BUDAPEST: The first part of the shooting of Heights and Depths / Magasságok és mélységek has been completed. Sándor Csoma's debut feature is about recovering from mourning and is based on real events, the tragedy of Zsolt Erőss, the most famous Hungarian mountaineer.

TALLINN: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, the first long documentary by Anna Hints, is currently in the editing phase. This Estonian/French/Icelandic coproduction has recently received production support from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund.

WARSAW: Polish director Maria Sadowska is currently shooting her new romantic comedy Love on the Front Page / Miłość na pierwszą stronę, which was commissioned by Polsat Group and is set to be released in cinemas in 2022. The film stars Olga Bołądź and Piotr Stramowski.

ZAKOPANE: Writer/director Maciej Kawalski is currently shooting his debut feature Dangerous Gentlemen, a costume crime drama starring Tomasz Kot, Marcin Dorociński, Andrzej Seweryn and Wojciech Mecwaldowski.

BELGRADE: The popular Serbian actor/producer Radoš Bajić is currently in production with his latest directorial feature film, the WWII epic The Heroes of Halyard / Heroji Halijarda. A TV series The Air Bridge / Vazdušni most is being shot at the same time, stemming from the same material and also directed by Radoš Bajić.

TBILISI: The Greek-born Oscar-nominated cinematographer/director Phedon Papamichael is currently in postproduction with the thriller Light Falls, which he shot during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown in Greece in 2020. The film is a Georgian/Albanian/Greek coproduction with Georgia’s EnkenyFilms involved in the project.

BRATISLAVA: The romantic comedy Just a Lot of Love / Hlavne veľa lásky by Slovak director Branislav Mišík, an adaptation of another bestseller by Evita Twardzik Urbaníková, is currently in production. NUNEZ NFE started shooting the film just a few days after finishing shooting another Urbaníková‘s adaptation, Till the Summer Comes / V lete ti poviem ako sa mám.

LJUBLJANA: Matej Vranič completed his long documentary Wild Slovenia / Divja Slovenija, which will be released in Slovenian arthouse cinemas by Fivia in September 2021. The film also has an English version.

SOFIA: The acclaimed Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev is preparing his sixth feature film Hello, on low-income retirees in Bulgaria’s provinces. The project is so far a Bulgarian/German coproduction between Argo Film and 42 film, with the financial participation of Serbia’s EED productions.

RIGA: Latvian director Ivars Tontegode is currently shooting a teenage drama Anna LOL, produced by Mojo Raiser Production and KIB Kultivators. The film was supported by the National Film Centre of Latvia with a grant in the low-budget film competition from specific additional COVID-19 funding for the industry in 2020.

BUDAPEST: The historical adventure film Hadik by János Szikora, which is currently in preproduction, received 4.6 m EUR / 1.6 billion HUF from the National Film Institute – Hungary, one of the largest production grants ever allotted in Hungary. The film depicts the bold military maneuver of András Hadik, who occupied Berlin with his hussars in 1757.

ZAGREB: The Uncle / Stric, the first feature film by the duo Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac, started shooting in Zagreb on 20 May 2021. The film starring Serbian actor Miki Manojlović is a Croatian/Serbian coproduction and the first feature film produced by the Croatian company Eclectica.

BRATISLAVA: The Slovak/Czech coproduction General / Generál by Jiří Chlumský, which began production in 2018, is still shooting. The historical drama following the life of Milan Rastislav Štefánik, a general and important politician of the early 20th century, changed the director twice. It was originally directed by Mariana Čengel Solčanská, followed by Jérôme Cornuau, and finally Jiří Chlumský.

BUCHAREST: Romanian writer/director/producer Paul Negoescu is currently in production with his fourth feature film Men of Deeds / Oameni de treabă. This Romanian/Bulgarian coproduction is Negoescu’s first film based on somebody else’s script.

SKOPJE: Director Jani Bojadzi is in postproduction with his sophomore feature Cinema Love / Kino Ljubov. This indie low budget drama was shot in two phases due to the COVID-19 bans and infections of the team members, and it is expected to be finished by the end of July 2021.

WARSAW: Netflix has announced the start of production on the second and third part of the film 365 Days, based on the trilogy by Blanka Lipińska. Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes will direct both films. 365 Days was the most-watched film worldwide on Netflix in 2020.