Cottbus 2004

The Festival of Cottbus (the small city in former GDR) presents a variety of films from Eastern European countries in a competitive section and in numerous side bars. It offers as well the initiative "Connecting Cottbus" to foster contacts between authors, directors, producers, distributors coming from the East and the West. The Hungarian film Control by Antal Nimrod was judged, by our jury, as best film of the selection. Details of the prize

Reports:

Rebels in a World of Great Traditions. Peter Steinhart writes an overview on the festival, its concept and program.

Heroes of the Millennium. Géza Csákvári finds Kontroll, part of the great Hungarian tradition of filmmaking, but with a modern twist.

Subversive Belgrade Layabouts. Borislav Andjelic sees the Serbian and Montenegro film, When I Grow Up, I’ll Be Kangaroo as one of the best representatives of the goals of the Spectrum program at Cottbus this year.

The Heart of the Matter. Miguel Somsen is moved by two films ‘with heart’, the Estonian Somnambulance and the Russian Harvest Time, finding comparisons between them.

Under the Bright Blue Sky of Kazakhstan. Ulrik Eriksen reviews Schiza (Schizo). Set amongst the spectacular landscapes of Kazakhstan, Guka Omarowa's film poignantly tells the coming of age story of a boy called Mustafa.