The Polish government has announced plans to discontinue compulsory television and radio licence fees. The ruling centre-right Civic Platform party had said it favoured the move last autumn when it took power, and a formal announcement of the decision followed on March 6.
A cinema for documentaries opened in Budapest this week. The DocuArt project is a comprehensive film distribution concept that aims to increase cooperative efforts within the documentary film industry as well as attract a larger audience for Hungarian and foreign productions.
Digital TV platform Cyfrowy Polsat, which plans to list on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, is considering a global offer as well, but is waiting to decide until the markets stabilise, CEO Dominik Libicki told the Polish news agency PAP in an interview.
Renowned Polish actor on both stage and screen Gustaw Holoubek died on March 6 at the age of 85. Holoubek acted in more than 50 films for cinema and television. He also was a theatre director and teacher, and served as a Member of Parliament and a senator.
Private media group TVN SA is asking the European Commission to investigate whether its public competitor Telewizja Polska SA has unfair advantage due to state subsidies it receives. TVN says Poland's legal and regulatory framework on the financing of public television through public aid violates EU law.
The 12th Sofia International Film Festival, to be held March 6-12, will focus on the cinemas of two nations - Russia and the Netherlands, the organizers announced on Feb. 27. Additional programs will be held March 17-23 in the capital, March 6-16 in Plovdiv and March13-21 in the coastal city of Burgas. The bill includes nearly 100 feature films, 30 documentaries and 60 short films.
Czech singer Markéta Irglová was mistakenly ushered off the stage before she could give her acceptance speech for winning an Oscar for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards Sunday night. She and Ireland's Glen Hansard won for the song "Falling Slowly" from the Irish film Once directed by John Carney.
Even though Andrzej Wajda's Katyń did not win an Oscar, a new survey shows Poles think that it's the best Polish film of all time.
The Polish-British co-production Peter and the Wolf an adaptation of the Sergei Prokofiev classic created by an international team of over 100 professionals, won an Oscar in the short animation category at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles Sunday night.
Stream Communications Network & Media Inc., a broadband cable company offering cable TV, Internet and VoIP services in Poland, has closed the sale of its Polish subsidiary to Penta Investments Ltd., a Central European private equity firm.
