The DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut und Filmmuseum (then Deutsches Institut für Filmkunde) conceived the Eastern European Film Weeks back in the 1980s on behalf of the German government and sent them on tour throughout Germany. The institute resumed this tradition with goEast - Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, which took place for the first time in April 2001 and has since offered important insights into the everyday lives of our Eastern and Central European neighbors with exciting films every year. Heleen Gerritsen took over as festival director in 2017, making her the fifth woman to head the festival after Claudia Dillmann, Christine Kopf, Nadja Rademacher and Gaby Babić. She is also the artistic director. Bernd Neumann has been patron of the festival since 2016.

Over seven festival days, goEast presents the entire diversity of Central and Eastern European filmmaking in Wiesbaden and other locations in the Rhine-Main region: current trends, new positions and film historical rarities, always in the context of socio-political, film aesthetic and theoretical debates. Important and much-discussed topics are European identity(ies) and the profound transformation processes of the festival's culturally and politically diverse focus region. After its first decade of existence, goEast increasingly focuses on transcultural perspectives and takes up global topics.

goEast sees itself as a forum for dialog between East and West, but also as an actor and multiplier. Panels and workshops, film series and discussions, joint projects with other cultural and social institutions - the possibilities for creative interaction are manifold. With virtual reality projects and 360° films as an integral part of the program, as well as the hybrid orientation of the festival since 2020, which promotes the integration of online program items, goEast also points the way conceptually. The festival is a platform for networking, exchange and further education. Young filmmakers and children and young people from the region in particular benefit from goEast's creative and educational focus.

The goEast program is divided into various sections, each with its own profile. Central to this are the competition, which is divided into feature and documentary films, the symposium, the East-West Talent Lab, the portrait/homage (alternating annually), the bioscope and the specials. Each section is carefully curated, supported by festival correspondents and experts and - in the competition - nominated by a selection committee. The sections mix genres and film genres. Outside of the cinemas, goEast offers a varied program for which the festival collaborates with local and national partners, including Central and Eastern European cultural associations.