24th FilmFestival Cottbus

Festival of East European Cinema
04.11.2014 to 09.11.2014
Cottbus
Underdog

Underdog (Kornél Mudruczó)

Under a new artistic direction, the 24th FilmFestival Cottbus opened with the Hungarian film "Underdog" by Kornél Mundruczó. After Roland Rust, festival director for a long time, programme director Bernd Buder took over responsibility for the film selection. In the competition he selected 12 East European films running for the festival award LUBINA, as well as for the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

The winner of the main prize of the festival is the Russian-German entry "Corrections Class" (Klass korrektsii) by Ivan Tverdovskij. His feature film debut also won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize.

The festival section >Focus< this time was devoted to diversity. Entitled "queerEAST", it shows a selection of films dealing with homosexuality in Central and Eastern Europe. This was also an issue at the Ecumenical Reception of the churches.

 

Award of the Ecumenical Jury

Corrections Class
Directed by:
2014

Using the example of a Russian School the movie shows how difficult it is for pupils with bodily, mental or social deficits to find their place in society. In doing this the director avoids being one-dimensional or just depicting martyrs. With convincing actors and a sensitive camera Ivan Tverdovsky formulates a sustainable appeal for inclusion.

More about the festival

In his speech at the Ecumenical Reception on the occasion of the FilmFestival Cottbus on November 6, 2014, Rev. Hans Hodel, INTERFILM's jury coordinator and former president, outlines the church positions towards homosexuality, subject matter of the festival's FOCUS section "queerEast".