Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 24 March 2026
goEast Portrait: Ada Solomon
Each year, goEast shines a spotlight on the oeuvre of a notable Eastern European filmmaking personality with an extensive retrospective. Traditionally, the festival has alternated between accomplished veteran directors and filmmakers who are in the middle of their career journeys. Following last year’s Homage to Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallio, the 2026 Portrait is devoted to Romanian producer Ada Solomon, who joins the ranks of strong women from Central and Eastern Europe at the heart of the festival’s programming throughout the years.
Ada Solomon is one of today’s most prolific producers not only in Central and Eastern Europe, but across the whole of Europe. Her filmography currently encompasses more than 80 films that she has (co)produced. Staying true to her ethos of not interfering with the artistic vision of the directors she works with, she has experienced great success and helped to launch international careers, such as those of Radu Jude and Ivana Mladenović. In doing so, she has covered a wide spectrum – including short and feature-length films, fiction features and documentaries, and work with both up-and-coming talents and major established directors.
In addition to her work as a producer, Solomon is active in the world of film policy. She has served, for instance, as president of the European Women’s Audiovisual (EWA) Network, is a founding member of the Alliance of Romanian Producers and has been acting chair of the European Film Academy since December 2025.
History and art are two central obsessions in Solomon’s collaborations to date, themes to which she keeps returning. In 2026, goEast is showing a diverse selection of the films Ada Solomon has produced.
First up: Călin Peter Netzer’s CHILD’S POSE (ROU 2013), which revolves around wealthy socialite Cornelia and the pain and regret caused by her poor relationship to her adult son Barbu. With this drama shot in a semi-documentary style, the director delivers an insightful work of social criticism and a profoundly human film.
The Wiesbaden audience can also look forward to THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME (ROU, USA 2018) by Dana Bunescu and Mona Nicoară, which tells the story of the Jewish-Romanian avant-garde poet, musician and visual artist Nina Cassian (1924 – 2014), famous as a femme fatale, excessive drinker and passionate smoker. In the 1940s, she fled from fascism, into the communist underground, eventually ending up closely associated with the Stalinist regime and then later in conflict with the Ceaușescu state. In 1985, her path ended in involuntary exile in New York.
Alexandru Solomon’s COLD WAVES (ROU, DEU, LUX 2007) takes the audience along on a journey into the past, as Radio Free Europe, funded by the USA and based in Munich, broadcast Western information to the East into the mid-1990s. The director is Ada Solomon’s husband.
Sebastian Mihăilescu’s debut film MAMMALIA (ROU, POL, DEU 2023) is a magical chest of surreal treasures. The film is full of surprises, conveyed in breath-taking, dream-like images akin to paintings, that are brimming with humour as well.
With the summer comedy I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (ROU, BGR, DEU, FRA, CZE 2018), Wiesbaden favourite Radu Jude reflects on Holocaust remembrance with consummate skill and a light touch – while maintaining his typically biting social commentary.
Under the title LOSS OF CONTROL, the Portrait section also features a program of short films exploring masculinity. MARILENA FROM P7, which treats a teenager’s first love and the trauma it causes, was one of the first films that Solomon produced. The film’s director, Cristian Nemescu, died tragically in an automobile accident shortly after the work was completed – Ada Solomon subsequently dedicated a film festival to him.
In the scope of a workshop talk in Heimathafen at Altes Gericht, to take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, 26 April, interested audience members will have the opportunity to dive deeper into Ada Solomon’s diverse body of work and learn more about the producer’s contributions to individual films and her personal approaches to the filmmaking process. The conversation will be moderated by Romanian curator, film scholar and critic Călin Boto.
Kaleidoscope: goKids
In 2026, goEast is placing greater emphasis on families, children and young people. Several films in the program are also aimed at this target audience. The following two films may be of particular interest for a young audience:
SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING (DEU, ROU 2025) by Wiesbaden-born director Alexandra Bidian deals with her family history. Who was this man who wrote so prolifically yet withheld so much? Together with her mother and sister, Bidian travels to Romania, the native land of her deceased father, a dissident who fled Communist Romania for Germany. The film is being screened in co-operation with Medienzentrum Wiesbaden and can be seen at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 April, at Caligari FilmBühne. The director will be in attendance. The film is recommended for young people in the 10th grade or higher. School classes can book tickets via the Medienzentrum website; individuals can purchase tickets at the box office or in advance via the online ticket shop.
The second production is BLUE EYES AND COLORFUL MY DRESS (DEU 2020) by Bulgarian director Polina Gumiela. “I’m running through the puddles! I’m running through the puddles!” Zhane exclaims. Eyes aglow, the three-year-old marches off, full of delight at the little miracles of everyday life. Her filmmaker mother follows her, camera in hand. Guided by her curiosity, Zhane makes connections everywhere she goes, and is certainly capable of giving a cheeky response once in a while too. Recommended for children of pre-school age and above. An age rating has been applied for and is pending for the festival.
