IDFA 2008: SEE YOU AT THE EIFFEL TOWER

Bulgarian director Valentin Valchev and producer Martichka Bozhilova will celebrate the world premiere of their documentary film See You at Eiffel Tower at the 2008 IDFA (November 20 - 30). Under the working title Us 4 Revisited, the project participated in the 2004 Ex Oriente Film training programme.

DAUGHTERS OF THE ENEMY RECEIVED 2008 GOLDEN STAR AWARD

November 13, 2008, Daughters of the Enemy, a documentary project that comprises of testimonies by 37 daughters of political prisoners who were persecuted in the 1950s Czechoslovakia, received the Golden Star Award that is annually presented by the European Commission. Shot by 13 FAMU students, the testimonies will be made into a 7-part documentary series and a feature documentary film.

CPH:DOX - 2008 WINNERS

The sixth edition of CPH:DOX (November 7 - 16), one of Europe's largest documentary festivals that annually offers a selection of more than 150 films, announced the winners in all competition categories. The main DOX:AWARD went to Anders Østergaard for Burma VJ; the Doc Alliance Award was presented to Citizen Havel by Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek.

CZECH RAPUBLIC HITS CZECH CINEMAS

Pavel Abrahám's documentary film Czech Rapublic, an irreverent look at the local hip hop scene, will be released in cinemas across the country November 27, 2008. The film was presented at this year's Jihlava IDFF (Czech Joy); in 2006, it attended Ex Oriente Film, IDF's year-long training programme.

SEMINAR FOR DOCUMENTARY PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS

Czech documentary producers and filmmakers are cordially invited to attend the upcoming sales and distribution seminar dedicated to Czech documentary film and the new Czech Lion Award for documentary films. During the two-day seminar, international lecturers and established Czech sales agents and distributors will introduce participants to the basic principles of documentary sales and distribution. Using a number of case studies, participants will also attend a debate over the current state as well as the future of documentary distribution. Photo: Revue, Sergej Loznica, Deckert Distribution.

EAST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARIES AT 2008 IDFA

Among more than 250 documentary films, the 21st IDFA (November 20 - 30, 2008) will present some of the most remarkable new titles from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and other East European countries, including the cinema version of Marcin Latallo's Our Street [photo], Bahrtalo! Good Luck! by Robert Lakatos or Ada Gallery by Uladzimir Kolas that in the past attended the East European Forum/Ex Oriente Film workshop. Also, don't miss the East Silver Caravan that stops in Amsterdam with a selection of the latest East European docs.

CZECH PEACE AND VILLAGE WITHOUT WOMEN AT IDFA FORUM

IDFA FORUM, Europe's largest meeting that brings together filmmakers, independent producers and commissioning editors takes place November 24 - 26, 2008. Czech Peace by Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda will be presented among 29 projects included in the Central Pitch; in the Roundtable Pitch, potential financiers will consider support for, among others, Village without Women, presented by director Srdjan Sarenac and producer Estelle Robin-You. Both projects attend this year's East European Forum.

SUNDANCE AND THE PIT - INTERVIEW WITH RAHDI TAYLOR

Rahdi Taylor, Associate Director of the Sundance Documentary Fund, was among the 21 panelists of the 2008 East European Forum and among the guests of the East Silver market. The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program provides year-round support to nonfiction contemporary-issue filmmakers internationally. The Sundance Documentary Fund is a key activity of the Documentary Film Program. Since 1996, the Fund has supported over 450 films in 52 countries.

ITVS INTERNATIONAL AND THE FILMMAKER'S VISION - INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA KANE

Cynthia Kane, Programming Manager for ITVS International, attended this year's East Silver market as well as the East European Forum, along with 20 other funders and commissioning editors. ITVS International runs a fund that funds, promotes and broadcasts works made by international independent producers. Known for their policy of little interference with the filmmaker's creative vision, ITVS International has since 2005 supported more than 60 documentaries from over 50 countries.

JANA ŠEVČÍKOVÁ'S GYUMRI WON CULT AWARD AT ROME IFF

The International Jury of the Rome International Film Festival (October 22 - 31, 2008) gave the 2008 CULT Award for Best Documentary Film to Gyumri by Czech director Jana Ševčíková. Following its world premiere in Rome, Gyumri was also presented at this year's Jihlava IDFF and at DOK Leipzig.

IVETKA AND THE MOUNTAIN TO BE RELEASED NOVEMBER 20

Ivetka and the Mountain, the latest documentary film by Vít Janeček that was presented at IDF's Panel of Upcoming Czech Documentary Films in September and received the Award for Best Czech Documentary Film at the Jihlava IDFF, will be released in Czech theatres November 20, 2008. Prior to the official opening, special advance screenings are scheduled in several cinemas across the country, attended by Janeček and the protagonist.

DOK LEIPZIG PRIZE WINNERS

The Golden Dove Award for best feature documentary film of the 51st DOK Leipzig went to René by Helena Třeštíková. The Silver Dove was awarded to Heddy Honigmann's Oblivion. The Golden Dove for best short documentary film was presented to Marcin Koszałka's ...Till It Hurts; Bastion of Sin by Thomas Lauterbach received the Golden Dove Award for best German documentary film.

