Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 29 April 2025

 

The Awards

HOLY ELECTRICITY (GEO, NLD 2024), produced by Tato Kotetishvili and Tekla Machavariani and directed by Tato Kotetishvili, has been honoured with the Golden Lily for Best Film (endowed with prize money in the amount of 10,000 euros) at the 25^th anniversary edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film in Wiesbaden.  The International Jury chaired by Jasmila Žbanić explained their selection with the following statement: “We chose a film that leads us into the meander of a city portraying electric characters, like in an aquarium, where the observant can find beauty in every fish. A film with a cinematography that combines unique, colourful tableaus together through minimalist but subtle editing, and humour. The Golden Lily for Best Film goes to HOLY ELECTRICITY, produced by Tato Kotetishvili and Tekla Machavariani, and directed by Tato Kotetishvili.”

The awards ceremony at Caligari FilmBühne formed the grand finale for an emotional and eventful festival week at goEast in the festival’s 25^th anniversary year. It was the final edition under the direction of Heleen Gerritsen, who will be succeeded by Rebecca Heiler in the role of Festival Director from 1 June 2025. After seven days full of cinematic art, workshops, numerous discussions, lectures, film talks and exhibitions, featuring screenings of 83 films and with more than 200 guests from the international film industry present in Wiesbaden, the winning films of the Competition, the East-West Talent Lab and the RhineMain Short Film Competition were honoured and presented with prizes valued at a total of 25,000 euros.

Director Moonika Siimets won the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (endowed with 7,500 euros) with THE BLACK HOLE (EST 2024). This quirky work of science-fiction deals with an extra-terrestrial visit to an urban concrete-slab residential estate. In the words of the jury: “The director we are awarding tonight turns darkness into humour, using colourful cinematography. This director’s true experiments try different strands of film narration with memorable characters, underlining the connection between Eastern reality and outer space. We are happy to award Best Director to Moonika Siimets for THE BLACK HOLE.”

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO LIVE (POL, UKR 2024), directed by Andrii Lytvynenko and Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, was honoured with the goEast Award for Best Documentary Film, endowed with 1,000 euros in prize money. This wartime portrait takes viewers along to Ukraine. As the jury explained: “We would like to award the prize for Best Documentary to a film that, carried by an incredible character, highlights the courage of its authors and the diversity of acts of kindness that emerge in times of war. We are happy to award the team of EVERYTHING NEEDS TO LIVE, Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andrii Lytvynenko.”

A Special Mention went to THE SONG SUSTXOTIN (UZB 2024), directed by Khusnora Rozmatova. The unsettling drama takes viewers to an Uzbek village plagued by a merciless drought. According to the jury’s statement: “The jury has decided to give a special mention to a new voice from Central Asia. In her film, violence against women appears as a difficult cycle to break. It addresses deep-rooted traditions, showing that by making films social changes are possible. We are pleased to award the director of THE SONG SUSTXOTIN, Khusnora Rozmatova.”

3sat Feature Film Broadcast Selection: THE SONG SUSTXOTIN

As part of its long-standing media partnership with goEast, 3sat selects a film from the festival’s Competition program each year. The chosen film is then presented in the 3sat program the following year around the goEast festival.

This year, the selection team from 3sat chose the Uzbek feature film THE SONG SUSTXOTIN (UZB 2024), directed by Khusnora Rozmatova, remarking: “Using impressive imagery, the director tells the story of a former high-ranking official who comes to the aid of an old friend, a journalist now in prison, in the Uzbek countryside. The journalist was the only one to report on the case of a girl who was abused and had to withdraw her complaint to the police under pressure from the influential perpetrator. Khusnora Rozmatova depicts the difficult living conditions in her drought-threatened country, with a particular focus on the societal position of women. Over the course of the story, it expands into an unflinching observation of power relations, corruption, and inevitable moral conflicts, which prove to be surprisingly universal.”

The film is slated to celebrate its television premiere on 3sat during the 2026 edition of goEast. goEast is grateful and delighted at the continuation of this media partnership with 3sat and the opportunity it presents for bringing cinematic art from Central and Eastern Europe to a television audience.

FIPRESCI Awards

For the FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award in the fiction feature category, the FIPRESCI jury, composed of Hugo Emmerzael, Jenni Zylka and Marko Stojiljković, chose to honour EIGHTY PLUS (SRB, SVN 2024), directed by Želimir Žilnik. The jury explained their selection with the following statement: “Coming from an established master of documentaries, this film reveals layers of history, social commentary and conflicting generational viewpoints. It subverts our expectations about ageing, disarms us with the deliberate naivety in the non-professional actors’ performances and boldly states that the life does not stop once arrived at a senior age. The FIPRESCI award for the best fiction film at the 25^th goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden goes to EIGHTY PLUS – RESTITUCIJA, ILI, SAN I JAVA STARE GARDE.”

The FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award in the documentary film category went to A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A COUNTRY (POL 2024), directed by Tomasz Wolski. In the words of the FIPRESCI jury: “Democracy doesn’t thrive on its own. A just society requires heart, dedication, civil courage, a willingness to suffer—and trust in others. In surprising, rare, creative, and expressively edited original images, this documentary shows how a country and its inhabitants defy attempts to be oppressed and controlled by a government that imposed martial law. Its battle cry resonates to this day: Solidarność.”

