PRAGUE: The organisers of the Karlovy Vary IFF have announced the cancellation of the 2020 edition, citing the Czech Republic’s ongoing measures to fight the coronavirus and the worldwide situation. The 55th KVIFF will be held next year instead, from 2 to 10 July 2021.

ZLIN: The Zlin Film Festival, the world’s oldest and largest film festival for children, has announced that it will delay this year’s event until September. The 60th edition of the festival was originally scheduled to take place from 29 May to 6 June 2020. The new dates are 4 to 10 September 2020.

PRAGUE: The regional media giant Central European Media Enterprises (CME) reported a one percent decline in net revenues contrasting with a six percent increase in operating income for 2019, and a one percent decline in net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019.

COTTBUS: Romanian producer Oana Giurgiu is coproducing Between Two Dawns, a contemporary drama set in Turkey, written and directed by Selman Nacar. The film was presented at the connecting cottbus Works in Progress presentation, which took place 6 – 8 November 2019.

COTTBUS: The Polish film Wet Monday, the feature film debut of Justyna Mytnik, aspires to take the subject of a teenage girl dealing with the trauma of a past rape and turn it into a fantasy drama with comedic elements. The film was pitched at connecting cottbus, 6 – 8 November 2019.

COTTBUS: Poppy Field, presented in connecting cottbus’ Works in Progress section on 7 November 2019, confronts the still-prevalent topic of homophobia in Romania in a tight 24-hour story of a Romanian policeman coming to terms with his sexual identity. 

COTTBUS: Montenegro and Serbia team up on the farcical comedy Forever Hold Your Peace produced by Marija Stojanovic and directed by Ivan Marinovic. The film was pitched at connecting cottbus, 6 – 8 November 2019, ending up with the most requests for one-to-one meetings.

COTTBUS: The Bulgaria/Qatar coproduction Sister / Sestra by Sveta Tsotsorkova won Best Film at the 29th edition of FilmFestival Cottbus, which concluded on 10 November 2019.

COTTBUS: Serbian writer/director Milica Tomovic presented her low-budget film Celts at the connecting cottbus Works in Progress block, which took place 6 – 8 November 2019. The project won the best pitch award in the national selection of the FEST FORWARD at Belgrade's FEST 2019.

COTTBUS: The Romanian/Swiss production company Elefant Films tackles difficult and sensitive subject matter in About a Girl, helmed by Ruxandra Zenide. The film was pitched at connecting cottbus, 6 – 8 November 2019.