"Colonialism is increasingly discussed in the contexts of cinema and media, especially this year considering the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. This has gradually highlighted not only the colonisation of Ukrainian culture, but also of the connection between the Eastern European cultural space and the Russian Federation, formerly the Soviet Union. This has resulted in reflections on sometimes uncomfortable, but vital issues in the field," says advance material.
The second discussion on October 20 will focus on how Eastern European cinema fits into global cinema: what are the tendencies of soft Western colonialism in film festival structures, and do Eastern European filmmakers consciously or unconsciously adapt their cinematic works to Western European audiences? How difficult is it for people from smaller countries working in the film industry to fit into festival structures and topographies? And what is “the hegemony of A-list festivals” or “the role of superiority”?
The live stream of the discussion will be available on the RIGA IFF website and the festival’s Facebook page, as well as on the LSM.lv portal.
FOCUS ON UKRAINE is a project of the Goethe-Institut incorporated into a comprehensive package of measures for which the Federal Foreign Office provides funding from the 2022 Supplementary Budget to mitigate the effects of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.