The RhineMain Short Film Award, sponsored by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and endowed with 2,500 euros in prize money, went to GRANDMAMAUNTSISTERCAT (POL, NLD 2024), directed by Zuza Banasińska. According to the statement from jury members Antonia Kilian, Behrooz Karamizade and Laliv Melamed: “With a strong handcraft, bold audio-visual choices and uncanny use of found images, the film takes us on an intellectual joyride. We were swept by the visceral sound design, the virtuoso editing, and the captivating poetic narration. Using scientific, educational and propaganda footage, the film radically challenges the archive and the very structures of power it represents. It offers a physical and metaphysical experience side by side with a sharp critique. GRANDMAMAUNTSISTERCAT rewires a feminist life chain. With such a cinematic tour-de-force we are intrigued and eagerly expect the filmmaker’s next film.”

A Special Mention went to LUDMILA’S APPLE PIE (GEO 2024), directed by Loukia Hadjiyianni. In the words of the jury: “By following three generations of strong labouring women, the film creates an intimate and warm portrait of a grandmother teaching her granddaughter a lesson for life. We simultaneously observe the grandmother making a cake and the granddaughter making her film. As juries, we were impressed by its sincerity, unravelled form, the breath put into its making and its pure, simple poetics of life.”

East-West Talent Lab Awards for Up-and-Coming Film Professionals

In the East-West Talent Lab, realised once again with the generous support of Renovabis, the annual Project Market Pitch took place in front of a three-member jury, consisting of Rabih El-Khoury, Monika Franczak and Miriam Carbe.

The Pitch-the-Doc Award, a non-cash prize package consisting of consulting services valued at 500 euros, went to the project DUST IN THE SHOWCASE from Daniel Pavlić. According to the jury: “This father-son story reverses the typical perspective: here, the father has discovered his homosexuality, left his family in the Balkans and lives in the Netherlands. Now, the son, visiting him after three decades of a very strained relationship, has to learn to deal with this father, who, in his personal experience, is anything but a hero. We chose to honour this project with the Pitch-the-Doc Award for the way in which it uses touching material to tell the story of an unusual family reunion with which many people can identify.”

THE STORY OF THE WILD ROSE from Liis Nimik and Kristen Aigro was honoured with the Renovabis Research Grant (endowed with 3,500 euros). As the jury explained: ” As complex as the collapse of the Soviet Union was and as difficult as it was for a nation to liberate itself from the rule of Soviet ideology, Estonia managed to do so nimbly in the early 1990s. For, incredibly, one of the aids in this process turned out to be a Mexican telenovela that conveyed fresh perspectives and a new sense of individual freedom, and thus captivated an entire country. The unexpected result was a sort of collective euphoria – for us as a jury, this project idea, combining humour and the very serious topic of liberation from state-determined visions of life, was as original and unexpected as the phenomenon it seeks to treat.”

The jury awarded a Special Mention to the film project DALA from Almira Saifullina, commenting: “The forgotten victims of the Soviet labour camps in Kazakhstan are at the centre of this film project. In both haunting and meditative images, the film intends to relate how members of many nations were robbed of their identities and the steppe was transformed into a traumatic landscape of violence and death. In light of the continued Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, we would like recognize this project, which tells of a lesser-known aspect of Russian imperialism, with a Special Mention.”

The 25^th anniversary edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film took place in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 23 to 29 April. In addition to a wide-ranging Competition section and intensive encounters in the cinema, this year’s festival highlights included guest appearances by internationally celebrated filmmakers and representatives of film institutions. The Symposium, entitled “Omas, Babas, Babushkas – Gender and Ageing in European Cinema”, was met with a very high degree of enthusiastic participation and sold-out cinema screenings. With the supporting programme Cinema Archipelago, made possible with the generous support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the festival explored new territory beyond the cinema and hosted stimulating panel discussions for the fourth year in a row.

 

Here is a full overview of all of this year’s award winners:

1. Golden Lily for Best Film

HOLY ELECTRICITY / TSMINDA ELEKTROENERGIA (GEO, NLD 2024), director: Tato Kotetishvili, producers: Tato Kotetishvili and Tekla Machavariani

2. Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director

THE BLACK HOLE / MUST AUK (EST 2024), director: Moonika Siimets

3. goEast Award for Best Documentary Film

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO LIVE / WZSYSTKO MA ŹYĆ (POL, UKR 2024), director: Andrii Lytvynenko and Tetiana Dorodnitsyna

4. Special Mention of the International Jury

THE SONG SUSTXOTIN / SUSTXOTIN (UZB 2024), director: Khusnora Rozmatova

5. 3sat Broadcast Selection

THE SONG SUSTXOTIN / SUSTXOTIN (UZB 2024), director: Khusnora Rozmatova

6. FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award (fiction feature)

EIGHTY PLUS / RESTITUCIJA, ILI, SAN I JAVA STARE GARDE (SRB, SVN 2025), director: Želimir Žilnik

7. FIPRESCI International Film Critic’s Award (documentary film)

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A COUNTRY / ROK Z ŻYCIA KRAJU (POL 2024), director: Tomasz Wolski

8. RhineMain Short Film Award

GRANDMAMAUNTSISTERCAT (POL, NLD 2024), director: Zuza Banasińska

9. Special Mention RhineMain Short Film Award

LUDMILA’S APPLE PIE (GEO 2024), director: Loukia Hadjiyianni

10. Pitch-the-Doc Award

DUST IN THE SHOWCASE (CRO), director: Daniel Pavlić

11. Renovabis Research Grant

THE STORY OF THE WILD ROSE (EST, SWE), directors: Kristen Aigro and Liis Nimik

12. Special Mention East-West Talent Lab

DALA (KAZ), director: Almira Saifullina

 

You can find images related to the festival in our download section.