COTTBUS: Twelve films representing 22 countries will compete for the main prize of 25,000 EUR at the 30th edition of FilmFestival Cottbus, 3 – 8 November 2020. Serbia is especially prominent, with three films in competition, while Poland sends two films.
BRNO: In response to the newly announced COVID-19 measures closing cinemas in the Czech Republic, the organisers of the 46th edition of the EKOFILM 2020 International Film Festival have decided to postpone the film screenings at cinemas to a later date, which has yet to be determined. However, part of the promised accompanying programme will be available online.
VILNIUS: Short film projects from each of the four participating countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and 2020 guest country Poland) won the awards handed out at the conclusion of the Eighth Baltic Pitching Forum (BPF), that took place online on 10 October 2020.
PRAGUE: The first edition of the pitching session Animation Espresso, organised as part of the CEE Animation Forum, awarded its first prize to the short animation project Forgive / Odpust directed by Alžbeta Mačáková Mišejková.
SIBIU: The Astra Film Festival selected 10 titles in the New Voices in Documentary Cinema and 10 titles in the Central & Eastern Europe competitions of the online segment of its 20th hybrid edition. The films will screen online 16-25 October 2020 and will be available only for the Romanian audience.
BRATISLAVA: The renowned Slovak director Martin Šulík will have the international premiere of his Slovak/Czech dramedy Man with Rabbit Ears / Muž so zajačími ušami at the 36th Warsaw Film Festival, which runs 9 – 18 October 2020.
JIHLAVA: Following a surge in COVID-19 cases and closure of all cinemas in the Czech Republic, the 24th edition of the Ji.hlava IDFF will be held completely online.
TALLINN: Edith Sepp, CEO of the Estonian Film Institute, was unanimously re-elected as Vice President of the European Film Agency Directors, EFAD.
The grants for short animated films were announced by the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC) on 5 October 2020.
The fiction feature directed by Danilo Šerbedžija and written by Lana Barić, Tereza37, will have its world premiere in the Discoveries section of the Warsaw Film Festival, held 9th – 18th October. The Polish festival will also screen the animated short, Hedgehog Spikiney, directed by Tihoni Brčić.
scene from Tereza37
scene from Hedgehog Spikiney
The international premiere of Tereza37 will take place in WFF’s Discoveries section, a programme dedicated to fiction and documentary films from across the globe that deal with contemporary topics.
The film follows the titular Teresa, a 37-year-old woman living in Split. After several miscarriages, she learns that she might not be genetically compatible with her husband. Feeling pressured by her surroundings, she begins to question her marriage that has been in a rut for some time, triggering a series of events that will transform her life in the direction of new-found freedom and personal truth.
