KARLOVY VARY:  Central European films triumphed at the 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (28 June-6 July) www.kviff.com with Hungarian director Janos Szasz long awaited Le Grand Cahier (The Notebook) awarded the Grand Prix and films from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic  picking up a slew of other top prizes.

KARLOVY VARY: The 10 films of the LUX Prize 2013 Official Selection have been announced at the 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

MOSCOW: Turkey scored big at the 35 Moscow International Film Festival (20-29 June 2013) (MIFF) with Turkish director Erdem Tepegoz taking home the main prize for his film Particle and Turkish actress Jale Arikan winning a Silver George for her role in the film.

MOSCOW: The 5^th edition of Moscow Business Square had a special emphasis on film projects from central and eastern Europe including a presentation of new coproductions from Poland sponsored by the Polish Film Institute (PISF) and films from the Baltics and Georgia.

BRATISLAVA: Controversial Slovak doc Normalization, titled Kauza Cervanova in Slovak, has scored the biggest domestic box office success of the year for a doc with almost 20,000 EUR at the box office and 5400 admissions after a month on theatrical release. Slovakia has become one of the hottest countries in Europe for production of docs that score theatrical box office successes and on the international festival circuit.

WARSAW: European filmmakers have won the first round to have film excluded from the EU-US Trade Talks. European trade ministers bowed to filmmakers’ demands for the exclusion but only after French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq threatened to veto any mandate that doesn’t include protection of cultural services including the exclusion of the audiovisual sector. The Romanian and Belgian governments also backed the French position.

MOSCOW: The 35^th Moscow International Film Festival kicks off this Thursday 20 June and runs until 29 June with a competition lineup that includes Polish director Wojciech Smarzowski’s Traffic Department and Georgian director Archil Kavtaradze’s Disorder. A total of 16 films from 13 countries will compete for the festival’s main prize the St George.

EDITORIAL: The EU-US trade talks will determine the future of our European film industry. European culture is not something to be bargained away and should not be included in these talks. Each of us needs to make our views known.

KRAKOW: The 53 Edition of the Krakow Film Festival held from 26 May to 2 June 2013 screened over 250 films and boasted a wealth of competitions with films competing for prizes in the categories of international music documentary, international documentary, international short film and national film competitions. 

CANNES: Blue is the Warmest Colour directed by Abdellatif Kechiche walked away with the Palme D’Or at one of the coldest and wettest Cannes Festivals on record. The film also received the presitigous FIPRESCI award of the international federation of critics.