Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 14 April 2026
Introducing the Juries
goEast is delighted to announce the chair of 2026’s international Competition Jury: award-winning Georgian director and screenwriter Salomé Alexi. After her studies at Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts and La Fémis in Paris, where she graduated from the film directing department with honours in 1996, Alexi founded the production company 3003 Film Production in 2012 and has been producing her own films ever since. Her short film FELICITA (GEO 2009) won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Her feature-film debut LINE OF CREDIT (GEO/FRA/DEU 2014) premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section. Her most recent work, NUTSA AND LANA GOGOBERIDZE, OR THE DARKNESS IS NEVER COMPLETE (GEO/FRA 2024), staged together with her mother Lana Gogoberidze, celebrated its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Forum Special section. In addition, she has translated texts by François Truffaut and Robert Bresson into Georgian.
The jury also features Latvian producer and director Gints Grūbe. Grübe studied philosophy and political science and is a co-founder of the production company Mistrus Media, one of Latvia’s leading film companies. As a producer, he has been involved in numerous internationally screened films, including THE CHRONICLES OF MELANIE (LVA 2016), THE MOVER (LVA 2018), MY FATHER THE SPY (LVA 2019), SAMUEL’S TRAVELS (LVA 2021), JANUARY (LVA 2022) and MARIA’S SILENCE (LVA/LTU 2024). He is a member of the European Film Academy.
Our next member of the international Competition Jury: Polish festival organiser and curator Radek Lipka, who studied philosophy and languages in Paris and Cologne, before settling in Luxemburg. He co-founded CinEast Film Festival in Luxemburg in 2008, and served as its programming director for a long period, before taking over as festival director in 2019. In addition, Lipka has been involved in numerous film projects, including retrospectives, film series and screenings for the LUX Audience Award. In 2023, along with Heleen Gerritsen, he was one of the co-founders of the Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN). In addition to his curatorial work, he is also active as a translator.
Czech director, editor, dramaturg and producer Klára Tasovská is also joining this year’s jury. Tasovská studied new media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and documentary filmmaking at FAMU. Her feature-film debut FORTRESS (CZE 2012), realised in collaboration with Lukáš Kokeš, received multiple awards and was nominated for the LUX Prize. NOTHING LIKE BEFORE (CZE 2017) celebrated its premiere at IDFA. In 2020, she founded the production company Somatic Films. Her most recent film, I’M NOT EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE (CZE 2024), which had its world premiere in the Panorama section at the Berlinale, has been featured at numerous festivals and was the Czech entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
This year’s Competition Jury is rounded off by Eszter Tompa. Born in Transilvania, the actor, director and author began her acting training in Hungary and continued it in Germany under David Esrig. She subsequently settled in Berlin. Tompa works internationally in film, theatre, performance and object theatre and performs in eight languages. During the Covid pandemic, she continued her film studies in Romania and Spain. Her short film OEDIPUS MORNING (ROU 2020) was honoured at Transilvania International Film Festival. Most recently, she starred in Radu Jude’s KONTINENTAL ’25 (ROU 2025), which was honoured at the Berlinale and earned Tompa Best Actress awards at festivals in Chicago and Gijón, among others.
The FIPRESCI Jury
The International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI, which is celebrating its 101st birthday this year, is represented by a three-member jury as well as a panel discussion with film critics Mariana Hristova, Mariola Wiktor and Stojan Sinadinov, moderated by Marta Moneva-Enchev. The panel, entitled “WHO OWNS THE REVOLUTION?” and devoted to the examination of filmic perspectives on revolution, remembrance culture and social upheaval in cinema, will take place on Saturday, 25 April.
This year’s FIPRESCI Jury includes Silvia Bahl, a German media and cultural studies researcher and freelance author and film critic with a particular focus on Eastern European cinema. For over ten years, she has written for diverse print and online media, including Filmdienst and Der Freitag. Joining her is Mariola Wiktor, a Polish film critic and journalist as well as a guest lecturer at the AMA Film Academy in Warsaw. Wiktor writes for numerous media outlets, such as Gazeta Wyborcza, Kino and Film&TV Kamera, and reports on international festivals. In addition, she served as the artistic director of the Forum of European Cinema “Cinergia” in Łódź. The third and final FIPRESCI Jury member is film critic, author and media expert Stojan Sinadinov from Skopje. Since the late-1980s, he has been writing about film history and theory as well as art and culture in North Macedonia and the surrounding region.
