49M-plus euro Nutcracker musical wraps in Hungary
After 15 weeks of shooting at Hungary's Stern Studios in Pomaz (www.sternstudios.com), Nutcrakcer - The Untold Story has completed both principal and second-unit photography.
Seville Film Festival to screen 17 Czech productions
Czech cinema is the focus at the Seville Film Festival this week with no less than 17 Czech films to be featured in seven programme sections. Three sections will be…
Romanian film, two regional co-productions vie for European Film Award
The Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days directed by Cristian Mungiu and two co-productions from the New Europe are among the six nominees for best film in…
Hungarian co-producer drops Julie Delphy project The Countess
Julie Delphy's long-gestating historical drama The Countess is on shaky ground again after the Hungarian co-producer, Tivoli Films International (www.tivolifilms.com), backed out when its American producers slashed the budget in…
Hungarian MTV fined for violating ad code
Hungary's National Radio and Television Commission, or ORTT, has ordered Magyar Televizio to pay an 800,000 forint (€3,190) fine for "implied advertising," a violation of the 1995 media law.
Doc filmmakers band together to promote their genre
Documentary filmmakers, whose works often take a back seat to the greater attention paid to feature films, are banding together in several initiatives to better promote their genre. At the…
Ljubljana IFF to screen over 100 films
The 18th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe), the biggest event of its kind in Slovenia, will feature over 100 films during its two-week run Nov. 7-21. The festival will open…
Slovene filmmakers continue protest against Film Fund, Culture Ministry (update)
Slovene filmmakers, some of whom boycotted the 10th Festival of Slovenian film in Portoroz earlier this month, are continuing their protests against the Slovene Film Fund and the Ministry of…
Jihlava awards Sergey Lotnitza for his film Artel
Documentary director Sergey Lotnitza won the best Central and East European documentary award for his film Artel at the 11th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival which closed Sunday.
Kusturica and Fatih Akin to produce 1.5 million euro Mamarosh
The €1.5 million German-Serbian-Hungarian production Mamarosh has set a shooting date of March 2008 after Eurimages (www.coe.int/eurimages), a Film Fund of the Council of Europe, agreed to extend the validity…
Bulgarian Oscar pick is second accolade for young filmmakers
Warden of the Dead, Bulgaria's candidate for an Oscar nomination by Iliyan Simeonov, is the second serious recognition of a young Bulgarian filmmaker in the last year.
Student movie festival launches in Warsaw
Only a couple of days after the closing of the Warsaw International Film Fest, the capital is hosting another movie event. The Worldwide Festival of Student Movies, called Young Frames,…
MTV sues MTV over use of brand (update)
Hungary's public broadcaster, Magyar Televizio (mtv, www.mtv.hu), has filed suit with the country's Supreme Court against Music Television, seeking exclusive use of the MTV brand after the latter debuted its…
Big Latvian co-prod opens Nov. 9
The biggest Latvian co-production project in recent years. the eccentric comedy Midsummer Madness, is coming to domestic screens on Nov. 9. The film's budget is €2.5 million and it was…
East European Forum connects filmmakers with producers
The East European Forum, being held this week in conjunction with the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, is the prime meeting point of doc-makers from Eastern Europe with prominent European…
Rights to 40 years of Hungarian films stuck in limbo
Foreign sales from Hungary's bountiful postwar film catalogue have been stuck in a bureaucratic limbo since 2004, and a Sept. 30 deadline that was expected to clarify the situation has…
Lithuanian director Giedre Beinoriute completes The Balcony
One of Lithuania's most promising young filmmakers, Giedre Beinoriute, has completed her new short feature, The Balcony, which is set for screening early next year.
Jihlava doc festival offering films online
Films to be screened at the 11th International Festival of Documentary Films which opens today (Oct. 23) in Jihlava will be presented online for the first time via the Internet…
Bulgaria gains recognition for proEuropean work with two Erasmus awards
The woman responsible for gaining two Erasmus EuroMedia Awards in 2007 from the Vienna-based European Society for Education and Communication says the last two years have been of great benefit…
Brussels objects to Hungarian film subsidy system
Hungary's system of tax rebates for filmmaking, which has been a stunning success in drawing international productions to Hungary, has run afoul of the European Union.