WARSAW: After five years of working on the project, director Karolina Bielawska moves into development with her debut feature, a biopic inspired by the life of iconic Polish singer Violetta Villas. The working title is Violetta and the Woodpecker.

SKOPJE: Turkish public broadcaster TRT is shooting the TV series Balkan Lullaby / Balkan Ninnisi in Skopje, directed by Doğan Ümit Karaca and serviced by the Macedonian company City Star Production. The first episode of the series already aired on TRT 1 on 21 June 2022.

TALLINN: The TV drama series Estonia, a coproduction between Finland, Estonia, Belgium and Sweden, is currently shooting in Belgium. Estonia tells the tragic events of 28 September 1994, when the MS Estonia ferry sank on the Baltic Sea, taking 852 lives. The series is budgeted at 13 m EUR and planned to be broadcast as eight 45-minute episodes or four 90-minute episodes.

SKOPJE: Director Jani Bojadzi is filming the drama thriller TV series Clear Water / Bistra voda on several locations in Skopje from 2 June to 31 July 2022. The 12 episodes are produced by Macedonian Cinnamon Media Factory in coproduction with Macedonian Alfa TV.

BUDAPEST: Golden Bear-winner Ildikó Enyedi starts shooting the pilot episode of the TV series Angel’s Trumpets / Angyaltrombiták at the end of June 2022. The bloody and humorous revenge story was written by young Katalin Besenyei, who pitched it at the Hypewriter TV Series Pitch Forum in 2021 to a jury having Enyedi among its members. The project was awarded and Enyedi eventually boarded the project.

SOFIA: Bulgarian director Ivan Vladimirov has started shooting his third feature film Plague, a period drama about an early 19th century plague epidemic in the Balkans. Inspired by a short story by prominent classic writer Yordan Yovkov (1880-1937) and written long before the COVID-19 pandemic by Boyan Biolchev, the script reveals unexpected coincidences in human reactions.

TBILISI: Georgian director Ana Kvichidze is currently in production with her first long documentary, the Georgian/French coproduction Heart, Don’t Be Afraid. The film is supported by the Georgian National Film Center and the French CNC.

BRATISLAVA: The mystery crime TV series Hunter / Lovec by Jiří Strach is getting ready for production. The total of eight episodes are produced by Slovak TRIGON PRODUCTION in coproduction with Slovakia‘s TV JOJ and the Czech Television.

TALLINN: Estonian director Arko Okk is currently in postproduction with his documentary The Ice that Still Supports Us / Jäätee veerel, which will be showcased at the KVIFF Eastern Promises Works-in-Progress 2022. The film is an Estonian/Lithuanian coproduction.

LJUBLJANA: Žiga Virc started shooting his new feature film The Last Hero / Poslednji heroj on 11 June 2022. This drama with comic elements is a Slovenian/Greek/Croatian coproduction.

BELGRADE: Young Serbian director Emilija Gašić, who has recently graduated form the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, commenced shooting her debut feature 78 Days / 78 dana on 7 June 2022. The production supported by Film Center Serbia started on locations in the vicinity of the Serbian town and spa centre of Vrnjačka Banja.

PODGORICA: Montenegrin writer/director Sead Šabotić has finished shooting on his long documentary Once upon a Family / Porodica na određeno vrijeme, which is supported by the Film Centre of Montenegro.

PRAGUE: Czech actor/director/screenwriter/composer Jan Budař is in postproduction with the fairytale Prince Mamma’s Boy / Princ Mamánek. This 100% Czech coproduction is the first feature film by Budař as a director.

WROCŁAW: Shooting is underway for Kajtek The Wizard directed by Magdalena Łazarkiewicz. The film is a Polish/Czech/Slovak coproduction based on a novel by Janusz Korczak, a pedagogue and teacher whose timeless work has brought up several generations of Polish children.

PODGORICA: Director Isa Qosja is in post-production on The Stork / Roda, a Montenegrin/Kosovan/Macedonian/Albanian coproduction.

VILNIUS: The biggest project in Lithuania so far this year, the Netflix feature film Paradise, is currently being filmed in the Lithuanian capital city Vilnius.