Archive Presentations
In its annual archive presentation, goEast will be showing two films this year. A treasure unearthed from DFF’s wonderful collection, Sergej Paradžanov’s SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (UkrSSR 1964), also known as WILD HORSES OF FIRE, is set amid a community of Carpathian alpine farmers and sheep breeders and tells the dramatic love story of Ivan and Marička. This classic extravaganza, shot in Ukraine, cemented Paradžanov’s international reputation. Eschewing a linear plot, he employs leitmotifs, colours, sounds and music to form a poetic audio-visual composition imbued with a suggestive, almost trance-like energy. The screening features a 35mm copy of the film with German subtitles drawn from the DFF archive.
COLOURFUL DREAMS (ESSR 1974) by the directorial duo of Virve Aruoja and Jaan Tooming takes the audience to the countryside, where little Kati is spending the summer at her grandmother’s house. The sun is conjured into existence, flower-filled fields open up to reveal entire universes, as a kitten leads the way. Reality and magic mingle effortlessly, buoyed by dazzling colours, playful camerawork and a rhythm reminiscent of a ride on a swing carousel. Featuring a hypnotic soundtrack from Arvo Pärt. The film is celebrating its German premiere in a restored version.
Matinee: BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD on Sunday, 26 April
Czechia is the 2026 Guest of Honour at Frankfurt Book Fair. To celebrate this occasion, numerous Czech books are slated to be published this year in German translation, including “Raději zešílet v divočině” by Aleš Palán. This collection of interviews, the recipient of multiple awards, brings together photographer Jan Šibík’s portraits of hermits in the Bohemian Forest with an exploration of their decision to withdraw from the world.
The book’s protagonists include a pair of twins, the endearing Klišík brothers, who director Miro Remo, inspired by Palán’s book, accompanied with his camera over a period of six years in the Bohemian Forest. On Sunday, 26 April, his film BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD (CZE, SVK 2025) will be screened at Caligari FilmBühne as part of the program for the Czech Guest of Honour feature at Frankfurt Book Fair and there will also be a reading from the soon-to-be-published German translation of the interview collection.
Birdsong, deep within the woods: on a secluded farm in the wilderness, twin brothers Ondřej and František Klišík lead unconventional lives full of eccentricity and humour. František, a poet and one-time political activist, thirsts for new adventures, while Ondřej would rather enjoy the silence, cigarette in hand. Amid work in the fields, pranks and philosophical conversations, there is even space for a cow to slip into the narrator’s role. The film won the Gran Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
To accompany the film, there will be a film talk with director Miro Remo and a reading from the book by Aleš Palán. The event offers a sneak preview of the German edition to be published this fall by Mitteldeutscher Verlag. Dr. Christina Frankenberg from Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin will moderate the conversation.
Competition Films
The festival is delighted to reveal three more works from the Main Competition program.
The nomadic romantic drama BLACK RED YELLOW (KGZ 2025) by director Aktan Arym Kubat, a familiar face and audience favourite in Wiesbaden, is celebrating its European premiere at goEast. The art of carpet weaving has a long history in Kyrgyzstan, and carpets are an integral part of everyday culture. The film follows the gifted weaver Turdugul, who travels from one commission to the next as a nomad, becoming part of her customers’ lives for several weeks as she completes her task. When Turdugul meets the unhappily married shepherd Kadyr during one of these jobs, the two fall in love – an encounter that Turdugul cannot forget. Decades later, she sets off on a last journey into the past.
Giedrė Žickytė’s A GOODNIGHT KISS (LTU, EST, BUL 2025), a tribute to a great humanist, is another Competition highlight. “Never take revenge”: those were the last words that Irena Veisaitė’s mother spoke to her daughter, words that had a lasting impact on Irena Veisaitė’s life. In Giedrė Žickytė’s film, the Lithuanian theatre scholar, intellectual, human rights activist and Holocaust survivor who passed away in 2020 recounts how she managed to hold onto her optimism and empathy in spite of the horrific experiences of her youth. The film is celebrating its German premiere at goEast.
Finally, a further German premiere is coming to Wiesbaden, with the documentary film THE QUEEN AND THE SMOKEHOUSE (POL 2025) by Iga Lis, which opened Krakow Film Festival in 2025. Between a Polish Baltic Sea beach and the hustle and bustle of tourists, Miecia, the “Queen of Łeba” has reigned for forty years. Her fish smokehouse is both a workplace and a meeting place, though it’s also a tourist attraction known far and wide. She leads her team with humour, rigour and unwavering standards when it comes to quality. Alas, health problems have forced Miecia to take a break. What remains of a life devoted entirely to work?
Festival Accreditation
Members of the press can apply now for accreditation for the 26th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film here. During the festival period, accredited industry guests and members of the press can view films in Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Gießen and Frankfurt and attend lectures and panels; in addition, they receive access to an online media library featuring an extensive selection of festival programming.
goEast Press Conference
The annual press conference will take place at Wiesbaden’s newly renovated Caligari FilmBühne on Tuesday, 14 April, beginning at 11:00 a.m. All members of the press are welcome – please register to attend at goEast-presse@dff.film.
You can find images related to the festival in our download section.
The full program for the 26th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will be revealed in early April.
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, the solidarity initiative of the German Catholics with the people of Central and Eastern Europe Renovabis and the Polish Institute Düsseldorf.
Primary media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.