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“Baltic Uxo” and “The Big Chief” won awards Sunday at Docu Talents From the East during the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days.

Eight documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe, set for theatrical release in the next 12 months, were presented at Docu Talents From the East.

Lithuanian-German-Latvian co-production “Baltic Uxo,” directed by Agnė Dovydaitytė and Alexander Belinski, and produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, took the top award, which came with $5,000, in cooperation with Current Time TV.

The film looks at how 1.6 million tons of munitions, including chemical weapons, were dumped into the Baltic Sea and the North Sea after World War II. The film explores the ecological effects on marine life and the coastal landscapes.

The jury said the project “looks very professional, features beautiful cinematography, and seems to turn a hidden secret into a universal story.” They added: “We can imagine the success of the planned impact campaign, connecting...

London-based world sales company Taskovski Films has acquired documentary “In Ukraine,” directed by Piotr Pawlus and Tomasz Wolski, which will world premiere in Berlinale’s Forum section.

The film looks at the lives of Ukrainians who stayed in their country after the Russian invasion or have returned home.

In a statement the directors said: “How to tell the story about war? How to face a topic that we are constantly informed about through television, radio and the internet? What can be offered to an audience who has seen explosions, fired rockets, drone shots, scenes of Russian tanks being shot down, CCTV footage capturing a hail of missiles, or Russian soldiers looting?

“’In Ukraine’ doesn’t show the war but its consequences. Through a simple concept that relies on anticipated shots shot with a static camera, we are looking at the collective. The main character is a country at war. The film rarely features dialogue.

Ukrainian documentary “Dad’s Lullaby” and Romania’s “Between Revolutions” won the Docu Talent Awards, chosen from a field of nine documentary features from Central and Eastern Europe, at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Monday.

The Docu Talent Award for the most promising project went to “Dad’s Lullaby”, directed and produced by Lesia Diak. It tells the story of a Ukrainian veteran who returns home burnt out and traumatized from war but hoping to find peace for himself and his family. The jury described it as “a heartfelt depiction of a life under impossible circumstances,” adding: “Such a personal story is a valuable way to understand the scars of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.”

The DAFilms.com Distribution Award, which covers international VOD release for two years on DAFilms.com, went to “Between Revolutions”, which is directed by Vlad Petri and produced by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan. The archive-constructed film tells...

The coming-of-age drama is set in a fish factory.

Leiv Igor Devold’s debut feature Norwegian Dream has received the Screen International Best Pitch Award as one of the works in progress presented at this year’s Polish Days, the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (July 21-31).

The €1m Norway-Poland-Germany co-production by Spaett Film, Solo Film and Riva Film, is a coming-of-age drama about a 19-year-old Polish immigrant who works at a fish factory in Norway and is struggling with his feelings for his colleague. When a strike begins among the Polish workers at the factory,...

Slovak director Robert Kirchhoff is in postproduction with his documentary “All Men Become Brothers,” which follows the life of Czechoslovak politician Alexander Dubček (1921-1992), Film New Europe reports.

Dubček was leader of Czechoslovakia from January 1968 to April 1969. He attempted to reform the communist government during the Prague Spring, but was forced to resign following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968.

The film is produced by Kirchhoff’s Atelier.doc and coproduced by Radio and Television Slovakia, Czech Republic’s Endorfilm and Czech Television.

Kirchhoff’s past titles include “Normalization,” which received a Special Mention from the Between the Seas jury at Jihlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival.

Production took place from 2018 to 2021 on locations in Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey and Slovakia. Well-known figures from Czechoslovak and international politics and culture, such as Italian politician Romano Prodi, Italian novelist Umberto Eco, Czech novelist and playwright Pavel Kohout, and Czech director...

Other winners included German drama ‘Other Cannibals’ and Lithuania’s ‘Runner’.

Andreas Kleinert’s German drama Dear Thomas has been awarded the Grand Prix at the 2021 Black Nights Film Festival, held in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.

