WARSAW: The London-based sales agency One Eyed Films has announced its acquisition of Carol of the Bells, a Ukrainian/Polish coproduction set around WWII.
WARSAW: The 2021 edition of DOC LAB POLAND, organised by the Wladyslaw Slesicki Film Foundation, will present 21 projects in two industry sections. The first session in 2021 will be held in April in Warsaw (online or in a hybrid mode), and the second one with pitchings DOCS TO START, DOCS TO GO! and individual meetings is planned offline at the Krakow Film Festival (30 May – 6 June) as part of the KFF Industry.
BERLIN: The International Federation of Art House Cinemas CICAE is accepting applications for the 18th Art Cinema = Action + Management international training course for independent cinema exhibitors.
WARSAW: FNE has teamed up with the Brussels based team of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) to bring you regular updates on EU cinema policies that impact all industry professionals across Europe. Click here for FNE UNIC EU Cinema Policy Update.
COVID-19: EU response
25/02: Sassoli on the pandemic: “There can be no return to how things were before” – European Parliament
David Sassoli called on EU leaders to continue the common approach to Covid-19 vaccines in a speech to the European Council.
25/02: Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel, following the videoconference of the members of the European Council – Council of the EU
22/02: Economic policy priorities for a post-pandemic recovery – European Parliament
A high-profile panel warned of the economic difficulties stemming from the pandemic, whilst noting that this crisis could offer the chance to rebuild EU economies.
16/02: Remarks by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the informal ECOFIN press conference – European Commission
Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive
17/02: TDM exceptions and trust in AI - Kluwer Copyright Blog
Will the text and data mining (TDM) exceptions, introduced in arts 3 and 4 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive) and currently being implemented by the EU Member States, serve its purpose of promoting the development of AI technologies or will they remain (another) set of meaningless black letter rules?
16/02: Five considerations for the transposition and application of Article 17 of the DSM Directive - IPKat
Nearly two years have passed since the adoption of the Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market 2019/790 (DSM Directive). As it was probably bound to happen, the discussion of its content – notably of its Article 17 – is no less heated now than in 2016-2019, that is the period between the release of the Commission’s original Proposal and the adoption of this piece of EU copyright legislation.
Czech Republic
24/02: State aid: Commission approves €115 million Czech rent compensation scheme to support businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak – European Commission
The European Commission approved an approximately €115 million (CZK 3 billion) Czech scheme to support retail businesses and service companies which are using rented premises and whose activities were limited or not allowed to be carried out in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
Estonia
26/02: Commission proposes to provide €230 million to Estonia under SURE – European Commission
The European Commission has today presented a proposal to the Council for a decision to grant €230 million in financial support to Estonia under the SURE instrument.
Poland
22/02: Poland Proposes Advertising Revenues Levy – Film New Europe
The Polish government has proposed a levy on advertising revenues aimed mainly at multinationals operating in Poland that pay only a small fraction of their revenues in the form of corporate income tax. The tax will not apply to smaller, local or regional media.
Recent studies:
European Parliament - Cultural and creative sectors in post COVID-19 Europe - February 2021
Events:
1 – 5 March: Berlinale’s European Film Market
4 March: ITRE Committee on the Digital Services Act
8 – 11 March: European Parliament Plenary
10 March: Virtual stakeholder meeting on the new Creative Europe MEDIA
11 March: European Audiovisual Observatory Advisory Board meeting
12 March: Informal video conference of Home Affairs Ministers
15 March: Eurogroup
15 -16 March: CULT Meeting
17 – 18 March: IMCO Meeting
Opening this month, Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) launches an online cinema where films can be watched all year round throughout Estonia's territory. The kick-off event will screen five films of the Women's Nights Film Festival, followed by films from the programme of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
CLUJ-NAPOCA: The 20th anniversary edition of the Transilvania IFF, scheduled for a summer run from 23 July to 1 August 2021, is restructuring and expanding its industry programme. The newest addition will be First Cut Lab Cluj, a specialised workshop headed by Matthieu Darras, for feature-length fiction films in the editing phase, which will focus on films from Romania and Moldova. Applications will open in early May.
PRAGUE: The Czech government has issued new restrictions limiting movement within the country in response to its position as the worst affected country in the world. All non-essential travel outside an individual’s district of domicile has been forbidden. Despite the restrictions, foreign film production is continuing without disruption.
PRAGUE: Prague-based animation company Maur Film is working on a full slate of films despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with one feature film awaiting release, one in production, one in development, and six short films coming out by 2022.
TALLINN: The Estonian government will close cinemas based on a new set of restrictions approved on 25 February 2021. Cinemas and other cultural establishments are ordered to close as of 1 March 2021.
