New Latvian doc project My Six Million Dollar Father - a self-made banker achieves success during the first years after the collapse of the USSR, but is then forced to flee the country in order to escape an arrest for illegal operations.

Polish Docs, an initiative organized by the Polish Film Institute and the Krakow Film Foundation, has published a report with the summary of Polish documentary releases, awards and festival screenings. In 2011, Polish documentaries were presented at more than 240 international festivals and received over 60 awards. The most successful films include Charcoal Burners by Piotr Zlotorowicz, Argentinian Lesson by Wojciech Staron, Marcin Koszalka's Declaration of Immortality, and A Piece of Summer by Marta Minorowicz.

An interview with Romanian filmmaker and producer Florin Iepan about his latest documentary project Odessa, Romania's involvement in WW2, pigeonholing, resurgence of intolerance, observational fog, Michael Moore, and more...

This year sees the first edition of East European Forum taking place in Prague within the new East Doc Platform. It also features the new selection of East European projects taking part in the Forum workshop, Public presentation and Feedback Round Tables. The pick of the final 16 has been made. Take a look at the list!

Taking place December 8 - 10, 2011, during the Tbilisi Film Festival, Pitch.Doc will for the third time provide funding opportunities for several creative documentary projects from the region of South Caucasus. Participants from Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia will pitch 6 projects to international industry professionals on December 10.

The Austrian filmmaker Ivette Löcker discusses with us her latest film Night Shifts, mysterious nights, the omnipresence of non-stop operationg surveillance cameras, the intimacy of darkness and the contamination of today's life by light.

The 10th film market Baltic Event, held annually in Tallin, Estonia, invites European filmmakers who seek financing and presenting. If you are interested in your project entering the co-production market, there are only three days to go - the deadline is September 15th. This year the expanded event accepts also projects from CIS countries.

The European broadcasting festival Prix Europa 2011 announces this year’s nominees. The category of feature-length television documentary presents also two successful Czech documentaries Katka, made by Helena Třeštíková, and Coal in the Soul filmed by the directing couple Martin Dušek and Ondřej Provazník. Prix Europa 2011 takes place in October 22 – 29 in Berlin.

Renowned US filmmaker and editor Jonathan Oppenheim was among the tutors of the second session of Ex Oriente Film that took place June 13 - 19, 2011 in Prague. We discussed the complexities of Laura Poitras's The Oath, the misunderstood worth of documentary film, power balance in the editing room, three of his favourite films, and more...

The upcoming Karlovy Vary IFF will present several documentary films from Eastern Europe, many of them in competition. Among them is the Polish documentary film At the Edge of Russia by Michal Marczak, a unique insight into the private worlds of soldiers stationed in a military outpost deep behind the Arctic circle, guarding the Russian border.

The Croatian documentary musical Marija's Own has made it into the East of the West competition at the 46th Karlovy Vary IFF (July 1 - 9, 2011). Two Polish, one Czech and one doc by Audrius Stonys are part of the documentary competition. The festival will also screen Pavel Kostomarov's I Love You, a slate of Czech docs and a special programme dedicated to music.

Toys, a Lithuanian-Belarus documentary planned for completion in March 2012, was selected for the Institute of Documentary Film's 2011 Ex Oriente programme.

The European broadcasting festival Prix Europa 2011 announces this year’s nominees. The category of feature-length television documentary presents also two successful Czech documentaries Katka, made by Helena Třeštíková, and Coal in the Soul filmed by the directing couple Martin Dušek and Ondřej Provazník. Prix Europa 2011 takes place in October 22 – 29 in Berlin.

Supported by CNC Romania, ARTE/France and MEDIA, Aristoteles Workshop has over the past five years become a unique training programme, offering both a hands-on approach and a continuous tutoring system, and managed to double its status as an established production house as well. Entry deadline: May 31, 2011.

The seventh edition of Docu Talents from the East 2011 announced its final call for submissions, due by 15 May 2011. Docu Talents takes place within the Industry section of the Karlovy Vary IFF (www.kviff.com) and is cosponsored by the Jihlava IDFF (www.dokument-festival.cz).

Croatian producer/director Helena Bulaja explores the life and world of inventor Nikola Tesla in the interactive and animated documentary Mechanical Figures, pitched at the 2010 East European Forum.