Slovenia wins best film at second Montreal EUROfEST
Slovenian film Short Circuits by director Janez Lapajne won the Crystal Eye award for best feature film at the second edition of the Eastern European Festival in Montrea, EUROfEST.
Latvian producer revisits history for Latvian hits
Andrejs Ekis, the charismatic and ambitious producer of this year's record-breaking historical epic Defenders of Riga, is looking to Latvia's history to bring in local audiences.
State-of-art E-cinema opens in Budapest
Hungarian distribution and exhibition power house, Budapest Film Zrt. (www.budapestfilm.hu) will open its newly reconstructed Toldi Cinema, the first E-cinema in Budapest, on October 2.
Negativ debut wraps shooting October 6
Last Dichers, a €600,000 film from debuting director Jitka Rudolfova, will wrap its shoot on rural Czech locations October 6.
Tulpan nominated for EFA debut prize
Tulpan, a German/Swiss/Kazakh/Russian/Polish co-production with Poland's Filmcontract, is among the four films nominated for European Film Academy's "European Discovery" award.
Central European distributors meet in San Sebastian
European Film Promotion used the platform of the San Sebastian film festival to herald the efforts of the unsung heros of the film industry in Central Europe: the distributors.
Sandrin brings Arte to Bulgaria
Adding to his popular series of Open Classes, Sofia-based French producer Patrick Sandrin organized the 11th edition on producing, featuring director general of Arte France Cinema, Michel Reilhac.
The Karamazovs to represent Czech Republic in Oscar competition
Petr Zelenka's The Karamazovs will be the Czech bid for the Oscar foreign language film category, the Czech Film and Television academy (www.cfta.cz) announced.
Institute of Documentary Film presents new projects in Jihlava
Political topics are grabbing the attention of Czech and filmmakers, as 27 projects prepare to compete for international funding at the Jihlava International Documentary Festival's East European Forum (October 24-29).
Professional film school opens in Hungary
Film critic Andras Rez is launching a film school, Werk Academy (WFA www.werkakademia.hu), for practical training for directors, producers, editors and screenwriters.
Palace Cinemas launches distribution arm in Hungary
Palace Cinemas, a leading force in the Central European exhibition business, is moving into distribution in Hungary by launching Palace Pictures.
Country Teacher to be released in USA
Country Teacher by ascendant Czech director Bohdan Slama has been sold to American distributor Film Movement, which bought the licence and theatrical distribution rights for in the US,
Estonian commercial TV channels exempted from licence fees
The Estonian parliament has passed a bill exempting all TV broadcasters who relay digital programming from paying licence fees beginning January, 2009.
JOJ TV signs deal with Tandem
TV JOJ has signed an unprecedented exclusive output agreement with Tandem Communications covering the Munich-based company´s entire slate, JOJ head of acquisitions Erika Tothova announced.
Bulgarian distributor Stefan Kitanov, Art Fest
Born as a natural continuation of his background as an economist and a film critic, Stefan Kitanov founded Bulgarian distribution company Art Fest in 2001.
Czech Republic distributor Premysl Martinek, Artcam
Premysl Martinek joined Artcam as managing director in February in order to merge his love for art house films with his distribution experience learned while working with regional giant Bontonfilm.
Estonian distributor Katrin Rajasaare,Tallinnfilm
Katrin Rajasaare lists "myths and their deconstructions" as her hobby, so perhaps it's fitting that she directs Tallinnfilm, the former Soviet-era manopoly monolyth that de-mythified into Estonia's sole art-house distributor…
Hungarian distributor Linda Potyondi, Cirko Film
Linda Potyondi was managing an art house cinema in the the town of Pecs until 2006, when she became distribution and press manager at Cirko Film, which grew a distribution…
Latvian distributor Oscars Killo, Acme Film
In just five years, Acme Fim managing director Oscars Killo has become is one of the most promising and hard-working young film producers in Latvia.
Lithuanian distributor Greta Akcijonaite, Skalvija
As managing director of Skalvija since 2005, Greta Akcijonaite oversees a company that has become one of the main players in cinema policies, discussions, and initiative in Lithuania.