeting will offer invited industry representatives and filmmakers from Russia and Germany the opportunity for an intensive and open exchange, to explore the considerable potential for bi-national collaboration and thus a basis for future cooperations and co-productions.
Based on an appraisal of the film industry's present situation, the discussion will focus largely on the cinema audience in both countries as well as the practice of co-production.
In the evening, the "Russian Day" will end appropriately with the appearance of the Russian Kompott DJ team in one of the festival clubs.
--> "Russian Day", Wednesday, 12 November, from 12:00, Weltspiegel
--> Kompott DJ Team, from 20:00, Jimmy's Diner

2. Specials
The Specials section is dedicating homages to three Oscar-winners who are celebrating anniversaries this year: Jiří Menzel and István Szabó will be congratulated on the occasion of their 70th birthdays with the screening of their most recent works, the literary adaptations I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND (2006) and RELATIVES (2006). The two top directors can reflect on their life and work in the affectionate documentary DIRECTORS ON A STRING (2008, international premiere) as well as in film talks where they will answer questions from the audience.
With „Spot on Polanski“, the festival will be honouring – with support from the Polish Institute Berlin – another Oscar-winner who celebrated his 75th birthday this year. Apart from a compilation of six of his early short masterpieces, the festival will be showing the highly praised adaptation of the literary classic OLIVER TWIST (2005), the production design for this latest work by Roman Polanski was undertaken by Oscar-winner Allan Starski, this year a member of the International Festival Jury.
Moreover, there will be homages for two successful young actresses who are also serving in Cottbus festival juries: Arta Dobroshi is currently enjoying great success in the latest work by the Dardenne brothers LORNA'S SILENCE (2008) and Rita Lengyel shines in the techno drama BERLIN CALLING (2007) by Hannes Stöhr.
A well-established and popular part of this section is the presentation of highlights from the programmes of festivals with close links to Cottbus. This programme includes the International Film Festival Karlovy Vary coming with THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER (2008) by the Bulgarian Stefan Komandarev. This will be the German premiere of a project from Connecting Cottbus, which was realised as an international co-production. Three medium-length films - COSMIC STATION, THREE MEN AND A FISH POND as well as NAZIS AND BLONDES (all 2008) - will be screening as a contribution from DOK Leipzig. On the occasion of this year's Focus „New Cinema from the Baltics“, the Nordic Film Days Lübeck will be presenting itself with the film ANGELS IN FAST MOTION (2005) and, last of all, the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis from Cottbus' twin town of Saarbrücken will be showing its Audience Prize winner NOVEMBER CHILD (2007) which will also close the festival's 18th edition in the presence of the director Christian Schwochow.

3. Workshop – Izabela Plucinska
Apart from a showcase of all the short films from the gifted Polish animation filmmaker Izabela Plucinska, the festival will be offering animation fans an opportunity to see 'behind the scenes' of making an animation film. In collaboration with the Polish Institute Berlin and kindly supported by the DEFA Foundation, the festival is organising a workshop with the filmmaker giving a practical introduction to the question "How do you make an animation film?": the secrets of stop-motion and clay animation will be revealed and figures à la WALLACE & GROMIT brought to life so that at the end everyone will be able to take home their own little animation film.
--> Workshop with Izabela Plucinska, Wednesday, 12 November, 12:00, Gladhouse/Obenkino
--> Izabela Plucinska - Showcase, Wednesday, 12 November, 16:00, Obenkino

4. Lecture Katriel Schory (Director Israel Film Fund)
Another practical item on the programme outside of the cinema hall will be offered on Friday when Katriel Schory, Director of the "Israel Film Fund" and a member of this year's International Festival Jury, will give insights into his work in a public lecture. Aimed at both students and the festival guests, the lecture will deal with the structure of the film industry and the role of a film fund and with the production structures of the Israeli film industry. The Israel Film Fund is regarded as the first address for co-producers, particularly also for partners from Germany and Eastern Europe and has been involved to a large degree in the majority of film productions in Israel.
However, he has quite different tasks to master in Cottbus and will therefore also give an insight into the work of a festival jury in the second part of his lecture.
--> Public lecture with Katriel Schory in collaboration with the Department for Applied Media Sciences and Professor Christer Petersen:
Friday, 14 November, 15:30, Audimax on the campus of the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus

www.filmfestivalcottbus.de