CinEast 2026 Opens with Major Polish Film Fatherland

On Wednesday 14 October 2026, CinEast held the Opening Screening of its 19th edition in Salle 10 of Kinepolis-Kirchberg in Luxembourg-Kirchberg. 

In front of a packed screening room, the official opening ceremony comprised a number of speeches before the screening of the Opening Film, “Fatherland”, and a post-screening reception for invited guests. 

Radek Lipka, CinEast Festival Director, spoke in French and welcomed everyone, declaring the festival open. He said that the festival has already been a success, thanks to a “Warm-Up Weekend”, and mentioned that some screenings were either sold out or almost sold out. He described the selection of films as wide-ranging, and also referenced the war in Ukraine which is still continuing after four and a half years, and for which the festival is showing solidarity. He mentioned the number of guests invited to the festival, both to screenings and debates. This year the festival focus is on cinema from Bulgaria, and the programme also includes six films shown at Cannes, as well as some Luxembourg co-productions, also some short films. 

Paul Galles, representing the Ville de Luxembourg, said that the city was delighted to partner with the festival as its programme is enormously impressive. He also referenced the diversity shown on screen, with CinEast offering the opportunity for dialogue, including at ciné debates, referencing Belarus being included and the focus on Bulgaria. He talked up democracy and mentioned the festival supporting Ukraine via LUkraine and raising funds for ambulances to be provided. 

Radek Lipka continued in English and thanked the City of Luxembourg and all their support and their various teams of people, as well as the circa 80 volunteers, various sponsors and partners of the festival.  

Natalia Uzunova, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Luxembourg, based in Brussels, said she was honoured that Bulgaria was chosen as the focus country, and thanked the CinEast team and the Bulgarian Association in Luxembourg, and hoped the audiences would learn about and appreciate contemporary Bulgarian culture. 

Fatherland

A drama with wonderful cinematography in black and white by Paweł Pawlikowski and a co-production involving Poland, Germany, Italy and France: set at the height of the Cold War, it centres on the relationship between the writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika (actress, writer and rally driver) as they embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, visiting both Frankfurt (West Germany) and Weimar (East Germany), where he gives lectures along the way to full houses. They are followed by international journalists as well as CIA agents, marking the sensitivities still prevalent in post-war Germany. Paweł Pawlikowski won Best Director at Cannes, and the film is Poland's Oscar entry next year.

CinEast 2026 so far

The Warm-Up weekend saw over 2,000 attendees, the 19th edition of CinEast opened officially with the sold-out screening of Fatherland - the organisers added an extra screening in another room which also sold out.

The 19th edition of the festival offers Luxembourg audiences more than 120 screenings of a selection of over 65 feature films and 60 short films from 20 Central and Eastern European countries. Also on the festival programme: meetings with around 40 international guests, six film debates, six concerts, a major photography exhibition at the Abbey de Neumunster, screenings for young audiences and a Focus on Bulgaria. A selection of films is also available online in the “CinEast Online Cinema”.