WARSAW: Poland’s groundbreaking new VOD levy has raised an additional 3.9 m PLN / 890,000 EUR for Polish film in its first quarter of operation. With cinemas closed across Europe the new Polish levy is being closely watched by struggling film industries in other countries looking for new sources of support.

WARSAW: Canal + Polska has announced the cancellation of its upcoming IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The company states "recent volatility in financial markets" as the reason for this decision.

WARSAW: Cinemas in Poland will be closed on 7 November 2020 due to stricter COVID-19 restrictions in Poland.

GDYNIA: The 45th Polish Feature Film Festival will be held online. Everything indicates that due to the new restrictions related to the pandemic, the internet platform will be the only space for festival events, the organisers of one of the most important film festivals in Poland reported. The festival will be held 8-12 December 2020.

WARSAW: One of the leading Polish Pay TV providers Canal + Polska has announced plans for an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Canal+ Polska holds a 70% stake in Kino Świat, the leading Polish film distributor, making the company a major player on the Polish film distribution market.

Agnieszka Skalska is participating in the 2020 Emerging Producers programme of the Ji-hlava International Documentary Film Festival, which runs 27 October - 8 November 2020.

GDYNIA: Fourteen films have qualified for the Main Competition of the 45th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, set to take place from 8 to 12 December 2020. They include 4 full-length directorial debuts and 6 second films.

WARSAW: The Grand Prix of the 36th Warsaw International Film Festival went to the Kazakh/Georgian film 18 Kilohertz directed by Farkhat Sharipov. The Best Director prize was awarded to Slovak helmer Martin Šulík for The Man with Hare Ears / Muž se zaječíma ušima. The film also took the Ecumenical Jury award.

WARSAW: The TVP Dokument channel of Telewizja Polska will begin broadcasting on 19 November 2020, available via satellite and cable networks. Tomasz Piechal, the current head of the documentary department of TVP, will head the new station. Piechal has worked at TVP since 2018.

WARSAW: Maciej Bochniak’s second feature film Magnesia screens in the international competition of the 36th Warsaw Film Festival, running through 18 October 2020.