COTTBUS: The Man with the Answers, a Cypriot/Greek roadmovie that travels from Italy through Austria to Germany, was seeking production partners from those countries at the Connecting Cottbus pitching forum, held 7-8 November 2013.

BRATISLAVA: Faced with the question of to be or not to be, the 15th Bratislava IFF decided to be, albeit in a reduced form, to the clear delight of the Slovenian director and actors of Class Enemy which won three main awards at the closing ceremony on 10 November 2013.

COTTBUS: Russian films took the Best Film and Best Director awards at the 23rd Cottbus IFF which concluded on 9 November 2013, with The Geographer Drank His Globe Away by Aleksandr Veledinsky winning the main prize and Yury Bykov winning best director for The Major.

COTTBUS: For the second year running, newcomer Kosovo received the pitching prize of Connecting Cottbus , voted on by the attendees of the 15 year old CEE pitching forum.

COTTBUS: Countries across the CEE region are gearing up for major changes in funding in 2014, as outlined by a panel at the 15th edition of Connecting Cottbus (CoCo) held 7-8 November 2013.

COTTBUS: Just a Moment, a young Lithuanian production company with international aspirations, joins forces with writer/director Giedre Beinoriute whose documentary Conversations on Serious Topics was selected as Lithuania’s 2013 Oscar candidate, on Breathing into Marble in development as a feature film based on the Lithuanian novel which won the European Union Literature Prize in 2009.

COTTBUS: Poland’s Munk Studio is in preproductions with The Erlprince, a feature debut from writer/director Kuba Czekaj.

COTTBUS: Ukrainian production company CryCinema brings the drama Kai to the Connecting Cottbus pitching forum, taking place 7-8 November 2013 during the Cottbus Film Festival.

COTTBUS: Azerbaijan and Germany are teaming up Pipeline, a coproduction in the scriptwriting and development stage being pitched at Connecting Cottbus.

PRAGUE: The movers and shakers of the Czech film industry turned out for the Czech Ministry of Culture’s fourth annual award for contribution to cinema.