Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 10 April 2025

Rebecca Heiler becomes the new director of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film

A change of personnel will occur at goEast — Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. Rebecca Heiler is set to assume the role of festival director, commencing her tenure at the beginning of June. This transition has been formally announced by the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, the host organization behind goEast. Heiler will assume the role previously held by Heleen Gerritsen, who is departing goEast after eight years, to pursue new opportunities in Berlin.

Rebecca Heiler was born in Magdeburg, holds a master’s degree in Slavic Studies and Central and Eastern European History from Munich, where she focused her master’s thesis on the films of female directors of the Czech New Wave in the 1960s. Since 2015, she has been engaged as a freelancer for various film festivals, including goEast. Most recently, she was employed at interfilm Berlin, where she oversaw the distribution of short films and a screenplay competition, and co-curated the German Competition. She also worked for the Berlinale Forum as a program consultant and moderator. From 2019 to 2021, she organized the NEXT WAVE training format at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB), which focused on innovative strategies for film distribution, exhibition, streaming and festivals.

Heiler is eagerly anticipating her new role as goEast’s festival director: “goEast is an established festival and meeting place for filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. It focuses on contemporary film art as well as historical perspectives and has many unifying elements. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to take on the responsibility of directing this festival, which I have been closely associated with for years.”

DFF director Christine Kopf states: “We are delighted to have appointed a new director of goEast who possesses not only extensive festival experience but also a deep familiarity with Central and Eastern European filmmaking, stemming from her background in Slavic studies.” She expressed her confidence in Ms. Heiler’s ability to infuse the festival with her personal touch, fostering its growth as a platform for Eastern European filmmaking and cultural exchange. “Although it is regrettable that Heleen Gerritsen is departing from the festival after eight fruitful years, our collaboration will persist and we will continue to fight together from Frankfurt and Berlin for the preservation of film heritage in the future. Heleen will do so in the capacity of Artistic Director  of  Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, while I will assume the same position at DFF.”

During her tenure, which has spanned eight years, Gerritsen, a Dutch national, has played a pivotal role in shaping the festival’s identity by introducing innovative formats. These include the establishment of the Open Frame Award for Virtual Reality and XR, the initiation of Cinema Archipelago —a program that features experimental formats and is supported by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the strategic reorientation of the East-West Talent Lab, and an overhaul of the interdisciplinary Symposium. Noteworthy highlights in recent years include the comprehensive tribute to Georgian filmmaker Lana Gogoberidze in 2022 and retrospectives for Radu Jude in 2020 and Jasmila Žbanić in 2023. Gerritsen expresses satisfaction with the festival’s resilience in maintaining an open exchange platform despite the political challenges of recent years.

 

goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, the State Capital Wiesbaden, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany and the solidarity initiative of the German Catholics with the people in Central and Eastern Europe  Renovabis. Primary media partners include 3sat, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.