PRAGUE: Babovřesky produced by Prague based production outfit Nogup, a summer comedy directed by Zdenek Troška, has taken in over 83,360,000 CZK in box office and nearly 615,000 viewers, breaking records and leading the 2013 box office Czech charts. Together with another local hit children’s animated film Lucky Four Serving the King with 26, 550.197 czk, Czech films are holding down the first and third places in the cummunlative box off ice for 2013 so far.
KATOWICE: Poland’s regional Silesia Film Fund announced grants totaling 630,000 PLN to coproduce seven films in 2013.
PRAGUE: Time Warner has received approval from the European Commission to exercise voting rights in Central European Media Enterprises (CME) proportionate to its 49.9 stake in the Central European broadcasting company.
BRATISLAVA: Controversial Slovak doc Normalization, titled Kauza Cervanova in Slovak, has scored the biggest domestic box office success of the year for a doc with almost 20,000 EUR at the box office and 5400 admissions after a month on theatrical release. Slovakia has become one of the hottest countries in Europe for production of docs that score theatrical box office successes and on the international festival circuit.
Three Slovak coproductions will have their world premieres in competition at the 48th Karlovy Vary IFF, running 28 June – 6 July 2013.
FNE at KVIFF 2013: Travolta and Tautou Tapped for Karlovy Vary
PRAGUE: French star Audrey Tautou will open the 48th Karlovy Vary IFF (28 June – 6 July 2013) with the festival premiere of Mood Indigo presented by director Michel Gondry, and Hollywood star John Travolta will receive the festival’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at a gala screening of Killing Season.
BUDAPEST: The Hungarian Film Fund has announced the third round of grants in less than a week, with the largest grant, 900 m HUF, going to Gyorgy Palfi’s Toldi.
As he prepares for the launch of the 48th edition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival artistic director Karel Och took time out to speak with FNE.
PRAGUE: Czech Film Center director Jana Cernik will be leaving her post on 3 July 2013.
BRATISLAVA: Velvet Terrorists (Zamatoví teroristi), a Slovak /Czech /Croatian coproduction directed by a trio of Slovak directors, Pavol Pekarčík, Ivan Ostrochovský and award-winning Slovak documentary director Peter Kerekes, will open in cinemas in September 2013.
WARSAW: European filmmakers have won the first round to have film excluded from the EU-US Trade Talks. European trade ministers bowed to filmmakers’ demands for the exclusion but only after French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq threatened to veto any mandate that doesn’t include protection of cultural services including the exclusion of the audiovisual sector. The Romanian and Belgian governments also backed the French position.
Watch the press conference on EPTV of the delegation of European Filmmakers including Dariusz Jablonski and Romanian directors Radu Mihaileanu and Cristian Mungiu after the meeting with European Commission President José-Manuel Barroso. FNE TV: Link for the video of the press conference on EP TV.
