CinEast 2020 – 13th edition

by Maddy on 5, Oct 2020

This year has been and continues to be a particular one. All that is going on made us adapt and change our lifestyles in such ways we have only dreamt of. We have defined a new normal and we will probably have to hold on to it for a while.

For so many months this year we have said our good-byes to any in person cultural events, but as we know, art and culture know how to adapt and we can see more and more bold people organizing different types of events that respect the social distancing rules. Some of these bold people are the ones behind CinEast, who put in place the 13th edition of the Central and Eastern European film festival in Luxembourg that will take place from 8th to 25th October and is a hybrid edition, adapted to the circumstances.

This year’s edition brings us 45 feature films, more than 20 short-films, concerts, ciné-debats and also a photo exhibition.  As always, there are multiple venues where the films will be projected and where the events will take place; some of them are in Luxembourg Ville – Cimémathèque, Neimënster, Ciné Utopia and Kinepolis while other are across the country Vianden – Ancien Cinéma, Dudelange – CNA and the cinemas of Rumelange and Mondorf-les-Bains.

For the sanitary rules in place to be respected and everyone to be safe, the capacity of the cinemas is limited, and wearing a mask is mandatory (except when seated). However, the films will be projected multiple times so everyone can still have the chance to enjoy them. Plus, ¾ of films will also be available online, to be viewed from the comfort of your home. The online versions will be available the next day after the first projection in the cinema and you have 3 days to starts watching it from the moment you “bought” the ticket, and another 3 days to finish watching the film from the moment you pressed play. 

The festival covers cinematic production of the countries that were part of the communist bloc and also countries that formed Yugoslavia: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and for the first time, Belarus. The country of honor for this year is Hungary, with 6 feature films, 2 short-movies and concerts by Hungarian bands and artists.

Now, let’s talk about the poster of this edition. It is a snapshot from the film Eden, by Agnes Kocsis. It represents the bubble idea that we have found ourselves this year. It stresses the idea of hybrid lives we are now living, and of course the festival’s hybrid edition, at home in our own comfort with no restriction, and outside, in the cinema, where we are almost ready to wear a suit to be protected so we can feel normal.

Some of the films from this year’s selection have received prizes from different film festivls:

  • The Father, Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov – Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary 2019
  • Sweat, Magnus von Horn – Cannes 2020
  • Acasa, My Home, Radu Cioniciuc – Best cinematography at Sundance 2020, Special Jury prize at Thessaloniki 2020
  • Charlatan, Agnieska Holland – Berlinale 2020

and many more. You can find the complete program here.

The theme of the photo exhibition is “Planting the Future. Our planet and societies at a crossroads”. A very actual theme, that asks whether our way in using the Earth is the good one or not. The pictures are very harsh and document the pollution and dramatic climate changes around the world. The photographers in this exposition are: Matjaž Krivic (Slovenia), Szymon Barylski (Poland), Kacper Kowalski (Poland), Igor Grubić (Croatia), Ciril Jazbec (Slovenia) and Luca Locatelli (Italy). The exhibition is available at Cloître, Neimënster from 8th to 27th October.

The events organized by the festival include the Opening party at Melusina on 9th October, with Canaro and Dj Don Simon; the Cineast Night at Rotondes on 15th October, with Toldi Mike and DJ Heincha. An Apero Jazz at Neimënster (Salle Krieps) on 25th October, with Hefi Quartet and the Closing Party at Melusina on 23rd October.

Let’s not forget about the films in competition for this year:

  • Charlatan, Agniezka Holland
  • Drita, Daniel Kruglikov
  • Father, Srdan Golubović
  • Mare, Andrea Štaka
  • Otto The Barbarian, Ruxandra Ghițescu
  • Servants, Ivan Ostrochovký
  • Spiral, Cecília Felméri
  • Stories from the Chestnut Woods, Gregor Božić

The jury for the competition is formed of the Press Jury: Elena Lazic – Frelance/Cineuropa, Yasemin Elci – Luxembourg Times and Antonio Raúl Reis – Bomdía/Contacto/Radio Ara, and the International Jury: Jani Thiltges – producer, Heleen Gerritsen – Director of GoEast festival, Boyd van Hoeij – movie critic, Zoé Wittock – film director and Tomasz Wasilewski – director and scriptwriter as the president of the jury. Due to the traveling restrictions in Europe and around the world, most guests will join the debates via videoconference.

Now, let us talk about ticketing and booking. The price for a screening at the cinema in 7€, and for an online screening is 5€. There is also a Hybrid pass for 30€ (5 physical screening and 5 online ones) or an Online pass for 20€ (5 online screenings). The tickets must be reserved online (even for the pass holders) and in advance as places are limited. Unfortunately, the online screenings are only available in Luxembourg. For more information about price for screenings and events you can go here. Also, here is the website for online booking. The tickets and passes can be bought and booked from the 1st of October.

I applaud the CinEast team for not taking the easy way out and just postponing the festival, for their courage to bring us this new edition.

#plantingthefuture #hybridfestival #lucky13thEdition