Kerekes win at Viennale
Slovak director Péter Kerekes has been awarded the Viennale's Vienna Film Prize for best documentary for Cooking History.
UPC drives Hungarian digitalization
UPC has become the leading provider of digital services in Hungary.
Grant support for TIFF-Cluj
Transilvania Film Festival TIFF Cluj-Napoca (www.tiff.ro) will get the biggest film festival grant from the National Centre for Cinema for 2010: 160,500 euro (690,000 RON).
PRODUCTION: Lidice sets filming dates
Lidice, a Czech-Polish war drama from director Alice Nellis, will begin shooting at the end of November, producer Adam Dvořák, head of production/distribution company Bioscop (www.bioscop.cz), announced.
Romanian film funding to decrease
The Romanian Cinema Fund might be reduced by 40% in 2010 due to a new law exempting casinos and gambling from contributing, along with a decrease in monies from TV…
Swedes buy Bulgarian cable companies
The Swedish investment fund EQT V (EQT) (www.eqt.dk) has paid €210 million for the acquisition of the two Bulgarian major cable operator, Eurocom (ekk.bg) and Cabletel (www.cabletel.bg).
Bulgarian police nab cable pirates
Bulgarian police have stopped the illegal broadcast of 90 cable TV channels operating out of the town of Karlovo.
Pitching for Euros in Jihlava
The cinemas may have been filled to capacity at the Jihlava documentary festival, but the hottest ticket was for a seat in the standing-room-only pitching session, East European Forum on…
M-Appeal picks up Slovenian Girl
M-Appeal has acquired world sales rights to Slovenian Girl directed by Damjan Kozole (Spare Parts).
Czechs announce Elsa nominations
Former Czech First Lady Dagmar Havlova is among the nominees for the Elsa Awards, the Czech awards for excellence in TV broadcating, which will be announced on December 12.
Whistleblower begins filming at MediaPro Studios
The Whistelblower, Larysa Kondracki's feature debut starring Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave, David Straitharn and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, started filming at MediaPro Studios (www.mediaprostudios.com) in Bucharest on October 26.
Chameleon received EFP marketing support
Chameleon by Hungarian director Krisztina Goda is one of 26 films selected to receive film sales support by European Film Promotion (EFP) at the upcoming AFM.
Production: Animated Project Chopin in production
A Polish/British Oscar-winning animation team have started work on Project Chopin, the biggest European animation film of the year.
CME Revenues down 33%
Central European Media Enterprises (CME, www.cetv-net.com). which trades on NASDAQ and thePrague Stock Exchange as CETV, reported third quarter earnings of $134.5 million, down $40.6 million from third quarter 2008.
Record 2009 opening for Grapes 2
Grapes 2 (Bobule 2), the sequel to a 2008 Czech hit film, drew 67,000 admissions and CZK 8 million (307,000 Euros) on its four-day opening week-end, October 22-25.
Production: Silviu Purcărete shooting debut film Somewhere in Palilula
Internationally acclaimed stage director Silviu Purcărete makes his directorial film debut with Somewhere in Palilula, an ambitious dark comedy about life under communism. Shooting started in Bucharest on October 14.
Béla Tarr at MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the American premiere of Satan's Tango (Sátántangó), Béla Tarr's masterpiece.
New docu-series on Spektrum
On the Spot, a Hungarian documentary series, is launching on TV channel Spektrum on November 7.
Kenyeres conquers Chicago
History of Aviation (A repülés története), a short film by Bálint Kenyeres, won the main prize (the Golden Hugo) at the Chicago International Film Festival.
FNE FEATURE SPOTLIGHT: Janosik
The opening of Janosik. A True Story in Central Europe came after more than six years in production limbo before being resuscitated by Polish funding.
