The 11^th edition of CinEast, the Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg, opens today at the Neimënster cultural centre with the vernissage of the “Identities” photography exhibition and the Opening ceremony with the film Ruben Brandt, Collector by Milorad Krstić. Held from 4 to 21 October 2018, the festival will present more than 110 screenings of 64 features and over 50 short films from 20 countries of the former Eastern bloc, taking place in numerous venues in Luxembourg City (Cinémathèque, Neimënster, Ciné Utopia) as well as other towns in the country (Vianden, Esch sur Alzette, Dudelange etc.) and across the border (Saarbrücken in Germany). The programme (web, pdf) boasts also screenings for young audiences and numerous side events – concerts, exhibitions, debates, gastro events, thematic evenings and more (overview here).

The festival’s competition line-up is composed of 7 films: Ága by Milko Lazarov, Alice T. by Radu Muntean, One Day by Zsófia Szilágyi, Silent Night by Piotr Domalewski, Take It Or Leave It by Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo, The Load by Ognjen Glavonić and Winter Flies by Olmo Omerzu. The International Jury, which will award the Grand Prix and the Special Jury Prize, is composed of the Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf (President of the International Jury), the actress Arta Dobroshi from Kosovo, the Luxembourgish director Govinda Van Maele (Gutland), the French/Luxembourgish actress Astrid Roos and the Croatia-born film director, producer and festival organiser Sergej Stanojkovski. A separate Press Jury will award the Critics’ Prize. The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony held on 19 October at Luxembourg’s Cinémathèque.

The programme will also offer many award-winning films, including Cold War by P. Pawlikowski, Putin’s Witnesses by V. Mansky, Mug by M. Szumowska, I Do Not Care If We Go Down History As Barbarians by R. Jude, Donbass by S. Loznitsa etc. 10 films on the programme have been submitted to represent their countries at the 2019 Academy Awards.

Among the almost 40 confirmed special guests attending CinEast 2018: Magdalena Popławska (Polish actress), Razvan Radulescu (Romanian scriptwriter), Milko Lazarov (Bulgarian director), Janez Burger (Slovenian director), Urszula Antoniak (Polish director), Ivo Felt (Estonian producer), Ognjen Glavonić (Serbian director), Giedre Beinoriute (Lithuanian director), Olmo Omerzu (Slovenian/Czech director), Damian Nenow (Polish director) and others.

The festival features also 6 film discussions on the following topics: “Challenges of integration” (5/10), “Women and ageing in contemporary society” (7/10), “Professional cycling – behind the scenes” (a Cycling event with 2010 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck, 9/10), “Emigrants and expats” (10/10), “Democracy in transition” (15/10) and “Nationalism & populism” (18/10).