East-West Talent Lab Jury
The East-West Talent Lab Jury includes Cologne-based film producer Bettina Brokemper, who founded her production company Heimatfilm in 2003 and is recognised internationally for her strong focus on ambitious international co-productions. To date, she has produced more than 50 award-winning feature films released worldwide. Joining her is Veronika Janatková, a film producer, director and curator specialising in socially and politically engaged documentary films who also runs the Prague-based production company Pandistan. Since September 2025, she has served as programming director at the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague. Rounding out the EWTL Jury is Belarusian-German screenwriter and director Aliaksei Paluyan. His documentary-film debut COURAGE celebrated its premiere at the 71st edition of the Berlinale in 2021 and was subsequently screened at major festivals like IDFA, Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc. Paluyan is a member of the European Film Academy and founder of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy (BIFA).
RheinMain Short Film Award Jury
This year’s RheinMain Short Film Award Jury is composed as usual of three jury members active in the film industry in the Rhine-Main region. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet studied art history, philosophy and theatre, film and media studies in Frankfurt am Main, among other places, where she obtained her PhD in film studies in 2002. Between 2010 and 2020, she worked primarily as a freelance curator, author and artist. Since 2020, she has served as a professor for film at Offenbach University of Art and Design. Dascha Petuchow is an up-and-coming filmmaker and part of a production collective based in Wiesbaden. In 2021, together with fellow students she founded the production company Plotlessfilm, which is based in Frankfurt today and focusses on projects at the intersection between genre film and arthouse cinema. Pavel Schnabel, born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, studied at the Film and Television Academy (FAMU) in Prague and left the country shortly after Warsaw Pact troops invaded in 1968. He has lived in Germany ever since, where he works as a freelance author, director, cameraman and producer.
The goEast Press Conference
Festival director Rebecca Heiler presented the program of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film to the press today, Tuesday, 14 April, inside the newly renovated Caligari FilmBühne. Running from Tuesday, 21 April, to Monday, 27 April, goEast features screenings of 76 films from 40 countries.
Christine Kopf, Artistic Director at DFF shared: “For 26 years, DFF has been bringing cinematic art from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia to Wiesbaden and turning the Hessian state capital into a hotspot for film culture for a few days. I am happy, in these times of war and crisis, that we can offer a space for conversations, discussions and constructive confrontations that our democracy so urgently needs.”
Rebecca Heiler, who has been at the helm of goEast since summer 2025, explained: “In 2026, goEast is the first festival to take place in the newly reopened Caligari FilmBühne. So, we are looking forward even more to a full house and many encounters between filmmakers and cinemagoers, here and in all of our other venues. With 76 films and more than 100 events, we are bringing the countries of Eastern Europe and beyond into the region. Our newly created thematic focus turns some things upside down this year, from the festival motif to the romantic conception of revolution. The program is very brave this year, and there are both minor and major changes. I am very grateful to our whole team, our funding partners, sponsors and other partners for their commitment and support, as it is only through their efforts that such a challenging and ambitious program can be realised.”
Anna Schoeppe, CEO of HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, observed: “goEast opens up perspectives on Central and Eastern Europe that we see far too rarely, and thus creates a space for dialogue that is more essential than ever today. With Ada Solomon, we are also bringing one of Europe’s most influential producers into dialogue with the Hessian film industry and the participants of the East-West Talent Lab at goEast Film Festival. This combination of artistic excellence and targeted support for young talent makes goEast special, and it is also of great significance to us at Hessen Film & Medien.”
For Dr. Hendrik Schmehl, Head of Wiesbaden’s Cultural Department, goEast Film Festival possesses a special relevance: “goEast is a defining part of cultural life in the state capital of Wiesbaden. Its firm focus on mutual exchange that transcends linguistic and political boundaries makes the festival an indispensable part of lived democracy in our city.”
Around 120 guests from the Central and Eastern European film industry are expected to attend the festival in Wiesbaden.
