The axis of the festival program is the four competitions: Opus Bonum for world documentaries of innovative themes and high aesthetic quality; Between the Seas presents high quality films from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; Czech Joy surveys the newest Czech filmmaking; and the Fascinations section focuses on the marginal or even hybrid form of the documentary film - experimental documentary. Further program sections introduce the current events at the Czech as well as the international documentary scene. Translucent Beings are the retrospective profiles of remarkable filmmakers.

One of the most awaited Polish films of 2010 has won the best artistic contribution at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival (www.ffm-montreal.org), where it had its international premiere. The most recent work of Jan Jakub Kolski, one of the most popular Polish directors and screenwriter of Jasminum and Pornography, is a magical story about 11-year-old Marek who recreates a plan of a floating city in his basement in order to shut out the outbreak of war in 1939.

Jarek Rybus has begun shooting a multimedia experiment fusing film and the Web is in his new documentary about the Polish blog community. "The film is an attempt to look at the Polish bloggers," said Rybus, "and answer the question: Are they another branch of the authorities in Poland nowadays?"

Isreali company Armoza Formats has sold Romania's Prima TV on the second season of its game show formula Upgrade, which will also be a daily fixture on TV screens in Norway when a 48-episode season airs there this winter on channel TV2, Norway's largest commercial broadcaster.

WARSAW: Polish director Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer is Best Film of the Year, according to the members of the International Federation of Film Critics - FIPRESCI who voted for the Grand Prix 2010. The 296 film critics from throughout the world that took part in the poll expressed their preference among the feature-length films premiered during the previous year (after July 1, 2009), according this distinct sign of critical acclaim to The Ghost Writer.

Increasing numbers of local and international film productions are applying for the newly launched 20 percent cash rebates offered by the Czech Republic, submitting to the required cultural test. The Czech Film Industry Support Program, which went online in June, evaluates each project for European cultural and production criteria and a minimum spend in the Czech Republic.

The director of Reverse, awarded best Polish film of 2009, has just finished shooting a short feature promoting the city of Łódź as European Capital of Culture for 2016. Borys Lankosz was chosen from among several Polish filmmakers who had submitted projects supporting the city, a center of film production in Poland.

The biggest war drama of its kind ever to be shot in Latvia is slated to begin shooting early next year. My Way, a Korean-Latvian co-production, will film partly in Riga.

"Venice" by Jan Jakub Kolski got the Best Artistic Contribution Prize at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival, confirming the successful international premiere of the film.

European animation is getting ready for the next edition of Cartoon Tributes 2010, the annual awards for sector professionals to honour their peers' outstanding contribution to the development of the animation industry in Europe. The awards are for Best Broadcaster, Investor/Distributor and Producer of the year.

The Cartoon Tributes, in their fifth consecutive year, seek to recognise companies whose innovation, creation and financial commitment have helped drive the growth of European animation for television. The 2010 awards will be announced on 17th September in the city of Sopron in northwest Hungary.

Twelve companies from seven European countries are among the finalists. The three winners will be selected by the participants of the 21st Cartoon Forum, the platform to boost co-production and distribution of European animation for television and new media, which will be held in Sopron from 14 -17 September.

France and UK lead the nominations with a candidate in each of the three categories, while companies from Finland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Spain round up the rest of the nominations for these awards.

The finalists for Cartoon Tributes 2010 are:

Broadcaster of the Year

CBeebies - BBC Children's (UK)
Minimax (Hungary)
TF1 Unité Jeunesse (France)
YLE (Finland)

Distributor / Investor of the Year

Atlantyca (Italy)
Entertainment One Family (UK)
Kiddinx Studios (Germany)
Moonscoop (France)

Producer of the Year

Belvision (Belgium)
Calon (UK)
Edebé Audiovisual (Spain)
TeamTO (France)

Cartoon Forum Organisation: Annick Maes
Tel: (32) (2) 242 93 43 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International Press: Gerardo Michelin
Tel: (34) (630) 57 22 68 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.