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Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin’s local horror Indera will open the Malaysia International Film Festival (Miffest), which will be closed by two Hong Kong features, Ho Miu Ki’s Love Lies and Nick Cheung’s Peg O’ My Heart.

The 7th edition of Miffest will take place in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur from July 21-28. It will pay tribute to Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda and celebrated Indonesian actress Christine Hakim with lifetime achievement awards, as well as honour Hong Kong actor-director Cheung with an award for excellent achievement in film.

In a press conference held yesterday (June...

Opportunities for film and TV series production in the Czech Republic and broader Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the competition between Netflix and other sector players, were in the spotlight on the first day of the Eastern Promises Industry Days program of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Sunday.

“Czechs love local content,” Lukasz Kluskiewicz, Netflix’s director of film licensing and co-productions for the region, told a panel about the current opportunities for film and series development in Central Europe on Sunday. “We can see growing relevance of local content, and we can see growing demand for local content.” That is why the development of and investment in such content is “crucial” for Netflix, he added.

The creation of local content is reflected in his business of licensing movies. “Since 2019, we have acquired 260 films, licensed,” said Kluskiewicz in emphasizing the streamer’s commitment to showcasing homegrown fare.

Central and Eastern European filmmakers presented 19 projects at various stages of production at Karlovy Vary’s annual Works in Progress initiative.

The popular industry programme at Kviff is in its ninth year, and past films shown as Works In Progress include I Am, Lunacy, Katyn, Tricks, Alois Nebel and My Dog Killer, among many others.

This year’s selection included a standout pitch for The Disobedient [pictured], a Serbian coming-of-age road movie about two 24-year-olds from Tilva Ros producers Mina Djukic (who will direct) and Nikola Lezaic.The film is now in post for autumn delivery after wrapping its shoot in September 2012.

Another promising Serbian title, of a very different flavour, was the crowdpleasing dark comedy Monument to Michael Jackson (working title). The film will be ready to launch this autumn and the footage shown got the day’s only laughs out of the industry-heavy crowd. The film is a co-production with Macedonia and Germany.

Among the Czech...

Pouta, Kuky se vrací, and the other winners of the 2011 Ceský lev (Czech Lion) Awards have been announced. The 18th Annual Ceský lev (Czech Lion) Awards “are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic. The jury is composed of members of the Czech Film and Television Academy (Cfta).” The awards ceremony was held in the Paláce Lucerna in Prague on March 5, 2011. The full listing for the 2011 Ceský lev (Czech Lion) Awards is below.

Best Film

Pouta (Walking Too Fast), Vratislav Šlajer

Best Director

Pouta (Walking Too Fast), Radim Spacek

Best Screenplay

Pouta (Walking Too Fast), Ondrej Štindl

Best Actress

Mamas & Papas, Zuzana Bydžovská

Best Actor

Pouta (Walking Too Fast), Ondrej Malý

Best Supporting Actress

Ženy v pokušení (Women in Temptation), Eliška Balzerová

Best Supporting Actor

Kajínek, Vladimír Dlouhý

Best Documentary

Katka, Helena Treštíková

Best...

Moscow -- The 26th edition of the Warsaw International Film Festival, which kicks off on Oct. 8, is going to show how the organizers are dealing with the fest's increased international status.

"Last year, the Warsaw International Film Festival became part of the Fiapf list of "international competitive non-specialized festivals", which brought about serious consequences," Stefan Laudyn, the fest's director, told The Hollywood Reporter. "This year, we received a record number of submissions and a couple of dozen collaboration offers from various companies."

According to Laudyn, the festival's motto remains unchanged: "Films about the people for the people." More than 130 films, divided into several sections, such as international competition, Free Spirit competition, documentary and short competitions, are to be screened at this year's event.

Among the highlights of this year's program are movies of different genres, from historical dramas, like "The Edge" by Russian director Alexei Uchitel or the Czech movie...

If ever two things went together like they were made for each other it's classic crime noir set behind the Iron Curtain, the murky morality and bubbling conspiracies making the era absolutely perfect for the genre.

Enter Czech film maker Radim Spacek and his upcoming Walking Too Fast (Pouta). A battered Ondrej Maly stars as a police inspector teetering on to the wrong side of the law ...

Czechoslovakia, 1982. The totalitarian regime seems interminable and imperishable. Antonín, a member of the secret police, uneasy, tyrannical, perhaps even psychopathic, is percolating with unvoiced anger and desperation. Bored with everything, he aims his demons at a seemingly clear but in fact unattainable target - a young woman named Klára. It is not love, not passion but a burning desire for the illusion of escape from the clutches of drabness and boredom. Antonín's absurd attempt to win Klára over pits him against not only...