STRASBOURG: Irina Kanousheva will represent Bulgaria as the country takes on the annually rotating Presidency of the European Audiovisual Observatory for 2013. 

Creative documentaries from Eastern Europe are eligible to apply for IDFA's Bertha Fund, which has a deadline of 1 February. Read the full story on the IDF website.

FNE together with Europa Distribution continues its Distributor of the Month series. In recognition of the hard work and excellence of European distributors and the common problems they face, especially in the transition to digitalization, we choose a distributor from each country covered by FNE each month.

BRATISLAVA: Two young Slovak filmmakers will present their films at the 42nd Rotterdam IFF, opening on 23 January 2013.

The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has announced that Bulgaria will take over its annually rotating Presidency for 2013. Bulgaria is represented in the Observatory’s Executive Council by Irina Kanousheva, responsible for International Relations, Festivals and Promotion at the Bulgarian National Film Center.

VILNIUS: Lithuania saw advertising on TV and in cinemas rise substantially in 2012, contrasting with a steep decline in print advertising.

Organized by the Ankara Cinema Association with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the 18th Festival on Wheels completed another film-packed expedition on 10th December. This year’s travels began on 30th November in Ankara before taking in the Black Sea town of Sinop.

TALLINN: Mushrooming and Varesesaar Russians tied for the Film of the Year award given out for the 20th time by the Estonian Association of Film Journalists on 8 January 2013.

PRAGUE: Czech film, TV and stage actress Jiřina Jirásková died 7 January 2013 at age 81.

The 11th IFF Cyprus Film Days is accepting submissions for the international competition Glocal Images through 8 February 2013.