The black-and-white historical biopic follows the struggles of East German author and filmmaker Thomas Brasch, played by Albrecht Schuch who was also named best actor at Black Nights’ closing ceremony on Saturday evening (November 27).

Scroll down for full list of winners

It marks the latest feature of prolific Germany filmmaker Kleinert, known for titles such as Leb Whol, Joseph; Lost Landscape; and Head Under Water,...

When production began on “Sweat,” Magnus von Horn’s follow-up to his Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “The Here After,” no one could have predicted how prescient the film would be. As the world grapples with a protracted lockdown that’s pushed more and more of our lives online, the story of a Polish fitness instructor and social media celebrity searching for real-world intimacy feels especially timely.

“‘Sweat’ wants to embrace everything in this modern world that we otherwise love to hate, and I think that makes it unique,” says producer Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films.

“Sweat” is one of 56 films that will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of this year’s Official Selection. New Europe Film Sales is handling world sales. Włodarski will present the film during the Cannes virtual market, along with “Wonder Zenia,” a new feature from Małgorzata Szumowska being sold by the Match Factory, as he...

Haf, New Horizons, Thessaloniki and Nfdc Film Bazaar have each contributed five.

Twenty works-in-progress from four international film events have been selected for the online Marché du Film’s Goes To Cannes showcase, which runs from June 22-24.

Five titles will be presented by each of Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf); Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival; Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff); and for the first time, India’s Nfdc Film Bazaar.

The projects will be presented during two-hour online screenings from June 22-23. Industry professionals who attend the online screenings will be able to...

‘I’m A Killer’ director Maciej Pieprzyca returns with jazz musician biopic ‘Ikar’.

New projects from I’m A Killer director Maciej Pieprzyca and Tower. A Bright Day. filmmaker Jagoda Szelc are among the 23 titles selected for Polish Days, the industry event for Polish cinema running during New Horizons International Film Festival (July 25-August 4).

The event will take place on July 30 – August 1, with over 200 industry guests expected to attend.

The line-up includes five completed features, eight projects in a works-in-progress presentation and 10 titles in development.

Pieprzyca is attending with works-in-progress title Ikar, a biographical film about the blind 20th century Polish jazz musician Mieczysław Kosz.

From Cineuropa.org by Tina Poglajen

The Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (October 24–29, 2017) is the largest event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. The festival retains a distinctive and progressive programming approach and has built a remarkable Industry section, featuring projects such as Emerging Producers and Inspiration Forum. The festival is also famous for its informal atmosphere, discussion character and full screening venues.

On 26 October, the flagship industry project of the Ji.hlava Idff publicly presented 18 talented producers from 16 European countries plus Morocco.

Bringing together talented European documentary film producers, Emerging Producers, the promotional and educational project of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, is becoming more highly acclaimed and well known each year. In its six years of existence, it has enrolled over 100 alumni, many of whom have subsequently become successful producers.

Divided into three main parts — promotion, networking and navigation — the aim of the...

The nominations for the 29th European Film Awards were announced this Saturday in Seville. Four films which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival are included in the race for Best European Film, including the Palme d’Or winner “I, Daniel Blake” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.”

Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” leads the pack with six nominations including Best Film and Best Director. Among the Best Actress and Actor nominees this year are Isabelle Huppert for her critically acclaimed role in “Elle” and Hugh Grant for his charming performance in “Florence Foster Jenkins.”

Read More: British Independent Film Award Nominations: ‘I, Daniel Blake’ Leads with 7

The Efa, in collaboration with the European Film Academy and Efa Productions, honor the greatest achievements in European cinema.

The 2016 European Film Awards will take place on December 10 in Wroclaw, Poland.

Read More: 2016 Ida Documentary Awards Nominations Include ‘13th,’ ‘The White Helmets’ and ‘Fire At...

Maren Ade’s comedy received five nominations, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake received four.

A quartet of films that premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival dominate this year’s European Film Academy Awards nominations, which were revealed this morning at the Seville European Film Festival.

Acclaimed Germany comedy Toni Erdmann was nominated for five prizes: best film, best director, best screenplay, best actress and actor.

Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake scored four nominations, including best film, best director for Ken Loach, best screenplay for Paul Laverty and best actor for Dave Johns.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta received three nominations (best film, best director and best actress for Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte jointly) as did Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (best film, best director and best actress for Isabelle Huppert).

More than 3000 Efa members will now vote for the winners.

The awards will be handed out at the 29th annual ceremony in Wroclaw (Poland...

Titles on its debut slate include Wojciech Kasperski’s award-winning Icon [pictured].

Poland’s Krakow Film Foundation has launched a new sales and promotional outfit dedicated to Polish documentaries, called Kff Sales & Promotion (Kff S&P).

The Kff S&P team — consisting of Barbara Orlicz-Szczypula, Katarzyna Wilk and Magda Ludwig — makes its first outing at this week’s Dok Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (Oct 31 - Nov 6) where it is representing more than a dozen titles.

Its first line-up includes Przemyslaw Kaminski’s directorial debut The Gift about a miracle worker who can walk barefoot on hot embers, hypnotise people and help heavy smokers cough up tar. It premiered at the Krakow Film Festival (Kff) last May.

Other titles include Wojciech Kasperski’s Icon, capturing the lives of patients in a remote Siberian psychiatric hospital and featuring cinematography by Lukas Zal (Life Of A Butterfly).

The work clinched five awards at Kff, including the Fipresci...

Amazon Studios’ Ted Hope to reveal “vision for film”; works in progress winner to receive new award worth more than $100,000.

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has announced its industry programme and the projects selected for its works in progress and Eurimages Lab Project awards.

The line-up includes an in conversation event with Ted Hope, head of motion picture production at Amazon Studios, who will offer his future vision for film.

The festival will also host mark 20 years since the death of Czech filmmaker František (Frank) Daniel with a workshop, where Daniel’s teaching methods will be presented by analysing the film Some Like It Hot.

Other events will provide insight into the Czech Republic’s production benefits; panels on approaches to film education in Europe; and the 10th annual conference of Europa Distribution.

In addition, the European Parliament will unveil the 10 films nominated for the 10th Lux Film Prize; the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program...

Polish Days constitutes the most important industry event at the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival. There, more than 250 movers and shakers of the Polish and international film industry, from producers and film funds to buyers and festival programmers from Berlin, Semaine de la Critique, Rotterdam, Venice, Tribeca and New Directors/New Films, met to watch the latest Polish films at closed screenings. This year, the event took place from July 29 to 31 in the city of Wrocław, Poland.

The 2015 edition focused on funding and German producers. Polish and German film producers met at a conference organized by the Polish Film Institute, the Film Commission of Poland, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (Mdm), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German regional funds and the Cottbus Film Festival.

A total of 26 films and projects by both first-time directors and well-established filmmakers were selected for the industry event.

In fact, among the works shown in full at closed screenings were Karlovy Vary competition titles "The Red Spider" by Marcin Koszalkaand "Chemo" by Bartosz Prokopowicz as well as the debut features by Wojciech Kasperski "The High Frontier," "Berlin Diaries" by Przemysław Wojcieszek, "My Sister" by Kinga Dębska and Krzysztof Łukaszewicz’s "Karbala."

As far as the work-in-progress section is concerned, it presented 10 films. These were "Baby Bump" by Kuba Czekaj, "Journals" by Wiktoria Szymańska, "Waves" by Grzegorz Zariczny, "Into the Spirale" by Konrad Aksinowicz, "All These Sleepless Nights" by Michał Marczak and two projects pitched at the festival last year - "Wild Roses" by Anna Jadowska and "Volhynia" by Wojtek Smarzowski. Two documentaries were also presented here: "21 x New York" by Piotr Stasik and "When You Return" by Anna Zamęcka.

