TALLINN: Estonian writer/director Kadri Kõusaar will begin shooting her third feature, the Estonian/Swedish/Norwegian coproduction Nordic Instinct in early 2015 in Estonia and Norway.
PRAGUE: Slovak/Czech/Hungarian distributor Ivan Hronec of Film Europe and Unifrance’s CEE guru Joel Chapron kicked off the 17th edition of the expanded Festival of French Films in Prague with a pre-premiere screening of Benoit Jacquot’s Three Hearts. Jacquot is also attending the festival which is honouring him with screening of eight of his films in total.
TALLINN: Marti Helde’s feature debut In the Crosswinds represents Estonia in the international competition of the Black Nights Film Festival running through 30 November in Tallinn. The film is also one of five Estonian films in the Estonian Tridens Film Award competition.
BRATISLAVA: Party Girl by the French writing/directing team of Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, won the Grand Prix and the Student Award of the 16th IFF Bratislava which wrapped on 14 November 2014.
COTTBUS: Paris-based Arizona Productions is solidifying its reputation as an art house producer of films from the CEE region. Producer Guillaume de Seille, attending the recent Connecting Cottbus pitching forum spoke with FNE about his upcoming slate of CEE films.
BRATISLAVA: “I’m very happy that Slovak film still lives.” Slovak Audiovisual Fund director Martin Smatlak took a moment to reflect on the state of the industry 25 years after the Velvet Revolution whose unintended side effect was the near-destruction of the Slovak film industry.
PRAGUE: Slovenian producer Danijel Hocevar of Vertigo told FNE that he is coproducing a film on the legendary Czech director Frantisek Cap with the Czech company Evolution Films.
BRATISLAVA: In one of the more curious incidents in Slovak history, its capital Bratislava was once known as Wilson City and its multi-ethnic leaders lobbied to have it declared a free town unattached to any country. PubRes and FilmBrigade are now in postproduction with a crime comedy set in 1919 Wilson City.
COTTBUS: Estonian producer Max Tuula of Marx Film presented the Estonian/Russian project The Dream Fish at Connecting Cottbus, a tale about a man who falls in love with a mermaid.
COTTBUS: Romanian writer/director/producer Anca Damian is moving into preproduction with a dramatic feature film inspired by the sudden and unexpected death of her father, In Perfect Health.
