Polish film icon Andrzej Wajda, whose film Katyn has been nominated for an Academy Award, will start shooting in May or June a film based on "Tatarak," a story by Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz about the human capacity for making the right ethical choices.
The European Solidarity Centre and the Polish Film Institute have launched an open competition for a script about the Solidarity movement and its international impact. The prize for the winning script on the theme "Solidarity: The First Hole in the Wall" is 50,000 zloties (€13,800)
The Czech Republic has been put back on the U.S. Trade Representative's Watch List after eight years, amid concerns about a lack of progress in efforts to fight piracy. Among the new EU states, the Czech Republic joins Poland, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania, which were listed after a general review of intellectual property concerns in 2007.
Saviour's Square (Plac Zbawiciela), a contemporary Polish drama by Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze, took top honours at the Trieste International Film Festival which closed Thursday (Jan. 24). The jury cited the film for its excellent construction and for its depiction of human interrelationships during times of economic crisis.
Eighteen titles are competing for the Golden Reel Award during the 39th Hungarian Film Week which kicks off Jan. 29. The festival, which runs through Feb. 5, will also host nine world premieres.
Among Czech distributors, Falcon a.s. (www.falcon.cz) was the leader in 2007 with 394.3 million crowns (€15 million) in sales, according to figures provided by the Czech Film Distributors' Association. Second was Bontonfilm a.s. (www.bontonfilm.cz) with 330.9 million crowns in sales, followed by Bioskop/Magic Box (www.magicbox.cz) with 161.9 million crowns.
The director of Rooster's Breakfast, the biggest Slovenian box office hit in the last four years, says he's surprised by the film's success. Director Marko Nabersnik picked up the Great Golden Roll Award on Jan. 15 after surpassing the 125,000 admission mark.
The Polish Film Institute handed out the first of what will become annual awards for professionals involved in various segments of the film industry at a gala ceremony Monday night organised with the Polish Filmmakers Association in Warsaw. Statuettes were awarded in 11 categories from nominations gathered from applications submitted by local governments, film foundations and associations.
Andrzej Wajda's Katyń, Marcel Łoziński's short film If It Happens and Peter and the Wolf, an animated film directed by Suzy Templeton, are on the official "short list" of films running for Oscar nominations; according to the Polish Film Institute, which subsidised the three films. The Oscar nominees will be announced Tuesday, and the awards ceremony will be held Feb. 24.
Attendance at Czech cinemas rose by 1.5 million in the first 10 months of 2007 to 11 million people who spent 1.054 billion crowns (€40 million), according to the Czech Film Distributors Association.
