FNE VISEGRAD FORUM: Foreign productions in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has seen big budget foreign productions mostly dry up in 2009 following a long decline.
PRODUCTION: Lidice sets filming dates
Lidice, a Czech-Polish war drama from director Alice Nellis, will begin shooting at the end of November, producer Adam Dvořák, head of production/distribution company Bioscop (www.bioscop.cz), announced.
Czechs announce Elsa nominations
Former Czech First Lady Dagmar Havlova is among the nominees for the Elsa Awards, the Czech awards for excellence in TV broadcating, which will be announced on December 12.
Production: Czech 3-D animated film sets 2010 release date
Czech puppet animation feature Fimfárum 3 by directors Vlasta Pospíšilová, David Súkup and Kristina Dufková is set to be released in autumn 2010, producer Martin Vandas announced.
Production: Women´s Temptation goes into post-production
Women´s Temptation, a comedy by director Jiří Vejdělek, moved into post-production following completion of filming on October 19.
Protector gets Czech Oscar nod
Czech big-budget war movie Protector (www.protektor-film.cz ), has been selected to represent the Czech Republic for an Oscar nomination in the foreign language film category.
Prima buys Cold Feet
Czech commercial station Prima TV has order 13 episodes of the 60-minute British drama Cold Feet.
Foreign releases slated for Shameless
Shameless, the 2008 film from acclaimed Czech director Jan Hřebejk will open in Polish cinemas September 18, and is scheduled for US distribution in February 2010.
History Channel begins Czech broadcasts
The History Channel and History HD begins Czech language broadcasts in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in this fall.
Czech Government reconsiders license fees
The leading Czech political party, ODS, has proposed abolishing the license fee system that funds Czech TV.
Sladecek joins TV Barrandov
Petr Sladecek has been appointed program director of TV Barrandov.
Village Roadshow react to drop in profits
Village Roadshow, after a 95% drop in profits, is said to be considering sale of its Czech investments.
Czech films dominate local box office
Czech films took three of the top four spots at the national box office in the first half of 2009.
Production: Russian Faust starts shooting in Prague
The Russian-German-Austrian-Czech coproduction Faust started shooting on August 17 at Točník castle in central Bohemia and in Prague's Barrandov ateliers, Barrandov Studios (www.barrandov.cz) announced.
MTV to launch in Czech Republic
Nova TV will launch MTV in the Czech Republic and Slovakia on November 29, in partnership with MTV Networks Intermational.
Production: Svěrák shooting Kuky Returns
Czech director Jan Svěrák, who received Oscar for Kolya in 1996, has started filming his new movie Kuky Returns (Kuky se vrací).
Production: Jakl shoots Kajinek
Director and producer Petr Jákl has started shooting his "opus magnum," the big budget crime-thriller Kajínek, based on a true story of one of the most notorious Czech prisoner Jiří…
Grapes 2 finishes shooting
The sequel to a Czech comedy hit, Grapes 2 (Bobule 2) by director Vlad Lanné and screenwriter Tomáš Holeček finished shooting on Sunday, July 19, distribution and production company Bioscop…
Production: Protector opening set for September 22
Protector, director Marek Najbrt's big-budget war psychothriller, will have its official world release on September 22 in Prague.
KVIFF Winners 2009
The festival juries have awarded the best films of the 44th Karlovy Vary IFF 2009 during the Official Closing on July 11.
