The director compared the film 's ambivalent ending to the one in the 2002 film '' 25th Hour '' : " I feel like it 's almost as if the film ’s events never happened at its end ... It 's sort of like what we 're all capable of if we put our minds to it . There 's a lot of work that needs to be done in order to make changes , even for her to make changes . " The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on , 2013 . The Sundance Institute , as part of their Sundance Film Festival USA program , screened '' The East '' at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor , Michigan on , 2013 . Over 1,300 people were in attendance for the screening , and Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling showed for a Q&A session . Leading up to its theatrical release in May 2013 , '' The East '' was chosen as the closing night film of the South by Southwest ( SXSW ) Film Conference and Festival , and went on to screen at the Phoenix Film Festival , Seattle International Film Festival , and the San Francisco International Film Festival . '' The Washington Post '' reported that Q&A sessions after the film 's screenings were popular . It said , " Filmgoers might not have agreed on their feelings about ' The East , ' but they had one thing in common : They needed to talk about it . " According to Batmanglij , the Sundance screening retained 98 % of the audience for its Q&A session
2013 Sundance Film Festival
2013 Sundance Film Festival
The East (film)