The Czech Republic will be the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2026. On this occasion, numerous Czech books will be published in German translation, including Raději zešílet v divočině by Aleš Palán. This award-winning volume of conversations brings together photographic portraits of recluses in the Bohemian Forest, taken by Jan Šibík, and explores their decision to withdraw from the world. 

Two of the book’s protagonists are the Klišík brothers, who also appear in BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD. Following the screening, a reading from the book and a discussion with director Miro Remo will offer a preview of the German edition to be published by Mitteldeutscher Verlag. The event will be moderated by Dr. Christina Frankenberg from the Czech Centre Berlin. 

The goEast matinee takes place as part of the Czech Republic’s guest of honor program at the Frankfurt Book Fair, held under the motto “Czechia – A Country by the Sea.” 

 

Screening:
+ Q&A with Miro Remo and Reading with Raja Hauck
26.04.2026 11.00 Caligari OV + Ger&Eng subs

 

BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD

Director: Miro Remo
CZE, SVK 2025

Among the approximately 28,000 films in the DFF archive are feature films, short films, and documentaries, as well as amateur and experimental works. The collection includes films from early cinema, German avant-garde films of the 1920s and 1930s, classics of Weimar-era cinema, works of the New German Cinema, and European auteur cinema. 

At goEast, we would like to regularly present a cinematic treasure from Central or Eastern Europe from the DFF film archive. 

 

Screening:

22.04.2026 16.00 Murnau OV + Ger subs (35mm copy from the DFF Archive)

SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS
Director: Sergej Parajanov
UkrSSR 1964

The Estonian Film Institute holds the copyrights to all films produced between 1941 and 2001 at the state studio “Tallinnfilm”, which make up the largest part of Estonia’s film heritage. In total, the “Tallinnfilm” collection comprises around 1,000 feature films, documentaries, and animated films. 

This cinematic treasure must be archived, restored, and digitized. 

 

Screenings:

Introduction by Rain Põdra (Estonian Film Institute)
22.04.2026 20.30 DFF, Frankfurt OV + Eng subs
23.04.2026 14.00 Caligari OV + Eng subs

COLOURFUL DREAMS
Director: Virve Aruoja, Jaan Tooming
ESSR 1974

The EEFFN Award, a prize presented by the Eastern European Film Festival Network, of which goEast is a member, goes in 2026 to the Slovakian film PERLA.

 

Screening:

22.04.2026 19.45 Apollo OV + Ger subs

PERLA
Director: Alexandra Makarová
AUT, SVK 2025

In 2026, goEast aims to increasingly reach families, children, and young audiences. Several films in the program are suitable for younger viewers – age recommendations are currently available on our website and social media channels. 

We especially recommend the following two films to our young audience, which are, of course, also open to all other viewers. 

Screenings:

SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING
23.04. 10:00 Caligari OV + Ger subs
+ Filmtalk with Alexandra Bidian

BLUE EYES AND COLORFUL MY DRESS
25.04.2026 14.00 Caligari OV + Ger subs (+ live German Voice over)
26.04.2026 15.00 DFF, Frankfurt OV + Ger subs (+ live German Voice over)

SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING
Director: Alexandra Bidian
DEU, ROU 2025

Recommended age 13+

BLUE EYES AND COLORFUL MY DRESS
Director: Polina Gumiela
DEU 2020

Recommended age: 5+

The renowned Polish and European film director would have turned 100 on March 6, 2026. To mark the occasion, we present a film program featuring selected works exploring themes of resistance, protest, and revolution. Award-winning production designer Allan Starski has been invited as a guest. He collaborated closely with Wajda for many years and received an Academy Award for his work on Steven Spielberg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST. 

