BELGRADE: Macedonian helmer Vladimir Blaževski is in production with The Year of the Monkey, a “soft” political satire about a peculiar friendship between a lonesome chimpanzee and a zoo warden.

SARAJEVO: The Final Barrier, a joint project involving artists from around the world and directed by Bosnian-Herzegovinian director Jasmin Duraković (Sevdah for Karim, 2010, Depo) is in the final stages of postproduction. The project had a market screening in Cannes 2016.

SOFIA: Bulgarian actress Maria Veselinova will start shooting her debut feature Smart Christmas on 26 July 2016. The film is a fantastic fairy tale dedicated to the young audience.

TBILISI: After the acclaimed In Bloom, Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross are currently shooting a new feature film, My Happy Family. It will be again a German/Georgian/French coproduction.

WARSAW: Urszula Antoniak’s new drama Beyond Words will start shooting in Berlin on 18 July 2016. This Polish/Dutch coproduction stars Jakub Gierszał and Andrzej Chyra and touches on the difficult subject of emigration.

SOFIA: Bulgarian director/producer Ivaylo Penchev is in postproduction with Holiday Makers, a seaside comedy intended for a wide audience.

TBILISI: Acclaimed Georgian helmer Zaza Urushadze is in production with The Monk, a comedy-infused drama about a monk who falls for a mysterious woman in a remote village where he serves.

LJUBLJANA: Acclaimed Slovenian director Jan Cvitkovič is beginning production on his fifth feature film Our Family. Shooting, which started yesterday, 6 July 2016, will take place in the Slovenian capital city Ljubljana in July and August.

BUCHAREST: Florin Șerban is in preparation with Dog/Câine, a drama/thriller set to start shooting on 22 August 2016.

SOFIA: The Macedonian Film Agency decided to support Compatibility, the new low budget film by writer/director Stephan Komandarev, with 55,400 EUR (3 400 000 MKD). This is the second minority coproduction support for the project following a grant from the German Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) in May 2016.

TALLINN: The Estonian Film Institute announced that it will give 490,000 EUR to support The Last Ones / Viimane directed by Veiko Õunpuu. The grant will be distributed over a three year period with 213,000 EUR distributed in the first phase.

BUCHAREST: Anca Damian (Crulic – The Path to Beyond, Aparte Film) is in preparation with the feature film Moon Hotel Kabul, a Romanian/French coproduction set to be shot in Romania and Morocco in August-September 2016. The film received Eurimages support in the grants round announced on 28 June.

DUBROVNIK: The first season of the series Knightfall produced by the A&E Television Network (U.S.) and Stillking Films (Czech Republic) started shooting in Dubrovnik on 27 June 2016. The series, produced for the History Channel, is also shooting in the Czech Republic.

WARSAW: Ryszard Zatroski is shooting Porady na zdrady, a romantic comedy about marital infidelity starring Weronika Rosati. Figaro Film Production Ltd. is producing.

TALLINN: The Finnish/Swedish/Estonian coproduction The Eternal Road directed by Antti-Jussi Annila has begun filming in Estonia.

BUCHAREST: Menocchio, the new project of Alberto Fasulo, who won the 2013 Rome Film Festival with TIR, will be an Italian/Romanian coproduction and is set to be shot in summer/autumn 2017.