Bulgarian films have received a total of over 5.4 million Euros in support from the Bulgarian National Film Center (www.nfc.bg).

The $4.5 million (€2.8 million) Bulgarian Unified Film Organization (BUFO) production of The Hills Run Red wrapped filming in Sofia and surrounding areas in early July.

HIT Entertainment and Chellomedia's pre-school channel JimJam will launch in Bulgaria in July. The channel is first launched internationally seven months ago, and has a Central and East European feed.

Malta film distributors and cinemas are luring viewers back into the movie theatres over the summer. For the 13th time, RS Film Distributors are sponsoring National Cinema Day on July 5.

The 16th edition of Artfilm opens June 27 in Trencianske Teplice, Slovakia, with a trio of awards to some of the most significant contributers to European and world cinema.

The sixth International Short Film Festival takes place in the Black Sea town of Balchik June 23-30. The competitive programme consists of 185 short films from 72 countries.

The Polish Film Institute announced PLN 20 million (€5.9 million) in grants going to 47 films for 2008. €5 million was earmarked for feature films, €0.6 million for documentary films, and €0.3 million for animated films.

News Corporation announced on May 30 that it had completed acquisition of a 30% stake in TV Riga. News Corporation has increased its ownership of the Russian language free-to-air broadcaster to 100%.

The 13th Festival of European Co-productions opens May 30 in Sofia and runs until June 8. Organized by the Bulgarian National Film Center, this year's festival runs concurrently with a preview of the Sixth International Short Film Festival - In the Palace.

Barrandov film studio announced plans to launch digital TV Barrandov this summer. The €4 million (CZK 100 million) construction of the TV studios should be completed in June, and employees will move in to the TV studios in July.