JIHLAVA: The rewarding and ever surprising experience that is the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival (24-29 October 2017) is the result of a carefully conceived and evolving equation that balances film and industry with provocative discussion.

JIHLAVA: Czech, Polish and Slovak films are seeing a run of successes at their respective box offices as well as increasing recognition at international film festivals according to participants at the Jihlava IDFF.

JIHLAVA: Awards for best short documentary and best reportage were presented at the opening ceremony of the 21st Jihlava IDFF, held on 24 October 2017.

SOFIA: Bulgarian director Maya Vitkova is writing the second draft of her sophomore feature, Afrika, through her production company Viktoria Films.

TALLINN: Estonia’s Homeless Bob Production is coproducing the Russian/Estonian/French film The Man Who Surprised Everyone from directors Natalya Merkuloa and Alexey Chupov.

PRAGUE: The competition line-up of the 52nd Karlovy Vary IFF (30 June – 8 July 2017) underscores the festival’s position as the powerhouse gateway to Central Europe and points East. Yes, the traditional slots for long-time partner territories such as France and Germany remain firmly in place, but for festival followers, it’s the array of films from CEE territories in all three of the festival’s competition sections that make it a must-attend event on the 2017 schedule.

CLUJ-NAPOCA: Georgian director Rati Tsiteladze and producer Nino Varsimashvili of ArtWay Film won the Transilvania IFF (TIFF) Pitch Stop 30,000 EUR Eurimages Coproduction Development Award for their project for their harrowing drama The Empty House.

CLUJ-NAPOCA: Four Romanian and two Moldovan projects in development were pitched at the Transilvania IFF (TIFF) Pitch Stop Workshop, held during the 16th edition of TIFF (3-11 June 2017). The workshop was the part of an expanded industry section at this year’s festival.

CLUJ-NAPOCA: The 16th Transilvania IFF (TIFF), which held its closing ceremony on 11 June 2017, has transformed itself into a budding industry powerhouse. That was in evidence in the two largest cash awards distributed by the festival, both of which went to Georgia. The Transilvania Trophy for best film in competition, with a 15,000 EUR prize, went to My Happy Family directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, and the newly expanded Transilvania Pitch Stop Eurimages Co-production Development Award, with a prize of 20,000 EUR, went to the project The Empty House by Rati Tsiteladze.

CLUJ-NAPOCA: Less is More (LIM) held the international launch of its European development programme for limited budget feature films on 9-11 June 2017 at the 16th edition of the Transilvania IFF industry section.