Pitchings presented Polish films at an earlier stage of development and production included new works by Marcin Wrona ("Lili"), Dorota Kędzierzawska ("Speedway") and Marcin Dudziak ("Presence"), as well as the following debut features: "The Last Family" by Jan P. Matuszyński, "Tower" by Jagoda Szelc, "Forest" by Joanna Zastróżna and the Cinemart project "Hurrah, we're still alive!" by Agnieszka Polska. Moreover, three projects by foreign directors but developed in Poland were also pitched: "AA" by Jack Faber, "Marie Curie" by Marie Noelle and "People I'm Not" by Francesco Rizzi. Post-production awards from Toya Studios (sound) and Chimney Poland (image) went to "People I'm Not" by Francesco Rizzi, "Tower" by Jagoda Szelc and "Speedway" by Dorota Kędzierzawska.

In the case of "The Last Family," David Ogrodnik, one of the stars of the critically acclaimed hit "Ida," has been cast in the film as Tomek, the son of Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski, played by Andrzej Seweryn, a veteran film and theater actor.

According to Joanna Łapińska, the head of Polish Days and the artistic director of the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival, the program “contains, in equal measure, expressive, original works, along with interesting genre films, moving features, and courageous documentaries.” As far as Agnieszka Odorowicz, the general director of the Polish Film Institute, is concerned, Polish Days has become “one of the most interesting events dedicated to promoting Polish cinema and showcasing film projects in early stages of production. The importance of Polish Days for the international promotion of Polish cinema cannot be overstated. ” Łapińska was adamant on “making it clear” that “Poland is a place for interesting coproductions.”

Polish Days is co-organized with the Polish Film Institute. The event’s partners include the Film Commission of Poland, the Mazovia-Warsaw and Wrocław Film Commissions, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the National Audiovisual Institute and post-production studios Toya Studios and Chimney Poland.

Marcin Koszalka’s The Red Spider among 26 titles in local showcase.Scroll down for full list of films

Polish Days, the showcase of national films at the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, has announced 26 titles this year.

Among six completed films are Karlovy Vary features The Red Spider and Chemo.

Ten films will be presented at the pitchings event - for projects in development and the early stages of production - while nine films will be presented in the work-in-progress strand.

This year’s Polish Days will have a focus on German producers and film funds, including a meeting of Polish and German film producers organised in co-operation with the East German film funds Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (Mdm) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Cottbus Iff, the Polish Film Institute and Film Commission Poland.

170 guests from Poland and abroad are expected to attend the event in Wrocław, which will take place July 29-31.

Full list of selected...

Feature about gender reassignment wins international documentary competition.

Karolina Bielawska’s Call Me Marianna was the big winner at this year’s Krakow Film Festival (May 31 - June 7) with four awards, including the International Documentary Competition’s main prize, the Golden Horn, and the Audience Award

Bielwaska’s film about a man’s decision to undergo gender reassignment also picked up the Maciej Szumowski Award for remarkable social awareness, funded by the National Broadcasting Council; and Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce’s Award for the Best Short and Documentary Films Producer in Poland to producer Zbigniew Domagalski of Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop.

The International Documentary Competition jury, headed by Wieland Speck of the Berlinale’s Panorama, remarked on the “sensitive, intense and complex portrayal of a brave approach to life”.

The jury also noted that “the journey through life from man to woman in a dualistically dominated culture, the transformation from being a family man to the...

Lithuanian documentaries will be in the spotlight at this year’s 55th Krakow Film Festival (May 31-June 7) which opens with Krzysztof Kopczynski’s The Dybbuk. A Tale Of Wandering Souls.

It marks is the fourth time Krakow has selected a guest country and will include a special screening of Giedrė Žickytė’s How We Played The Revolution, produced by Dagne Vildziunaite, one of Screen’s Future Leaders in Cannes last month.

Vildziunaite also has the latest film by Žickytė, Master And Tatjana, screening in the festival’s International Documentary Competition.

She will also be participating with such colleagues as the Lithuanian Film Centre’s chief Rolandas Kvietkauskas, filmmaker Audrius Stonys and broadcaster Izolda Keidosiute of Lrt in a conference during the festival to discuss the various strategies adopted by the documentary community in her country .

Other films shown in the “Focus on Lithuania” will include Linas Mikuta’s Dinner, Rimantas Gruodis’ Lucky Year, and Ričardas...