BUCHAREST: American director Michael Damian is in Bucharest where he will shoot his feature Christmas at Castlebury Hall, a romantic comedy about a young woman and her orphaned nephews who are whisked off by the children's estranged grandfather to spend Christmas at the family's ancestral home, Castlebury Hall.

Polish director Leszek Dawid had started shooting You Are God (Jesteś Bogiem), a drama about legendary Polish rapers, on 22 February 2011. The film is based on a true story of Paktofonika, one of the bands that defined Polish rap and hip hop music in the 1990's.

BUCHAREST: Paul Negoescu is developing his first feature, 365 New Years/365 de revelioane (working title), the story of a young man breaking up with his girlfriend on New Years Eve. He starts looking for a former lover during the same night, thinking she might be his real love.

Polish actor/director/producer Olaf Lubaszenko is near the completion of filming A Moment of Carelessness, or A Second Blow (Chwila nieuwagi, czyli drugi sztos), the sequel to his 1997 directing debut Blow. The earlier film was a swift-moving comic crime film of Poland in the 1970's. The sequel picks up in 1981 when martial law was introduced in Poland, changing the daily reality for the Polish people.

Therapy, a 45-part Czech TV series produced by Czech HBO television (www.hbo.cz) and Stilking Films production company (www.stillking.com) finished its 95 day shoot on Saturday, 19 Febuary 2011 and goes to postproduction. Production began in September 2010. Therapy is the first TV series that HBO Czech Republic is backing as a main producer.

Polish independent filmmaker Piotr Matwiejczyk is working on Straight from the Sky (Prosto z nieba), a drama based on the events of 10 April 2010, when a Polish plane carrying the President, several government officials and notable members of the academic world crashed near the Russian city Smoleńsk, and the reaction of the Polish people.

Production is underway on the new Bulgarian TV series Sofianites Too Much which is set to air in March 2011. The series, about two neighboring families, is is produced by commercial channel bTV and Dream Team Productions.

LJUBLJANA: A Trip, the debut feature film of young Slovenian director and screenwriter Nejc Gazvoda is currently in postproduction and expected to be completed in fall 2011. The film was shot in 14 days during the summer of 2010.

Polish director Andrzej Jakimowski will begin shooting for his new film Blind Watching in Lisbon in May 2011. Jakimowski made the announcement at the Berlin Film Festival. The cast includes German actress Alexandra Maria Lara and an English actor Edward Hogg.

GDAŃSK: Abelard Giza has begun shooting Swing, a comedy based on a hit Polish theater play, with a talented cast including Polish cabaret and stand-up comedy actors.

BUCHAREST: Igor Cobileanski (Tache) is currently editing his second feature, Flying Lessons/La limita de jos a cerului, a bittersweet drama about the friendship of two small-time drug dealers in a forgotten town of Moldova.

BUCHAREST: Gabriel Achim is currently in postproduction with his first feature Adalbert's Dream, a black comedy set on 8 May 1986, when Romania was usually celebrating the anniversary of the Communist Party but which was also the day after the football team Steaua Bucureşti won the Champions League.

BUCHAREST: Dan Chişu's third feature, Looking for a Mare's Nest/Şi caii sunt verzi pe pereţi, is currently in post-production and will be finished in March 2011, in time to be submitted to the Cannes film festival, producer Giuliano Doman from Tandem Film Production (www.tandemfilm.com) told FNE.

Lithuanian -Finnish co-production Barzakh (www.barzakhfilm.com) opens the Berlinale Panorama Dokumente on 10 February 2011. The directorial debut of Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius follows the families of missing Chechens.

BUCHAREST: Alexander Nanau, recipient of the International Emmy 2010 for The World According to Ion B, is preparing a new full length documentary, 136, which will be produced by Strada Film (www.stradafilm.ro).

BUCHAREST: Writer/ director Adina Pintile is developing her first feature film, Touch Me Not, a study of the human longing for contact, with three a woman and two men fighting solitude and searching for intimacy.