Credit: CinEast/Screenshot from video
The organisers of CinEast have reported that Luxembourg’s Central and Eastern European Film Festival saw substantial participation during its sixteenth edition this year, with over 10,200 attendees.
The in-person component of the festival, featuring more than 120 screenings across around ten cinemas in the Grand Duchy, concluded on Sunday 22 October, drawing 7,500 cinema-goers (including 600 school screening attendees). The online segment, available until Sunday 5 November 2023, has garnered over 1,000 views so far. This brings the total to nearly 8,500 viewers for this sixteenth edition. Additionally, more than 1,700 people participated in the festival's special events, including concerts by Dubioza Kolektiv at the Rockhal and Yagody at Melusina.
The overall number of participants for the 2023 edition has now exceeded 10,200. The organisers will soon release the final figures. This marks the second-highest attendance in the festival's history, just behind the 2019 edition, which attracted 11,200 attendees.
The festival's two websites, the official www.cineast.lu and CinEast Online Cinema with online ticketing at cineast.eventive.org, received over 45,000 visits, while the CinEast Facebook page garnered more than 6,700 followers.
CinEast showcased 60 feature films and 45 short films from 20 countries in the former communist bloc through more than 120 screenings.
During the CinEast Awards Ceremony on 21 October 2023, the establishment of the Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN) was officially announced, with the festival as one of the founding members.
The Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN) unites five film festivals dedicated to promoting Eastern European cinema, along with a partner organisation. Its primary aim is to enhance cooperation and collaboration among member festivals to boost the visibility and influence of Central and Eastern European cinema throughout Europe.
The network comprises the following festivals and organisations: GoEast Film Festival (Wiesbaden, Germany), BEAST International Film Festival (Porto, Portugal), Eastern Neighbors Film Festival (The Hague, Netherlands), A l'Est Film Festival (Rouen, France), CinEast Film Festival (Luxembourg) and EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal (Vienna, Austria).
