WARSAW: The 16-person crisis team formed by the Polish Film Institute (PISF) issued its first decisions after the first meeting on 20 March 2020. Their aim is to support the film industry and its members through measures ranging from changes to the grants procedure, to a special fund providing assistance for those in need.

WARSAW: ATM Grupa, which produces a large number of Polish TV series and programmes, has announced that due to the Coronavirus pandemic it has suspended all shootings until further notice. Over the past month, the company's share price decreased by 28.1 percent at the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

WARSAW: The Polish Film Institute supported the production of three new feature films for younger audiences with 813,784 EUR / 3.7 m PLN in the 1st batch of funding for 2020.

WARSAW: Cinema operators, including national chains Multikino, Helios and Cinema City, call in an open letter to the Polish Minister of Development for support in connection with the closure of cinemas due to the Coronavirus.

WARSAW: The Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage is working on a package of support for cultural institutions as well as filmmakers and artists who have suffered losses due to the cancellation of artistic and entertainment events, resulting from the epidemic threat.

WARSAW: Polish cinema noted a very good year 2019 with record-breaking box office results, international success for feature films and an Academy Award nomination for Corpus Christi by Jan Komasa in the International Feature Films category, as well as a growing number of international productions taking advantage of the 30% tax scheme and bringing more productions to Poland.

WARSAW: Polish government has decided to suspend the functioning of cinemas from 12 till 25 March 2020. To date, 47 cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed across the country.

GDYNIA: The position of Artistic Director of the Gdynia PFF has been restored after a controversy over the organisation of the event at the end of last year’s edition. The new artistic director has not been appointed yet. The new director will be entrusted with the main role when choosing competition films. New rules for the event come into force in March 2020.

WARSAW: Jan Komasa’s Academy Award nominated drama Corpus Christi won 10 prizes at the Polish Film Awards - The Eagles, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Script.

WARSAW: Agnieszka Smoczyńska is working on her English-language debut. Set in Great Britain in the 1980s, the film The Silent Twins is inspired by the story of twins who communicated with each other in a telepathic way.