The Chicago International Film Festival lineup includes Polish films and co-productions supported by the Polish Film Institute. Festival runs October 6 through 20, 2011.

KRET (The Mole) IN MAIN COMPETITION

“The Mole” is a feature debut of Rafael Lewandowski and will represent Polish cinema in the Main Competition of Chicago IFF. Borys Szyc playing the main role in the film won recently the Best Actor award at Montreal International Film Festival. The viewers will also have the chance to watch the latest Paweł Pawlikowski film “Woman In the Fifth”, a French/English/Polish co-production.

Copyrights: Kino świt

ZNIEWAŻONA ZIEMIA (Land of Oblivion / La terre outragee) BY MICHALE BOGANIM IN NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION

It's a French/German/Ukrainian/Polish co-production starring Andrzej Chyra in one of the leading roles and with Leszek Możdżer's music. The Polish co-producer on this project is Apple Film Production. “Land of Oblivion” was recently presented at Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

2 POLISH FILMS IN WORLD CINEMA SECTION

Polish animated film about a depraved hedgehog named George, based on a long-running comic book series. The film was directed by Wojtek Wawszczyk, Jakub Tarkowski and Tomasz Leśniak. A Norway/Swedish/Polish co-production “King of Devil’s Island” by Marius Holst will also screen in this section. The Polish co-producer on this project is Opus Film.

SHORTS 2: PEN & PAPER

In this section there will be presented Robert Proch’s “Galeria”. So far the film has been screened at the film festivals in Portugal, Canada and Denmark.

The awarded films of the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival were announced at the festival's glorious closing gala on 14th October. ‘And the Women touched the World' main themed festivals, all women consisted juries awarded the ‘Best of 2011'.

Thirteen feature films competed during the week of 8^th-14^th October - nine of which were directors' debuts. It was a significant night for M.Caner Alper, Mehmet Binay's ‘ZENNE DANCER' which was crowned with five different awards last night.

AWARDS 2011

National Feature Film

Best Film: "Güzel Günler Göreceğiz" - ‘WE WILL SEE GOOD DAYS' Hasan Tolga Pulat (also awarded with 350,000TL)

Jury Special: "Nar" - ‘POMAGRANEDE' Ümut Ünal

Best First Film: "Zenne" ‘ZENNE DANCER' M.Caner Alper, Mehmet Binay

Best Director : "Çiğdem Vitrinel - Geriye Kalan"- ‘WHAT REMAINS'

Best Screenplay: "Güzel Günler Göreceğiz - Emre Kavuk" ‘WE WILL SEE GOOD DAYS'

Best Director of photography: "Lüks Otel - Kenan Korkmaz / Zenne - Norayr Kasper" - ‘LUXURY HOTEL' & ‘ZENNE'

Best Music: "Meş - Yürüyüş / Frank Schreiber, Hemin Derya"- ‘WALKING'

Best Actress: "Devin Özgür Çınar - Geriye Kalan" - ‘WHAT REMAINS'

Best Actor: "Erdal Beşikçioğlu - Behzat Ç: Seni Kalbime Gömdüm" - ‘BEHZAT Ç, I BURIED YOU IN MY HEART'

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Best Film: "Sınırda" - ‘ON THE EDGE - SUR LE PLANCE' Leyla Kilani

Jury Special: ‘ALMANYA - WELCOME TO GERMANY" YASEMIN SAMDERELI

SIYAD (Cinema Writers' Foundation) Jury Award: "Güle Güle"- ‘GOODBYE - BE OMID e DIDAR' Mohammed Rasaulof

Akdeniz University Youth Jury Award: "Güle Güle"- ‘GOODBYE - BE OMID e DIDAR' Mohammed Rasaulof

DOCUMENTARY
Best Documentary: "Bedensiz Ruhlar"- 'BODIES WITHOUT SOUL' Sabite Kaya

SHORT FILM
Best Short Film: "Dua" - ‘PRAYER' Tuna Balkan

This year's Industry Days, to be held between 29-30 November as part of the Black Market, are shaping up to provide some crucial and informative debates about the different strategies and film industry models implemented across the world. We'll be welcoming some special guests, amongst them the British Film Insitute's Amanda Nevill, Simon Perry who has more than five years experience working at the Irish Film Board and Henning Camre, President of the Think Tank on European Film and Film Policy, as well as top industry professionals from Korea and Japan, who will discuss just how the film industry is adapting in light of the changing world economy.

Panel From Zero to Hero will explore film policies and politics, examining how some countries manage to build up a sustainable body of industry support whilst others struggle in light of the global crisis. We'll discuss ways in which film instructions have been set up in various countries and attempt to learn the different ways in which they benefit their national industries whilst also discovering some of the pitfalls. Crucial Commissions will examine the role of Film Commissions as drivers of local film and cultural industries from Europe to Asia. Topics to be covered include how film can be of an enormous benefit to a nation's cultural and financial economy and the massive impact that having your country as a popular destination for filming can have.

So come and take part in these panels and many more as they will prove to be an enormously informative and useful source of information at a time when the status of many film structures that we know are uncertain.

