All Screen articles in 13 January 2004
View all stories from this month.
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News
Cold Mountain to open Berlinale
Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain is to be the opening night film of this year's Berlinale (5-15 Feb).The decision allows Miramax to give the film a high profile position in the Oscar race - nominations are announced on Jan 27 and ballot papers mailed on Feb 4 - and to kick ...
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Reviews
Summer In The Golden Valley
Dir. Srdjan Vuletic. Bosnia and Herzegovina-France-UK, 2003. 104 mins.This is another case of the message coming across much clearer than the ramshackle vehicle put together to carry it through. A inexpert crime comedy caper about an adolescent who has to produce 50,000 marks to clear up the memory of his ...
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ICELAND
The release of Hilmar Oddsson's Icelandic drama Cold Light (Kaldaljós) on Jan 2 has been highly anticipated following the disappointing year at the box-office for local films in 2003.So far it seems that Icelanders have been eager for home made product, as the film served up a better screen average ...
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ITALY
Christmas blockbuster Natale In India (literally, Christmas In India) has once again demonstrated the money-spinning value of Aurelio De Laurentiis's 20-year-old franchise of low-brow comedies, as it posted total earnings of $23,021,125 three weeks after its release.Distributed by Filmauro and starring Christian De Sica and Massimo Boldi, Natale In ...
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Reviews
Ramblers
Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita. Japan 2003. 83mins.Looking like a manga version of Waiting For Godot, this deadpan adaptation of a Yoshiharu Tsuge comic strip about two forlorn characters stranded in the frozen Japanese countryside offers the kind of minimalist, understated satire normally expected from Jim Jarmusch. A series of successive ...
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Reviews
Vibrator
Dir: Ryuichi Hiroki. Japan. 2003. 95 mins.Ryuichi Hiroki’s Vibrator sounds, from its plot summary, like a throwback to the feminist dramas of a generation ago - troubled thirtysomething woman rediscovers love and life on the road. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore - she went to Japan. Based on an award-winning ...
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Local hits fuel Dutch box-office in 2003
Cinema-attendance in the Netherlands rose again in 2003, despite fears of a fall because of the state of the economy.Admissions rose 2.5% to a total of 24.7m, while box office rose 3.5% to Euros 162.5m according to national cinema body NFC.NFC-chairman Wilco Wolfers told ScreenDaily.com that the good results were ...
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French blame first half for poor 2003 result
France's exhibition watchdog, the FNCF, has announced a 5% fall in admissions for 2003 - most of which was concentrated in the first half of the year.With 175.5m tickets sold, first half numbers were down by 9.1% compared to 2002 while the second half of the year showed only a ...
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DGA pits Coppola against four male heavyweights
Lost In Translation director Sofia Coppola will go up against ClintEastwood (Mystic River), PeterJackson (The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King), Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) and Peter Weir (Master And Commander: The FarSide Of The World) for the Director'sGuild of America's (DGA) Outstanding Directorial Achievement accolade.Yesterday's announcement byDGA ...
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Ethnic GLBT festival launched in Los Angeles by Outfest
The Los Angeles lesbian and gay film festival Outfest is launchingFusion, an inaugural LA-based festival catering to the lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender ethnic communities.Launching with the support of 15 non-profit organisations from theLos Angeles area, the event will run from Jan 30-Feb 1 and screen 36 shortfilms and videos.Featured film-makers ...
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German arthouse exhibitors attack cinema levy
Germany's arthouse and repertoire exhibitors have criticised the introduction of increases to the cinema levy in the new Film Funding Law (FFG) which came into effect on 1 January.The new cinema levy envisages an average 2.6% of a cinema's annual gross turnover of tickets flowing to the German Federal Film ...
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Sundance Online Film Festival launches with new jury award
The SundanceInstitute launched its fourth annual Sundance Online Film Festival (SOFF)yesterday (6), featuring 30 short films and interactive projects and newfootage highlighting the history of the Sundance Film festival and theInstitute.The online eventruns until Feb 15 and includes three categories of animation, short subject andnew forms gallery.An inauguraljury award will ...
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New LA production outfit Prospect Pictures launched with Wall Street backing
Director Marcos Siega, producer Matthew Weaver and financier CarlLevin have announced the launch LA-based film and television company ProspectPictures.The company will be led by partners Siega, who directed theupcoming action comedy The Underclassman for Miramax, Weaver, who produced the Miramax comedy MyBaby's Daddy which opensin the US this week, and ...
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Besson voices fears for French cinema
In a rare interview, Luc Besson went on the record in French daily Le Figaro last week to voice his fears about the current state of French cinema."I can't help but be worried about French film," he said, "It's evident that American film attacks from every end intending to annihilate ...
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Crawley to move from London to LA and senior BVI job
Nic Crawley hasbeen promoted from vice president of marketing at Buena Vista International,Europe, to senior vice president of international marketing.Crawley willrelocate from London to Burbank in late January and will report to Mark Zoradi,president of Buena Vista International (BVI) and Buena Vista Home EntertainmentInternational.He will beresponsible for all international marketing ...
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News
Deneuve, Depardieu reteam for Techine's Temps
Paolo Branco and his company Gemini Films are preparing two new high-profile projects, one from veteran Andre Techine and the other a third film from Rodolphe Marconi.Techine's project is titled Le Temps Qui Passe and reunites legendary actors Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. This marks their fifth dramatic collaboration and ...
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Polanski's Twist wins European support
Roman Polanski's upcoming Oliver Twist is gaining steam in Europe with partners in place and casting underway.The film, an adaptation of the Dickens novel, will be produced by Polanski, Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde - the same team behind Oscar winner The Pianist - for Polanski's company RP Productions, the ...
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French film production hits record high in 2003
Film production hit a record high in France in 2003, up by more than 5% compared to 2002.According to end of year figures confirmed by the National Cinema Centre (CNC) a record 212 features were given the green light with 183 of those majority French productions.The numbers surpass 2001's record ...
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Reviews
The First Letter (Abjad)
Dir. Abolfazl Jalili. Iran-France-Italy, 2003. 110mins.Far too long, excessively self-indulgent and often repetitive, this autobiographical reconstruction of director Jalili's own adolescence in pre-revolutionary Iran should be a surefire hit on the festival circuit and in specialised arthouses, for its blunt, in-your-face indictment of Islamic fundamentalism, which ruled over his young ...
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American Splendor voted best picture by LA critics
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor has been voted best picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), with Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation named as the runner up.Peter Jackson was voted best director for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the ...