Ivan Ramljak’s feature documentary Once Upon A Youth will be screening in the main competition programme. Accredited festival guests will be able to see it at the VOD platform, while the international jury and the press will have a chance to watch it at the cinemas. In addition, the festival offers online conversations with directors whose films appear in competition, which means that the festivalgoers can also watch an interview with Ivan Ramljak himself.

Once Upon A Youth had its world premiere at last year’s DokuFest in Prizren, Kosovo, where it won the award for Best Balkan Documentary. It went on to win the Croatian Film Days Grand Prix, as well as the Jury Grand Prize at the Poitiers Film Festival, a Special Mention at the Free Zone FF in Belgrade and the OBC Transeuropa Award at the 32nd Trieste Film Festival. Recently it also received the Oktavijan Award for Best Documentary Feature awarded by the Croatian Film Critics Association.

The film is an Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb production, with Matej Merlić as producer.

The 21st goEast Festival will also feature Veljko and Milivoj Popović’s VR project Dislocation, competing for the Open Frame Award. Dislocation was presented in the Preview programme at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, followed by the award for best VR project at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Veljko and Milivoj Popović’s project combines 3D and 3D animation with motion capture technology, in collaboration with dancer Alen Čelić and choreographer Nikolina Dolfić. Dislocation is produced by Croatian company Prime Render studio, made in co-production with French company Bagan Films. Veljko Popović and Milivoj Popović produced the film, along with Patrick Hernandez and Veronique Siegel as co-producers.

In addition, goEast short film programme Anarcho Shorts will feature Kata Gugić’s student film, Cockpera. The film is an animated opera inspired by Aesop’s fable The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle, which has screened at over 40 film festivals worldwide, including the 24th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Slovenian Animateka, Animafest Zagreb and festivals in Hiroshima, Ottawa and Uppsala. The film was awarded Best Student Film at Flipbook Film Festival, it won a Jury Special Mention at FeKK Ljubljana Short FF and the ASIFA Croatia Award for Best Student film in 2020.

Cockpera is an Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb production, created in co-production with Zagreb Film, with Tomislav Buntak acting as producer and Vinko Brešan as co-producer. The film’s sales representative is Bonobostudio.

The entire goEast festival programme is available here.

This year’s edition Festival of Central and Eastern European Film goEast will present 92 titles, which the festivalgoers will be able to see online. In addition, the festival is organizing a drive-in cinema screening of select titles, while the international jury and the media will watch the entire programme at regular cinemas.

goEast is normally held in the German city of Wiesbaden, transforming it into a leading international hub of Central and Eastern European film. The festival is dedicated to presenting the richness and diversity of Central and Eastern European cinema to Western European audiences. More information about goEast is available at the festival’s official website.

Cover photographs: goEast festival visuals; scenes from Once Upon A Youth, Dislocation, Cockpera