The 30th FilmFestival Cottbus begins on Tuesday, 8 December 2020. For more than three weeks - until 31 December - the anniversary edition will present 150 films nationwide in stream. In addition to the film programme, the FFC offers an online Q&A-programme with talks with film-makers as well as live talk rounds.
The festival will kick off with an opening show hosted by Nadine Heidenreich and the award-winning short film MASEL TOV COCKTAIL by Arkadij Khaet and Mickey Paatzsch - both films will be available as live streams on 8 December 2020, starting at 7 pm online via the FFC website, the festival's YouTube and Facebook channels. At the same time, the FFC will project the opening programme in public space at the Cottbus Stadthaus (at Erich Kästner Platz) onto the side wall of the Agentur für Arbeit. There it will be shown until 10 pm in a continuous loop next to the premiere of the art action "ArtFrontale - Künstlerhäuser für Cottbus", where works by Cottbus artist Hans Scheuerecker will be presented.
"After we have rescheduled and postponed several times, always with the aim of being able to present our programme in Cottbus cinemas, we are pleased that it is finally starting - even if exclusively digital. The anticipation of the premiere of the first completely digital FFC, on its 30th birthday of all times, is far outweighed by the melancholy," says Andreas Stein, managing director of the FFC’s organiser pool production. "Festivals will remain places of real encounters in the future, yet this edition also marks the dawn of a new festival age for us. We would like to thank all our supporters and sponsors who have helped us on this particularly rocky road this year".
Under "30th FFC #digital" the FilmFestival Cottbus bundles the additional offers of its first online edition. In the digital space, interested parties can enjoy the festival feeling thanks to additional offers that complement the film programme. Talks with filmmakers, panels, panel discussions and talk rounds with filmmakers, representatives from the fields of culture, science and politics provide insights into the film industry as well as historical, cultural and political contexts of the film programme.
"Our digital offers add a new dimension to the FilmFestival Cottbus. The live experience in the cinema will be cancelled this year, but new possibilities will take its place," explains FFC programme director Bernd Buder. "We are nevertheless retaining our established material. For example, the FFC audience can look forward to Q&A's with filmmakers on each of the works from the feature film competition and numerous contributions from the other sections. At "30th FFC #digital", FFC guests can expect an entertaining and exciting programme that complements the film experience very well in terms of content".
All talk formats will be broadcast on the YouTube channel of the FilmFestival Cottbus (www.youtube.com/FilmFestivalCottbus ) and will be continuously updated until the end of December.
Announcement of dates: The winners of the 30th FilmFestival Cottbus will be announced on Saturday, 12 December 2020 during an online award ceremony.
Information about FFC tickets
The streaming offer of the 30th FilmFestival Cottbus is available from 8 to 31 December 2020 on the festival website www.filmfestivalcottbus.de . Tickets can be booked via the respective film entry. The films are in their original language, optionally German or English subtitles are available. As there is a limited contingent of tickets for the films offered online, it is recommended to book in time.
About the FilmFestival Cottbus
The 30th FilmFestival Cottbus will take place in a nationwide online format: from 8 to 31 December 2020. In four competitions and numerous side sections, the FFC will show approximately 150 films competing for prizes with a total value of 72,000 Euros and the prestigious sculpture prize LUBINA (Sorbian: the Lovely). For the first time, not only the laureates of the Feature Film Competition, but also the winners of the Short Film and the U18 Youth Film Competitions, will be honoured with the LUBINAs. Over 22,000 spectators have visited the Festival of Eastern European Film in Cottbus over the last few years.
The 30th FFC is significantly supported by the State of Brandenburg, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, the City of Cottbus, the German Foreign Office and the Creative Europe MEDIA Program of the European Union.