PRAGUE: Marek Najbrt's Protektor was the clear favourite at this year's Czech Lions (6 March) picking up the prize for both best film and best director well as prizes for best script, best editing, best music and best actress.  The Czech Lions are the Czech equivalent of the Oscars.

An amendment to the  Polish licence fee bill will significantly redyce income from the fees, the main source of funding for Poland's public media.

The first TV channel for mobile phones, Telenews, a news televison channel started by Romanian born French journalist Nicolas Don, will launch in partnership with the Orange network in mid-March.

The 12th Polish Eagles ceremony held in Warsaw on March1 crowned Reverse, directed by Borys Lankosz, as the most awarded Polish film of the past year.

In an exclusive interview, Agnieszka Holland spoke with FNE about the significance of Poland's "Oscars" the Polish Eagles, new trends in Polish cinema, and her criteria of voting for the best films.

Central European Media Enterprises (CME, www.cetv-net.com) has appointed David Sach as Chief Financial Officer, effective March 1, 2010.

Liberty Global saw a 6.5% increase in its UPC CEE division in the fourth quarter of 2009, but posted an annual decrease of 13.9%

Berlinale Silver Bear winner If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle begins it first theatrical release in Romania on March 26, with sales to foreign territories lining up.

A new multiplex with 15 screens will open in Bucharest on April 28, as part of Sun Plaza (www.sunplaza.ro), the biggest mall in Romania, which opened on February 25.

Polish scriptwriter and director Jerzy Stefan Stawiński will receive a Polish Eagle for Lifetime Achievement at the film industry's gala ceremony on March 1.