Festival of Young East European Cinema


November 1 - 5 (Cottbus,
Germany)

The
10th jubilee edition of the only festival devoted to new East European
cinema got off to a fiery start with folk musicians and fire-eaters
adding a characteristically quirky note to the opening event.

Eight
juries gave out awards totalling 45,000 DMs with the main prize
(worth 20,000 DMs) going to an outrageously black comedy Lost
Killers by Georgian director Dito Tsintsadze, about chaotic
Croatian hit-men in Mannheim. The Promotion Prize with 10,000 DMs
offered by ORB (TV) was awarded to England, directed by Achim
von Borries (Germany). Second prize of 8000 DMs went to Ene Bene
directed by Alice Nellis of the Czech Republic

In
parallel sections, ironic and witty takes on modern mafiadom predominated
in Russia's box-office hit Brother 2, directed by Alexander
Balabanov and again starring the increasingly-confident young actor
Sergei Bodrov Jr, this time following his post-army adventures in
the United States. Another hit was the Polish film Boys Don't
Cry, directed with evident elan by local star Olaf Lubaszenko
and parading a gallery of Warsaw weirdos.

Highlights
on the program included a pro seminar called "Connecting Cottbus"
on the possibilities for co-operation between East and West producers.
The festival also featured several panel discussions well-translated
in and out of several languages with filmmakers from far-flung Asian
republics such as Kirgyztan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in attendance.
The festival's Artistic Director, Roland Rust, a product scout with
more courage than most fest directors, had personally visited all
these directors in their home countries.

Audiences
were clearly up from last year with well over 10,000 admissions
registered, over 550 guests from 27 countries -- but few stars.
Honorary president Istvan Szabo sent an eloquent video-taped greeting
for the lengthy awards ceremony as shooting on Taking Sides
in nearby Studio Babelsberg prevented him from attending.

During
the festival a real-life sex-killer escaped from prison and was
reported to be in the area of Cottbus despite police and military's
mounting of a huge search. Tension was compounded by the activities
of another couple of assassins across the nearby Polish border.
This is not thought to have influenced the sudden announcement at
the very end of the festival that the local government has apparently
curtailed future financing and the future of the event is far from
secure, in spite of news that the city itself is apparently ready
at last to buy the Weltspiegel auditorium, a historic but unused
theatre, and give the festival the permanent home it deserves.

Phillip
Bergson