VALLETTA: Ridley Scott returns to Malta to shoot a sequel to Gladiator 23 years after the film starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. The shooting will start in the summer of 2023 with Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and possibly Denzel Washington playing the main parts.

BUCHAREST: Alexandru Belc’s debut feature Metronom has 11 nominations at the 17th edition of the Gopo Awards, followed by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark’s Immaculate and Paul Negoescu’s Men of Deeds, both with 10 nods. The winners will be announced on 25 April 2023.

BRATISLAVA: Ten Slovak film projects will be showcased at the Works in Progress session during Bratislava Industry Days at Febiofest IFF on 17 March 2023. Bratislava Industry Days will be held 15 – 18 March 2023 and the 30th International Film Festival Febiofest Bratislava will take place 15 – 19 March 2023.

RIGA: The 10th edition of the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF) has opened submissions for its four competition sections: Feature film competition (for films from the Baltic Sea region and the Nordic countries), International short film competition, Latvian short film competition and Baltic music videos competition.

LOS ANGELES: All Quiet on the Western Front / Im Westen nichts Neues by Edward Berger, which was shot in the Czech Republic, received four Oscars at the 95th edition of the Academy Awards, held on 12 March 2023. Navalny, directed by Daniel Roher and featuring the Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, was awarded in the Best Documentary Feature category.

TALLINN: Anna Hints’ first long documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood was sold by Autlook Filmsales to over 20 territories including North America, where it will be released by Greenwich Entertainment (in the USA) and Sherry Media Group (in Canada). The film is a coproduction between Estonia, France and Iceland.

PRAGUE: The East Doc Platform, the largest coproduction, funding and distribution platform, tailor-made for Central and East European documentaries, will be held at the French Institute in Prague 24 – 30 March 2023.

BRATISLAVA: The 10th edition of the Visegrad Film Forum will present meetings with prestigious film professionals and screenings of films from partner schools from 15 to 18 March 2023.