This month we speak with Hermina Azarian, the programmer (together with Vladimir Trifonov) of Cinema Lumiere from Sofia, Bulgaria.

This month we speak with Hermina Azarian, the programmer (together with Vladimir Trifonov) of Cinema Lumiere from Sofia, Bulgaria.

ZAGREB: The Croatian Audiovisual Centre distributed 3,892,222 EUR / 28,858,840 HRK as feature film, debut feature, documentary, animated film and experimental film production grants, and also as script and project development grants.

BUCHAREST: The third film in the Netflix series A Christmas Prince directed by John Schultz and starring Rose McIver and Ben Lamb, is currently shooting in Romania. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby has already applied to the rebate scheme launched in Romania in 2018.

TBILISI: The “Film in Georgia” 20-25% cash rebate programme was launched at the beginning of 2016. We spoke with Tatia Bidzinashvili, Head of Film in Georgia about how the programme went so far.

BUCHAREST: The teen film Oh, Ramona! by Cristina Jacob became, in its second week, the highest grossing film in Romania in 2019 with 771,241 EUR / 3,655,684 RON gross and 189,208 admissions. This is the second time in 30 years when a Romanian film has topped the charts, after Sam Irvin’s comedy Garcea și oltenii (produced by MediaPro Pictures), which had 251,891 admissions by the end of 2002.

BUCHAREST Stere Gulea’s Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time / Moromeții 2 leads the 2019 Gopo Awards with 14 nominations. The 13th edition of the Gopo Gala will be held at the National Theatre in Bucharest on 19 March 2019.

BUCHAREST: The teen film Oh, Ramona! by Cristina Jacob had 111,881 admissions and 470,142 EUR / 2,209,669 RON gross in the first weekend, a record for a Romanian film. This is the first English language film by Cristina Jacob with plans for theatrical distribution abroad. This is the best opening for a Romanian film in the last 30 years.

ZAGREB: Daniel Rafaelić has asked to be relieved of his duties as Chief Executive Officer of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC). He will continue his duties until a new director is selected.

BUCHAREST: The French company Alpha Violet picked up Marius Olteanu’s debut feature Monsters. / Monștri., even before its selection for the Forum programme of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival (7-17 February 2019). The film is nominated for both GWFF Best First Feature Award and Teddy Award.