Eastern European film past, present, and future

We’ve reached the end of the third season of the show! Thank you to everyone who’s listened along so far. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five-star review or a comment on your podcast app of choice. We’ll be back later in the year with a new set of shows, bigger and better than before, and we want as many people as possible to have the chance to hear them.

We’re rounding out the season with a preview of an exciting upcoming season on Klassiki. At the end of April, we’ll be running our third annual partnership with goEast, the festival of Central and Eastern European film that takes place every spring in Wiesbaden, Germany. To look ahead to the festival and to reflect on the shifting world of film from the region, host Sam Goff sat down with Heleen Gerritsen, who is stepping down in 2025 as director of the festival after eight years at the helm.

Heleen has been at the forefront of curating Eastern European film during a turbulent and tragic period for the region, and she shared her perspectives on how to talk about and engage with the new realities facing filmmakers and film lovers, not least of which, of course, is Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine. She also discusses the post-colonial turn in Eastern European film, highlights goEast’s retrospective this year of the Nenets filmmaker Anastasia Lapsui, and selects some of her favourite discoveries from her time at the festival.

Klassiki’s partnership with goEast runs from 24 April – 22 May.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.