PRODUCTION: Warner Bros. in co-production with Ladies director
Andrzej Saramonowicz, the creator of Polish box office hit Ladies signed an agreement with Warner Bros. Entertainment Poland to produce and distribute at least two new films by the end of 2011.
PRODUCTION: Havel starts filming his Leaving on July2
Former Czech president and playwright Vaclav Havel announced he will begin shooting his film directing debut Leaving on July 2 instead of June, as previously announced. Havel rejected media speculation that he would step aside due to illness.
PRODUCTION: Glass Tiger 3 begins filming in Hungary
BUDAPEST: The third sequel of the very successful Hungarian cult-comedy Üvegtigris (Glass Tiger 3) produced by Filmpartners Ltd. (http://www.filmpartners.hu/) will start shooting on June 21 in Hungary. Péter Rudolf, the director, main actor and co-writer of all the three films, promises that this new film will keep the special atmosphere and characters which made a success of the previous movies, but will add more action to it.
Slovak Who's the Boss Here in development
Young Slovak script-writer and film director Peter Magat has started preparing the full-length feature film Who's the Boss Here (Kto je tu boss) about the mafia in Slovakia during the 1990's. Peter Vrabel from AM:PM (www.agentura-ampm.sk) will produce the film under the brand New Europe Cinema.
German funding added to Istvan Szabo’s new feature
BUDAPEST: Academy Award winning director Istvan Szabo is working on an new film, The Door, an adaptation of a Hungarian novel, written by Magda Szabo, which has been translated to 32 languages. The project has recently been included among the international co-productions which are funded by the two national German funds, German Federal Film Board (FFA) and German Federal Film Fund (DFFF). The film is also backed by the Hungarian Motion Picture Foundation (www.mmka.hu).
PRODUCTION: Răzvan Rădulescu debuts with First Of All, Felicia
Răzvan Rădulescu makes his feature film directing debut with First Of All, Felicia (Felicia, înainte de toate), co-directed by Dutch director Melissa de Raaf.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Tomorrow Will be Better
Dorota Kędzierzawska's Gdynia competition film Tomorrow Will be Better tells the story of three homeless Russian boys who travel to Poland in search of a better life, with the universal hope that life is different and better somewhere else.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Rite of Passage
In Rite of Passage, director Janusz Majewski creates an image of turbulent events in post-WWII Poland, seen trough the eyes of boys on the verge of their adult life.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Million Dollars
With his Gdynia main competition film Million Dollar, Polish director Janusz Kondratiuk crafts a fast-paced comedy about contemporary Poland with people adrift following the transformation of the country.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Silence
Based on a true story, Sławomir Pstrong's debut film Silence explores the lives of families who lost their children in a tragic accident. The film will premiere at the Gdyia festival (www.fpff.pl) before going on to other film festival screenings.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition Three Minutes. 21:37
In Three Minutes. 21:37 director Maciej Ślesicki explores the image of contemporary Poland in the moment of grief after the death of Pope John Paul II. The cast of popular Polish actors, some from the director's previous commercial successes, includes Bogusław Linda, Piotr Adamczyk, Marcin Dorociński, Andrzej Grabowski, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Cezary Pazura and Marian Dziędziel.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: If You Go Away
If You Go Away, the feature film debut from Ewa Stankiewicz, is the emotional story of two people who struggle to find themselves after personal loss. Stankiewicz,a graduate of Łódź Film School, co-directed Touch Me (with Anna Jodowska), which was awarded the Best Independent Film Award at 2003 PFP in Gdynia (www.fpff.pl).
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Little Rose
Director Jan Kidawa-Błoński's Little Rose is a story about a dangerous love triangle set in the Poland of the 1960's, where betrayal could have a political context. The script, by Kidawa-Błoński and Maciej Karpiński, is based on the character of Paweł Jasienica, a famous writer.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Joanna
Feliks Falk, one of the masters of Polish cinema, returns with Joanna, a moving story of love and courage set during WWII.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Erratum
In his feature film debut Erratum, Marek Lechki explores the issues of reliving ones past and changing the present.
Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Venice
Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish master of magical realism, enters the main competition at the Gdynia Polish Film Festival with Venice, a coming-of-age tale of a journey that never took place.