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Attendees praised the projects, atmosphere and organisation.

Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.

The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.

Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a...

Attendees praised the projects, atmosphere and organisation

Romania-born, Berlin-based director Cosmin Nicolae’s debut feature project Pyrrhic was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop during TIFF’s industry programme.

The drama, which has already secured more than half of its €1.4m budget, was awarded €25,000 in post-production services as part of the Chainsaw Europe post-production award as well as the CoCo Award’s five-day residency from the Connecting Cottbus East-West Co-Production Market.

Nicolae’s screenplay centres on a 40-year-old woman army veteran returning from Afghanistan to her hometown on the Black Sea coast and making a harrowing...

‘Nasty’ is about the legendary Romanian tennis player and is direted by festival president Tudor Giurgiu.

New films by Tudor Giurgiu and Marian Crisan are to be shown in Ro Days’ Closed Screenings at this week’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Cluj-Napoca.

The screenings are open to distributors, festival programmers, and sales agents.

Transilvania festival president Giurgiu’s documentary Nasty about the legendary Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase includes interviews with Rafa Nadal, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, and Billie Jean King.

At last year’s TIFF, the director had given a sneak preview of around 15 minutes...

Prominent Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, who has been instrumental to bringing works by auteurs such as Lars Von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso to the big screen, is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival.

Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6.

Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina,...

Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.

New films by Russia’s Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina, whose credits include Waterdrop, are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus (coco).

The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in...

Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.

New films by Roman Bondarchuk (The Editorial Office) and Robert Budina (Waterdrop) are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus.

The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in 2018.

Among the other...

Projects include historical drama ‘Erasing Frank’.

Hungary’s National Film Institute (Nfi) has supported three upcoming projects with more than $1.6m in grants as production in the country awaits the greenlight to resume.

The largest grant of HUF434 million ($1.32m) has been awarded to Orwellian drama Erasing Frank, which will mark the debut feature of Gabor Fabricius.

Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe, the story centres on the titular frontman of an underground punk band who speaks out against a totalitarian regime. Frank is taken to a psychiatric hospital where the system attempts to secretly silence its enemies.