Festival of Young East European Cinema
Cottbus, November 1 - 5 (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