Polish director Jerzy Hoffman has lost a court case against the Ukrainian government over Hoffman's hit movie With Fire and Sword.

Pixels, an absurd comedy about contemporary Poland will finish shooting on October 30.

The programme of this year's edition of the Karlovy Vary IFF festival lists four Polish titles, but that is not the only way that Poland will be represented at the festival.

Shooting is under way for General "Nil" directed by Ryszard Bugajewski, based on the life of Gen. Emil Fieldorf (codename Nil), a World War II hero and prominent member of the Polish Home Army who was executed during the communist repressions of the 1950s. Like the widely acclaimed Katyn by Andrzej Wajda, the movie explores a critical episode of the Polish history.

An online database of Polish movie production information, launched by the Polish Filmmakers Association (www.sfp.org.pl) with financing from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl), has become an instant hit for producers and distributors looking for an interesting project in which to participate.

Shooting is under way in Warsaw for Grand Hotel, a situation comedy produced by Figaro Film Production Ltd. and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, which has the makings to become a Polish blockbuster.

Shooting began Wednesday on a new film by renowned Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi called A Heart in Your Hand. It's the first Polish-Ukrainian co-production since the two countries signed a memorandum on mutual cooperation between their film industries last month.

A new international project from Ozumi Films backed mainly by Polish financing started shooting in Warsaw on Feb. 12 The Driver is a thriller about a passionate and obsessive relationship between a Polish girl and a French businessman played by Christopher Lambert. The film will be the first feature directed by Jérôme Dassier, who also wrote the script.

Poland's first online cinema has become an instant success. The price of an online screening at Iplex (www.iplex.pl) is 8 zł (€1.50), half the price of a ticket in a regular Polish cinema

Within the Whirlwind, an international production directed by Oscar laureate Marleen Gorris, began shooting Jan. 24 in Poland. The movie's screenplay is based on the bestselling autobiography of famous Russian dissident Eugenia Ginsburg. More than half of the 200 million-zloty (€55-million) estimated budget will be spent in Poland.