Poland’s VOD Levy Yields Almost 2 m EUR in 2020
WARSAW: Digital companies operating in Poland paid 1.986 m EUR / 8.92 m PLN in the first six months since the new VOD levy was introduced in 2020.
The fee for on-demand audiovisual media services on the internet was introduced at the beginning of July as part of the anti-crisis shield 3.0. The levy amounts to either 1.5 percent user fee or ad revenue, whichever is higher for the individual business. The levy must be paid each quarter to the Polish Film Institute.
These funds will be allocated to the Polish Film Institute’s Operational Programmes for film production, organisation of festivals and other film events, support for cinemas and promotion of Polish film abroad.
Honeyland by Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska
SKOPJE: It was a challenging year for the industry in North Macedonia, as everywhere. Filming became complicated, cinemas went dark, festivals were moved and canceled.
However, the year started with one of the greatest chapters in Macedonian film history. The documentary
Honeyland / Medena zemja directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film categories at the Academy Awards. It was not only the first time when a Macedonian film got two Oscar nominations, but also the first time when a documentary was nominated at the Oscars in the two categories.
Yana Marinova and Luiza Grigorova-Makariev in Wildlings by Martin Makariev
SOFIA: Critical for culture and film worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was equally difficult for the film industry in Bulgaria.
The first severe restrictions of social and cultural life came after the vote of the Bulgarian Parliament in favour of a state of emergency from 13 March 2020, imposing a lockdown for a month. All culture and entertainment venues including cinemas were obliged to close.
As a result, only days after the official announcement of its 2020 lineup, the Sofia FF had to postpone its 24th edition, which was about to kick off on 12 March 2020 and to be followed by the 17th Sofia Meetings.
BERLIN: Hungarian minority coproduction Taming the Garden by Salomé Jashi will screen in Berlinale Shorts and Berlinale Forum, respectively.
In the 20-minute documentary
My Uncle Tudor, which is among the 20 short films from 17 countries selected for Berlinale Shorts 2021, Olga Lucovnicova travels back to the home of her great-grandparents in the Republic of Moldova, where she meets the uncle who abused her from the age of 9.
In her long documentary
Taming the Garden, which was included in the list of 17 titles of Berlinale Forum 2021, Georgian director Salomé Jashi follows massive and ancient trees being transported at great expense and inconvenience from the coast of the Republic of Georgia to the private garden of a wealthy former prime minister of Georgia.
photo: Nicu Cherciu
CLUJ-NAPOCA: The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a new summer outdoor edition in Cluj-Napoca from 23 July to 1 August 2021, instead of its traditional May-June dates. TIFF was the only big European film festival held physically in August 2020.
The 2021 programme will include approximately 150 feature films, live performances, talks, exhibitions and special events for families, while the Industry platform will see new programmes online and offline as well.
The festival’s streaming platform TIFF Unlimited will screen online in Romania some of the titles of the edition simultaneously with the physical screenings.
The 2021 edition will keep the 14 venues from last year and will also add indoor screenings, if the pandemic context allows it.