For more information on the Industry Days visit http://market.poff.ee/est/industryday

The most important development in the Czech Republic was the approval of film tax incentives in 2010. The European Union approved the Czech film tax incentives in June, as announced by the Czech government on 18 June. The proposal, which was first approved in October 2009 by the Czech government, allows foreign productions a rebate of up to 20% of the amount spent in the country. The Czech Ministry of Culture (www.mkcr.cz) budgeted CZK 400 million (16 million euros) for rebates in 2010 and had been awaiting the EU decision since January. ¨

WARSAW: Poland’s position in the international film industry becomes more prominent each year, not only are more Polish productions and coproductions screened and awarded at major international film festivals each year but also more Polish coproductions are in world wide distribution.

TV Polska's (www.tvp.pl) sales team are introducing three new original series and a heart-warming film in its MIPCOM line-up this year. Monks, social workers, and a family dynasty are the focus of the three unique series, while the film Heritage from director Andrzej Baranski follows a young man back to his village roots.

The fourth edition of CinEast (www.cineast.lu) - the Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg - will be held from 5 to 23 October 2011 in 12 venues in Luxembourg city and other towns and will offer a wide and varied selection of cinematographic works from Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, as well as many accompanying events.

"In 2011, the festival has almost doubled in size and with over 80 projections (40 features and 30 short films, incl. features, documentaries and animations), an official competition with a jury presided over by Agnieszka Holland, a dozen guests, three mini-retrospectives, special-themed evenings, debates, screenings for children, teenagers and students, four marathons of short films, as well as 7 concerts, 2 exhibitions, gastronomic events and a charity project, the CinEast festival has become one of the largest events focusing on the cinematography and wider culture of the Central and Eastern European region in the world." (Radek Lipka, Programme director of CinEast festival)

The aim of the festival is to present to the multi-national Luxembourg public a selection of mostly recent, remarkable films, often awarded prizes at major festivals, but rarely shown in the cinemas of the Grand Duchy. It strives also to promote the cultures of the participating countries through various accompanying events (music, exhibitions, culinary evenings,etc.).

Nine films have been included in the official competition: The House (Z. Liová), If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (F. Şerban), Suicide Room (J. Komasa), Walking Too Fast (R. Špaček), Adrienn Pál (A. Kocsis), The Christening (M. Wrona), Eighty Letters (V. Kadrnka), The Mill and the Cross (L. Majewski), and Avé (K. Bojanov). The jury comprises five eminent personalities from the Luxembourgish film scene and is chaired by the famous Polish director Agnieszka Holland. The programme proposes two thematic cycles: On the Margin of Society (with films focusing on the lives of the marginalised - drug addicts, homeless people, criminals, refugees, minorities etc.) and East Goes West (with films by cinematographers successful in the west). The mini-retrospectives are dedicated to the work of Roman Polanski, Miloš Forman and the Polish documentary-maker Marcin Koszałka who will be present at the screenings. Guests attending the festival also include: Florin Şerban, Lech Majewski, Ágnes Kocsis, Helena Třeštíková, Konstantin Bojanov and Agnieszka Holland (tbc) who will present her latest feature In Darkness.

CinEast 2011 also proposes an extensive photography exhibition "Living on the Margin" with around 150 works by eight photographers from Poland, the Czech Rep., Slovakia and Hungary, numerous concerts (Tomasz Stanko Quintet, Nasekomix, Kult, Bachtale Apsa etc.) and buffet-style dinners with delicacies from the region.

More information:

Official website: www.cineast.lu

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Presentation: http://www.cineast.lu/presse/2011/festival/CinEast2011_Presentation(EN).pdf

Detailed programme: http://www.cineast.lu/presse/2011/festival/CinEast2011_Programme(EN).pdf

Complete press package: http://www.cineast.lu/presse/2011/presspack/presspack.zip

Logo/poster/flyer: http://www.cineast.lu/presse/2011/graphics/

Festival trailer: www.youtube.com/cineastfestival

The festival CinEast 2011 is organised by the non-profit organisation polska.lu in cooperation with CCRN, Cinémathèque, Utopia Group of Cinemas, Caramba Cinemas, Ancien Cinéma, University of Luxembourg and European School. Partners : Polish Film Institute (PISF), Slovak Film Institute (SFU), Czech Film Center, Magyar Filmunió, Hungarian Culture Bruxelles, Romanian Cultural Institute Bucarest, Polish Embassy in Luxembourg, Bulgarian Embassy in Brussels, Translation Centre for the Bodies of EU and others. Main sponsor: ARHS Developments. With the support of The City of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish Ministry of Culture, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fonds Culturel National and other partners.

NICOSIA: The 6th Cyprus International Film Festival (www.cyprusfilmfestival.org) opened on 30 September 2011 and runs through 16 October. This year, the festival screens two world premieres among the 26 Greek and Cypriot films in the programme.

WARSAW: The Hungarian coproducer of Adrian Sitaru's Best Intentions has been awarded the prestigious FNE Visegrad Prix for best fiction coproduction. The prix was awarded at the closing ceremony of Jameson CineFest - Miskolc International Film Festival 2011 (17-25 September). Hungarian coproducer Emoke Vagasi of Cor Leonis Films (http://www.corleonisfilms.hu/) collected the 1000 euros cash prize from FNE editor Cathy Meils at the festival's gala closing ceremony on 24 September 2011.