PRIX EUROPA 2008 WINNERS

Berlin, Saturday, Oct 25 - The Prix Europa Awards were handed out to the best European television, radio and emerging media productions with the aim of publicising them throughout Europe and supporting their distribution and use. The Award for Best Regional TV Documentary went to Ada Gallery by Uladzimir Kolas (participant of the 2007 Ex Oriente Film); Razvan Georgescu received the Award for Best TV Documentary Programme for his Testimony, presented at the 2007 Docu Talents from the East.

EAST EUROPEAN FORUM RESULTS

Creative documentary film has again found strong support at this year's East European Forum. The annual meeting that brings together East European filmmakers and producers with European broadcasters, film funds and sales agents will boost the development of a number of projects. In addition to pledges of co-production and prebuy support that will help to secure more funding to complete the films, 50 East European filmmakers also attended lectures, seminars, case studies and individual consultations with a record number of documentary professionals from Europe and North America.

JIHLAVA IDFF - AWARDED FILMS

On Tuesday, October 28, the closing ceremony of the 12th year of the International Documentary Film Festival Jihlava was held, announcing the awards for the corresponding sections, the Audience Award and the Respekt Award. The juries also awarded two Special Mentions. [photo: Domestic Violence 2, dir. Frederick Wiseman]

BETWEEN THE FIELDS

Timo Novotny's Life in Loops, a remix of Michael Glawogger's documentary film Megacities received the Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2006 Karlovy Vary IFF. In 2008, Timo Novotny attended the Ex Oriente Film training programme with Trains of Thoughts. He discussed his latest project in an interview conducted at this year's East European Forum.

TOO MUCH TIME FOR THINKING

The Polish documentary film Kites by Beata Dzianowicz and producer Krzysztof Kopczyński is included in the Between the Seas competition at the Jihlava IDFF. In 2006, the authors developed the film within the Ex Oriente Film workshop under the working title Learning to Watch. This summer it premiered in Locarno and received the Critics' Week Award. In the following interview, Beata Dzianowicz talks more about the production details, Afghan students or the value of European advice.

EAST SILVER MARKET 2008: FINAL SUMMARY

The East Silver market opened for the 5th time at the 12th Jihlava IDFF. Out of 420 submissions, the market offered 256 titles as well as 120 films from the festival program. There were 30 computers installed and just like the last year they were always busy. The catalogue that served as a practical handbook provided an overview of 2008 documentary production and activities in Eastern Europe, including the East Silver Caravan, a travelling showcase of documentary films.

NOVEMBER BLOWS IN NEW FILMS TO DOC AIR

In November Doc Air opens its vault of documentary and experimental treasures that contains new student films, Miloslav Novák's Peace with Seals, eight new international films or one of early films by prominent Dutch director Bert Haanstra. In the following months, Doc Air will introduce five more films by Haanstra, including ZOO or The Voice of the Water.

CZECH LION AWARD - 12 DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES

During the Jihlava IDFF Opening Ceremony, the Czech Film and Television Academy announced a shortlist of 12 best documentary films made from 1993 - 2007. A ten-member jury selected the final twelve titles out of thirty-nine nominated documentary films. The three best documentaries made over the last fifteen years - voted by members of the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) - will be revealed in January 2009 at the Czech Lion Award Nomination Ceremony.

TRAILERS: EAST EUROPEAN FORUM PROJECTS 2008

24 documentary projects - 14 of them developed within the Ex Oriente Film workshop and 10 others selected for the Forum - were presented during the pitch sessions of the East European Forum, Oct 25 - 26, 2008. Directors and producers pitched their proposals and visual material to a panel of international commissioning editors and funders from across the globe. Trailers of all projects are now available online!

RECYCLE LIFE - MAKE DOCUMENTARIES!

AND VISIT THE EAST EUROPEAN FORUM. Jihlava eats, sleeps and breathes documentary films - young, old and even ones that don't yet exist. The East European Forum is October's documentary incubator. Each year, it welcomes 50 East European directors and producers and their projects, some of which return after a few years to the festival's competition, to the local documentary market and to online distribution. The East European Forum is at the beginning of it all, inviting all who want to take part - October 22 - 27 in Jihlava.

FIVE EAST EUROPEAN FORUM/EX ORIENTE FILM PROJECTS HEAD TO LEIPZIG

The 4th DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting that takes place October 29-30 will feature five projects that attend the current edition of the East European Forum or Ex Oriente Film. The filmmakers will be co-hosted by DOK Leipzig and IDF. In addition, Stephan Komandarev's project The Town of Badante Women has been invited to take part in the Discovery Campus final pitching session (DOK Leipzig, Oct 31/Nov 1); Veronika Janatková (Concrete Stories) will participate as an observer. The cooperation between IDF and DOK Leipzig is part of comprehensive follow-up support that provides projects with further funding opportunities.

