The sixth International Short Film Festival takes place in the Black Sea town of Balchik June 23-30. The competitive programme consists of 185 short films from 72 countries.
The Polish Film Institute announced PLN 20 million (€5.9 million) in grants going to 47 films for 2008. €5 million was earmarked for feature films, €0.6 million for documentary films, and €0.3 million for animated films.
News Corporation announced on May 30 that it had completed acquisition of a 30% stake in TV Riga. News Corporation has increased its ownership of the Russian language free-to-air broadcaster to 100%.
The 13th Festival of European Co-productions opens May 30 in Sofia and runs until June 8. Organized by the Bulgarian National Film Center, this year's festival runs concurrently with a preview of the Sixth International Short Film Festival - In the Palace.
Barrandov film studio announced plans to launch digital TV Barrandov this summer. The €4 million (CZK 100 million) construction of the TV studios should be completed in June, and employees will move in to the TV studios in July.
Slovak director Juraj Lehotsky won the CICAE prize for his documentary film Blind Loves, which competed in the Directors Fortnight section at the Cannes film festival, which concluded May 25. The award is presented by the International Confederation of Art Cinemas, an international jury composed of independent movie theater operators.
Cable provider CableTEL is to launch a new four-channel HDTV service within the month. The announcement follows rival Eurocom's plan to launch three HDTV channels.
Sofia's Graffitti Studio has completed dubbing for the Warner Bros TV series Moonlight. It was the first U.S. studio contract for the Bulgarian sound studio.
MultiChoice Hellas announced it has renewed its pay-TV platform NOVA contract with Eutelsat Hot Bird to 2020. The contract will also provide expansion of coverage with a fifth transponder.
The final session of the second edition of ScripTeast is taking place at Cannes from May 15-22.