EEFFN AWARD WINNING FILM: PERLA
Before the festival has even begun, the winner of the first award has already been decided. The 2026 EEFFN Award, a prize presented by the Eastern European Film Festival Network, of which goEast is a member, goes to the Slovakian family drama PERLA (AUT, SVK 2025) from director Alexandra Makarová. The film is set in 1980s Vienna, where Slovak artist Perla lives with her daughter Julia, a talented and dedicated pianist. Perla manages to scrape together just enough money every month to pay for piano lessons. Then she meets Josef, who offers her and Julia love and security. Alas, the brave mother’s past catches up with her. The film will be screened in Wiesbaden during the festival week.
Focus on Georgia: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE
Since 2023, tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Georgia against their government’s current efforts to cosy up to the Russian regime. 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 in Heimathafen at Altes Gericht on Friday, 24 April, a trio of experts will discuss the role of filmmakers in the current situation. Participants include director and president of the Georgian Film Institute Salomé Alexi, political scientist Gaga Gogoladze and doctor and witness to human rights abuses Reinhard Kaul-Seeger.
The accompanying short film program features eleven filmmakers who are at the same time prisoners: this ongoing film project gathers short 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 series is intended to serve as a growing cinematic archive of resistance.
Q&As and Film Talks
Dramas, documentaries, comedies, satires and unique portraits from Central and Eastern Europe – the Competition program at the heart of the festival once again features the full cinematic diversity which can be found in the festival’s focus regions. The Competition offers a broad audience from Wiesbaden and the surrounding region the opportunity to get to know highlights from the contemporary Central and Eastern European film scene. All films are shown in their original languages with English subtitles – while those screening at Caligari FilmBühne also feature additional German subtitles. Q&As with film guests will take place in the respective cinemas following screenings.
In addition, attendees can also enter into conversation with the filmmakers in the scope of the goEast “film talks”. The film talk FAMILY BUSINESS on Wednesday, 22 April, brings together Hana Jušić, director of GOD WILL NOT HELP, Iga Lisa, director of BALTYK, Markéta Ekrt Válková, director of AMIRA’S CHILDREN, as well as producer Ada Solomon. The film talk FOCUS ON UKRAINE on Friday, 24 April, features Olena Gepper from Dekoloniale Ukraine, alongside Glib Lukianets, producer of FLOWERS OF UKRAINE, and Iryna Kyporenko, producer of CLOUDS MOVE WITH GREAT SPEED. Participants for the film talk A LIFE’S LEGACY on Saturday, 25 April, include Giedrė Žickytė, director of A GOODNGHT KISS, Laila Pakalniņa, director of CAT ON MY MIND, Arym Kubat Aktan, director of BLACK RED YELLOW, and Alexandra Bidian, director of SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING. Finally, the film talk SOMETIMES THIS SPACE COULD HURT YOU on Sunday, 26 April, assembles Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel, directors of KARTLI KINGDOM, Miro Remo, director of BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD, as well as Béla Varadi, co-director of THE EXHIBITION. The film talks take place at 9 p.m. in the goEast Clubhouse at Altes Gericht.
goEast Parties
The goEast parties and the cosy bar in the Clubhouse at Heimathafen in the Festival Centre provide a great atmosphere and get festivalgoers in the mood for dancing. The GOEAST PARTY@ALTES GERICHT – featuring a “revolution” theme – gets going on Friday, 24 April, at 10:30 p.m. In 2026, goEast resident DJ Janeck will be mixing his familiar beats with sounds from the Congo region. For the first time, a member of the goEast team will be commandeering the decks: alongside DJ Janeck, chief goEast editor and emerging DJ talent Stefan Schuchort aka DJ Petit Pois will be doing his utmost to drive the audience into a frenzy with goEast disco hits. The second party, LUDMILA POGODINA@SCHLACHTHOF, takes place on Saturday, 25 April, at 11:00 p.m. Multi-disciplinary artist Ludmila Pogodina from Minsk, who has lived in Berlin since 2022, combines genres, languages and influences in crafting an eclectic setlist that spans a wide spectrum, from self-assured punk manifestos and dark electronic tracks to sensual tales about the body.
The goEast catalog is now available in the download section of our website. You can also find images related to the festival there.
The full program for the 26th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is now available on our website.
goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, the State Capital Wiesbaden, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany and the solidarity initiative of the German Catholics with the people of Central and Eastern Europe Renovabis.
Primary media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