 

Screenings:

MAN OF IRON
22.04.2026 20.15 Murnau OV + Eng subs
24.04.2026 17.00 rex, Darmstadt OV + Eng subs

CANAL
25.04.2026 11.00 Caligari OV + Eng subs
26.04.2026 20.00 rex, Darmstadt OV + Ger subs

DANTON
27.04.2026 18.30 Apollo OV + Eng subs
27.04.2026 20.30 DFF, Frankfurt OV + Eng subs
+ Filmtalk with Allan Starski (production designer)

 

MAN OF IRON
Director: Andrzej Wajda
POL 1981

CANAL
Director: Andrzej Wajda
POL 1957

 

DANTON
Director: Andrzej Wajda
FRA, POL 1983

Since 2023, tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Georgia against their government’s current efforts to cosy up to the Russian regime. Due to painful experiences throughout their history, a large share of the population views a closer relationship with Russia with scepticism. While the protests of 2023 were still able to achieve some success, since autumn 2024 the government has systematically supressed any opposition. Individuals have been imprisoned on political grounds. The Georgian National Film Center (GNFC) has also been forced to conform to the administration’s agenda. In response, filmmakers have founded an independent Georgian Film Institute. In the scope of a panel discussion, we would like to look both back into the past and ahead to the future and explore the role of filmmakers in the current situation.

Panel discussion with:

Salomé Alexi

director, president of the Georgian Film Institute, chair of this year’s goEast jury

Gaga Gogoladze

political scientist, board member at GZA (Georgisches Zentrum im Ausland e. V.)

Reinhard Kaul-Seeger

doctor, theatre producer and witness to the use of toxic gas against demonstrators in 1989

Heimathafen im Alten Gericht 24.04.2026 16.00

Eleven filmmakers, eleven prisoners: this ongoing film project gathers cinematic portraits of individuals who have been imprisoned in Georgia for political reasons and are considered “prisoners of conscience”. The films respond to the increasing repression following the disputed parliamentary elections of 2024 and give faces and voices back to those who have been purposely rendered invisible by state propaganda.

The project was initiated by the Georgian Cinema Is Under Threat movement, a coalition of independent filmmakers that opposes censorship and the political instrumentalization of cultural institutions. The series is intended to serve as a growing cinematic archive of resistance.

Screening:
25.04.2026 13.30 Apollo OV + Eng subs

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE
Directos: various
GEO 2025

Quick, wild, witty, thought-provoking: welcome back to our Anarchoshorts! Love is redefined on an intergalactic cruise for singles (COSMONAUTS). In Bulgaria, a girl goes out on a limb for a VHS tape (ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG). Four activists become embroiled in moral dilemmas while attempting to liberate a bunch of hens (FREE THE CHICKENS). Flight, displacement and memories shape animated perspectives in the context of the war in Ukraine (I DIED IN IRPIN, MY GRANDMOTHER IS A SKYDIVER). A gigantic turnip wreaks havoc (THE BEETROOT) and a beekeeper relates the quiet life cycle of his insect companions (THE BRIEF LIFE OF A BEE). 

Screenings:
22.04.2026 22.00 Apollo OV + Eng subs
25.04.2026 19.30, 21.30, 23.30 DFF, Frankfurt OV + Eng subs

Eight short films place Romani perspectives centre stage. Using documentary, fictional and animated forms, they treat diverse experiences in Central and Eastern Europe – including school segregation, deportation and state violence, foster families and intergenerational trauma. At the same time, they share moments of self-assertion, joy and resilience. The section opens our eyes to stories and existential realities that have been overlooked or silenced for far too long.  

Curated by Lisa Smith, Critical Film and Image Hub, Research Centre on Antigypsyism, Heidelberg University. 

Screenings:

Romani Cinema Agains the Odds 1
22.04.2026 18.00 Apollo OV + Eng subs
24.04.2026 18.00 DFF, Frankfurt OV + Eng subs

Romani Cinema Agains the Odds 2
23.04.2026 19.00 Apollo OV + Eng subs

In co-operation with FIPRESCI, goEast presents the discussion panel “WHO OWNS THE REVOLUTION?”. The panel is devoted to examining filmic perspectives on revolution, remembrance culture and societal upheaval in cinema. In the scope of the event, questions regarding interpretive authority, narratives and the role of film criticism in dealing with radical historical changes will be explored.

 

With film critics:

Mariana Hristova, Mariola Wiktor and Stojan Sinadinov

Moderation: Marta Moneva-Enchev

Heimathafen im Alten Gericht Sa. 25.04.2026 12.00