A short animated Latvian film, The New Species, by well-known Film Studio Animacijas Brigade is in the competition at the Berlinale, while a second film by Latvian director Sigme Baumane was selected for the program section "Berlin Shorts." Two feature films released in 2007 - Vogelfrei and Defenders of Riga - will be screened at the European Film Market.
The Polish Film Institute and the legendary Russian studio Mosfilm have launched a script competition for the best work dealing with bilateral events after 1991. The winner will be awarded $20,000, and the prize will be doubled if production starts.
Activities to promote Polish films abroad continue to spread. The latest development is Polishfilmclub, which will be screening Polish cinema in various cities in Ireland such as Dublin, Cork, Cavan, Naas, Limerick, Sligo and Galway. The first screening was of Feliks Falk's The Collector on Feb. 4 in Dublin.
Two Polish films will have their international premieres during the European Film Market, which runs for nine days during the Berlinale. Distributor BooBoo films (www.booboofilms.pl) will be promoting the poetic film Glass Lips by Lech Majewski and the film Paradise Too Far by Radoslaw Markiewicz.
Here is a list of the nominees announced Monday for the 11th edition of the Polish Eagles.
Andrzej Wajda's Katyń, an Academy Award nominee, led the list of nominations announced Monday (Feb. 4) for the 10th edition of the Eagles, the Polish equivalent of the Oscars. Katyń is in the running for best film along with Tricks directed by Andrzej Jakimowski and Time to Die by Dorota Kędzierzawska. The winners will be announced March 3.
Poland's TVP won awards for all four films it submitted in the prestigious television program competition New York Festivals 2008. TVP picked up two golden medals and two bronze medals in the competition which featured films from 25 countries. The awards were announced Feb. 1.
2007 was a record-breaking year for Estonian cinema, both on the home front and abroad, the Estonian Film Foundation reported on Friday (Feb. 1). Estonian films attracted 232,478 domestic admissions in 2007 or 14.3% of total admissions, the highest domestic market share in history.
Final preparations are under way for the 2008 edition of the Polish Film Awards, the country's equivalent of the Oscars. Nominations for Eagles in 15 categories will be announced on Monday (Feb. 4).