EAST EUROPEAN FORUM AWARDS

Joan Morselt, IDFA FORUM Coordinator, selected the Polish project Puppets by Thierry Paladino and Jacek Nagłowski as the winner of the IDFA FORUM Award. The winning project will receive a free participation at the IDFA FORUM. The Sunny Side of the Doc Award for the best workshop pitch goes to Austria's Tomorrow You Will Leave by Martin Nguyen and Arash T. Riahi. The filmmakers receive a free accreditation to the Sunny Side of the Doc market. The awards were presented at the Jihlava IDFF Opening Ceremony. IDF will support both projects with further scholarships.

CZECH RAPUBLIC AND KITES AT JIHLAVA IDFF

The film lineup of the 12th Jihlava IDFF includes two documentaries that were developed within Ex Oriente Film, IDF's year-long training programme. Director Pavel Abrahám and producer Martin Pošta participated at the workhop in 2006 to develop their project Czech RAPublic; Kites by director Beata Dzianowicz and producer Krzysztof Kopczynski attended the 2004 Ex Oriente Film.

DOCUMENTOR: NEW GATEWAY TO ROMANIAN DOCUMENTARY FILM

Documentor, Romania's first professional organization dedicated to documentary film, was founded in 2007 by Florin Iepan, Alexandru Solomon, Adina Bradeanu and Calin Meda. In a short time Documentor hosted a Discovery Campus session in Timisoara and this year it participated at the Sunny Side of the Doc. In an interview, Alexandru Solomon shared more about Documentor's aims and plans.

DOCUMENTARY AWARD GOES TO RENÉ

The European Film Academy proudly announces that the award EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2008 - Prix ARTE goes to the film RENE by Helena Třeštíková, Czech Republic. In co-operation with the European cultural channel ARTE, the European Film Academy annually honours an outstanding achievement in documentary filmmaking. The recipient of the award is chosen by an independent jury and this year’s jury was made up of Danish producer Karoline Leth, Finnish programme director of the Moscow Film Festival, Kirsi Tykkyläinen, and British producer Alan Hayling. They screened all ten nominated documentaries at Berlin’s Arsenal cinema and decided on the winner.

BELARUSIAN BELSAT TV AT EAST EUROPEAN FORUM

For the first time in the young history of Belsat TV, the first independent TV network in Belarus, its representative Victoria Dunaeva visits the Czech Republic. At the the East European Forum and East Silver market, she will introduce the network's programming profile in order to establish new contacts with other representatives of the European TV market and producers of East European documentary films. More information about so far the only alternative TV channel in Belarusian media landscape avaliable at www.belsat.eu, in the Jihlava IDFF industry programme or in the following interview. Photo: Ada Gallery, dir: Uladzimir Kolas

NEW DOCUMENTARY SLOTS AT KNOWLEDGE

The Canadian based broadcaster Knowledge, formerly known as Knowledge Network, has re-branded, restructured and digitized their station over the last months. This is a process initiated and lead by the channels CEO Rudy Buttignol. As part of this process Knowledge has presented a new programming schedule, with a couple of new documentary slots. Rudy Buttignol will be at the panel of East European Forum in Jihlava on October 25 - 26.

FOR MORE INFO GO TO REELISOR.COM

Check it out. Read through. Realize what it offers and become part of it. reelisor is the new online cooperation platform for the entire European documentary film business. As a navigator for existing platforms and websites, reelisor offers guidance and information throughout the whole year. Its mission is to encourage training, education and the exchange of knowledge within the international documentary film market and its related fields. For more info go to www.reelisor.com

LITHUANIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTRE SET TO OPEN IN 2009

Lithuania, the only Baltic republic without a national film organisation, is on the verge of getting a National Film Centre. A new Cinema Law is being drafted, taking into consideration the regulations for a future centre, based on a project approved by the country’s Ministry of Culture on July 29 of this year.

BLIND LOVES WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY IN ZURICH

Continuing its successful festival run, Juraj Lehotský's Blind Loves received the Award for Best Documentary Film at the 4th Zurich Film Festival (Sep 25-Oct 5). Among other honors, the film received the Art Cinema Award at this year's Cannes IFF. The next stop will be at the Times BFI London Film Festival (Oct 15-30) that will also feature Citizen Havel.

SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST: EAST EUROPEAN PICKS

Doc/Fest (November 5 - 9, 2008), one of the UK's leading documentary festivals and the venue for MeetMarket, annually presents over 100 documentaries from around the world. Don't miss this year's lineup that includes a handful of films from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.

THE EDN AWARD 2008 GOES TO INSTITUTE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM

The EDN Award 2008 is presented to Institute of Documentary Film - IDF, located in Prague. They receive the award for their enthusiastic and energetic work with establishing a central organisation and professional platform for the development and promotion of Central and Eastern European documentary. The award will be presented on Friday March 14 at 19:30 (Greek Time) at an award reception at the international documentary pitching session Docs in Thessaloniki.