Wiesbaden’s goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is set to mark its 25th edition from 23 to 29 April 2025, with a programme of fiction and documentary films from across the region. The Main Competition will present 14 feature-length films that reflect the political, cultural, and emotional landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe, each screened in their original language with English subtitles and, in select venues, German subtitles.
Among the headline entries is Windless / Bezvetrie (Bulgaria, Italy, 2024) by Pavel G. Vesnakov, a minimalistic drama exploring grief and return through the story of Koko, a tattooed rapper reconnecting with his Bulgarian roots. From Uzbekistan, The Song Sustxotin / Sustxotin (2024) by Khusnora Ro’zmatova follows a drought-stricken village’s descent into ritual and resistance.
Serbian director Želimir Žilnik returns with Eighty Plus / Restitucija, ili, san i java stare garde (Serbia, Slovenia, 2025), a docufiction road movie tracing an octogenarian musician’s unexpected inheritance. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Elvin Adigozel presents the musical comedy My Magical World / Mənim Sehrli Dünyam (Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Cyprus, 2025), which follows two childhood friends chasing fame via a national talent show.
From Georgia, Holy Electricity / Tsminda Elektroenergia (Georgia, Netherlands, 2024) by Tato Kotetishvili blends urban poetry and dry humour, while Estonia’s Moonika Siimets delivers the sci-fi satire The Black Hole / Must Auk (Estonia, Finland, 2024), featuring alien encounters in a Soviet-era housing block.
The programme includes The Assistant / Człowiek do wszystkiego (Poland, UK, 2025) by Wilhelm and Anka Sasnal, a psychological adaptation of Robert Walser’s novel Der Gehülfe. Ukraine’s wartime reality is captured in Everything Needs to Live / Wszystko ma żyć (Poland, Ukraine, 2024), centring on powerlifter and animal rights activist Anna Kurkurina.
Tomasz Wolski’s A Year in the Life of the Country / Rok z życia kraju (Poland, 2024) revisits Poland’s 1980s martial law era through archival footage. Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude co-directs with Christian Ferencz-Flatz the experimental montage Eight Postcards from Utopia / Opt ilustrate din lumea ideală (Romania, 2024), exploring post-communist consumerism.
The documentary My Armenian Phantoms / Mes Fantômes Arméniens (France, Armenia, Qatar, 2025) by Tamara Stepanyan intertwines personal memory with the history of Armenian cinema. Maja Novaković’s poetic documentary At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking / Ko će pokucati na vrata mog doma (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024) and Ms. President / Prezidentka (Slovakia, Czech Republic, 2024) by Marek Šulík also feature prominently.
Closing the competition, Elene Mikaberidze’s Blueberry Dreams / Lurji Motsvi (Georgia, Belgium, France, Qatar, 2024) offers a heartfelt portrait of a family rebuilding near the Abkhazian border.
Alongside the Main Competition, the sixth RhineMain Short Film Award presents seven standout shorts under the theme Revenge of the Babushka. This year’s selection celebrates the power, resilience, and complexity of elderly women across Eastern Europe, with works from Czechia, Poland, Croatia, Kosovo, Russia, Georgia, and beyond.
Highlights include I Choose to Go (Russia, 2025), a political portrait of 83-year-old Ludmila Vasilieva, and Milk / Mleko (Poland, 2023), a haunting meditation on identity and legacy. Other selections, such as Alone, Together / Samota jim nevadí (Czechia, 2024), Grandmamauntsistercat (Poland, Netherlands, 2024), and Her Dress for the Final / Haljina za finale (Croatia, 2023), spotlight intergenerational exchange, mourning, and memory.
