All articles by Theo Schwinke

  • News

    Palace Cinemas adds 12 digital 3D screens

    2009-04-07T14:46:00Z

    Palace Cinemas has added 12 new 3D-capable digital screens at its sites in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

  • News

    33 Scenes From Life named Best Film at 11th Polish Film Awards

    2009-03-10T14:01:00Z

    Malgorzata Szumowska's drama 33 Scenes From Life was named best film at the 11th Polish Film Awards in Warsaw and Jerzy Skolimowksi received the Eagle for best director for his work on Four Nights With Anna. In addition to best film, 33 Scenes From Life received the Audience Award as ...

  • News

    Stillking and Pioneer launch joint venture in Budapest

    2009-03-05T13:12:00Z

    Stillking Films and Pioneer Pictures have announced the launch of a new joint venture, P.S. Films, to co-produce and service feature films in Budapest. The move indicates renewed confidence in Hungary as a location for runaway production after inward feature film production services spend dropped nearly three-quarters in 2008. Stillking ...

  • News

    Sofia to open with world premiere of The Goat

    2009-03-04T14:50:00Z

    The Sofia International Film Festival opens March 5 with the world premier of The Goat, a dark comedy from Bulgarian director Georgi Djulgerov and close March 15 with Wim Wenders presenting his film The Palermo Shooting. The festival's international competition of first and second films includes Bulgaria's Oscar submission, Zift, ...

  • News

    The Rest Is Silence dominates Romanian academy awards

    2009-03-04T12:36:00Z

    The Rest Is Silence has picked up the lion’s share of trophies, including best feature, at the 2009 Gopos,Romania’s national film awards.

  • News

    Polish Film Institute awards $17m in funding

    2009-03-02T17:40:00Z

    The Polish Film institute has announced more than $17m in new funding for film projects and productions, including $14.5m for feature production. The results of the first funding session in 2009 also include $8.2m in direct support for international co-productions, including Polish-minority co-productions. The single largest grant was $2.2m (PLN ...

  • News

    Juraj Herz to begin shooting Habermann in March

    2009-02-27T11:04:00Z

    Slovak auteur Juraj Herz will begin filming March 17 on his new film, Habermann.The $10m production is a co-production between Art Oko Film of Germany, KN Filmcompany of the Czech Republic, and Wega Film of Austria.Atlas Film International is handling international sales. Art Oko producer Karel Dirka expects to have ...

  • News

    Meszáros wraps production on historical drama The Hope

    2009-02-26T17:40:00Z

    Hungarian auteur Márta Meszáros has concluded production on historical drama The Hope. The film's protagonists are two pioneering politicians, Anna Kethly and Golda Meir, whose lives intersected in 1956. Eniko Eszenyi plays Kethly while Polish actress Beata Fudalej portrays Meir. Other cast include Erno Fekete, Zsuzsa Czinkoczi, and Gyorgi Cserhalmi). ...

  • News

    Russian World Studios plans new partnership with New Cinema

    2009-02-04T17:40:00Z

    Leading Russian producer Russian World Studios today announced that it is in negotiations to form a strategic partnership with Sergei Chliyants' New Cinema Studio.Under the proposed deal, New Cinema Studio, which includes New Cinema Marketing and New Cinema Distribution, will become a division of Russian World Studios, responsible for production ...

  • News

    Lost Times takes Golden Reel in Budapest

    2009-02-04T08:10:00Z

    The Golden Reel, the main prize of the 40th Hungarian Film Week, was awarded to Lost Times, the debut feature of director Aron Matyassy. The film is a moving portrayal of a small-time criminal's search for justice after his autistic sister is raped. The film stars Jozsef Kadas as the ...

  • News

    Hungary and Ireland to sign co-production agreement

    2009-02-03T17:34:00Z

    Representatives of the Irish Film Board and the Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation will sign a co-production agreement in Berlin on Sunday, February 8, which is designed to foster co-productions between the two territories. The deal includes a reciprocal feature whereby producers from the two territories will in effect take ...

  • News

    Film Europe picks up five films for EFM

    2009-01-23T16:24:00Z

    SPI International’s new sales arm, Film Europe, has picked up five completed films premiering atBerlin next month.

  • News

    Hungarian Film Week announces main competition line up

    2009-01-06T15:00:00Z

    Eighteen new feature films will compete for the Golden Reel Award at the 40th Hungarian Film Week (January 27-February 3) Budapest. The competition titles were selected by a committee of Hungarian film professionals from among 26 features completed in the last 12 months. The competition features 13 world premieres, including ...

  • News

    Czech box-office admissions down 10%

    2008-12-18T12:18:00Z

    Czech admissions have dropped nearly 10% year-on-year, according to new data from the Czech Union of Film Distributors, but local distributors have reason to hope that year-end results will rebound. The first 10 months of this year saw 10.1m admissions at the Czech box office, compared to 11m for Jan-Oct ...

  • News

    Danish dark comedy Terribly Happy to get English-language remake

    2008-11-21T11:44:00Z

    Stillking Films and Fine & Mellow are planning an English-language remake of the Danish film Terribly Happy, with Henrik Ruben Genz remaining in the director's chair.Speaking to ScreenDaily.com from his Prague office, Stillking managing director Matthew Stillman said the film would be a scene-by-scene remake of the original, which won ...

  • News

    Black Nights Festival announces competition line up

    2008-11-20T12:06:00Z

    The 12th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (November 13-December 7) has announced its international competition programmes and the projects included in the Baltic Event Co-Production Market.In the festival's EurAsia competition, 18 films will compete for the Grand Prix and $12,600 (Euros 10,000).The EurAsia jury consists of actor Rain Tolk, director ...

  • News

    Rutger Hauer, Michael York join The Hill And The Cross

    2008-11-04T18:16:00Z

    Rutger Hauer and Michael York have joined the cast of The Hill And The Cross, currently in production in Katowice, Poland.Director and visual artist Lech Majewski is approaching the film by creating a tableau vivant which recreates Peter Bruegel's painting of Jesus' crucifixion, The Way To Calvary.Hauer plays Bruegel in ...

  • News

    Once star Market Irglova turns down Darkness

    2008-10-30T18:22:00Z

    Marketa Irglova has backed out Darkness, a new film from veteran Czech director Juraj Herz, which began shooting this week.Lenka Krobotova (Karamazovi) replaces Irglova, who will spend the time on a concert tour with Once co-star and recording-artist partner Glen Hansard. Krobotova will star opposite Ivan Franek.Shooting is taking place ...

  • News

    Russia faces dramatic production curbs in wake of credit crunch

    2008-10-28T20:50:00Z

    Russian market faces contraction in production, Central Partnership's Armen Dishdishyan says largest companies will weather crisis.The global credit crunch has forced a sharp contraction in Russian film production, with up to a quarter of film projects falling victim to the financial meltdown.Armen Dishdishyan, vice president of international sales and co-production ...

  • News

    Czech documentary Rene wins Prix ARTE

    2008-10-21T16:37:00Z

    The European Film Academy has announced that Rene, by Czech director Helena Trestikova, will receive the 2008 Prix ARTE for documentary film.The recipient of the award is chosen by an independent jury, which this year was made up of Danish producer Karoline Leth, Moscow Film Festival programme director Kirsi Tykkyläinen, ...