Screen
19 June 2009
View all stories from this issue.
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Protagonist boards Warp X’s All Tomorrow’s Parties
London-based Protagonist Pictures will be handling international sales on Warp X’s All Tomorrow’s Parties. -
Tessa Ross honoured by London Film School
Tessa Ross, Controller of Film and Drama at Channel 4, has been named an Honorary Associate of The London Film School. She was given the title last night at a Q&A event which followed a screening of Slumdog Millionaire. -
Training scheme to launch careers of British talent
Eleven British filmmakers will participate in Second Picture Syndrome, a training programme that develops and packages mid-budget ($10m to $25m) films for the international market.The film-makers have been chosen for their ability and ambition to make mainstream commercial cinema with international appeal. The scheme will help them to develop projects with the aim of securing a financial and creative package.The Skillset funded scheme, which is managed by Slingshot Productions, -
3D cinema shows strength in depth
On the eve of this year’s Cinema Expo (June 22-25), Jack Warner looks at whether the figures are beginning to add up for 3D exhibition following a first quarter of rapid growth in the number of 3D screens and 3D films released. -
AFI won't continue partnership with Dallas festival
The Dallas Film Society will continue the Dallas International Film Festival even though the American Film Institute will no longer sponsor the event. -
Alires, Hirigoyen join Maya while Escobedo promoted
Los Angeles-based Maya Entertainment has expanded its home entertainment division with three executive announcemnts. -
Anchor Bay takes on Tribeca hit City Island
Anchor Bay Films has acquired all rights for North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand to Raymond De Felitta’s City Island. -
Baraboo
Dir/scr/ed. Mary Sweeney. USA. 2009. 104 mins -
Boogie Woogie
Dir. Duncan Ward. UK. 2009. 90 mins -
Brazilian romcom A Mulher Invisível beats Terminator into second place
Romantic comedy A Mulher Invisível, the second feature from Brazilian director Claudio Torres, has beaten Terminator Salvation into second place at the box office in Brazil. -
Bruno
Dir Larry Charles. US. 2009. 88 mins -
Bullock has biggest opener as The Proposal hits $34.1 in North America
Romantic comedy The Proposalwooed plenty of North American moviegoers over the weekend, opening with an estimated gross of $34.1m to top the domestic box office chart. -
Cine Expo crowd gets preview of Avatar
20th Century Fox gave a Cine Expo audience a preview of footage from James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar last night. It was the first public screening of footage from the eagerly anticipated 3D picture. -
Cinefile acquires Philippe Lioret's Welcome
Scottish-based distribution company Cinefile has acquired UK theatrical rights to Philippe Lioret’s Welcome. -
Cinemavault woos buyers for Tucci's Blind Date
Toronto-based Cinemavault has announced a slew of new sales on Stanley Tucci’s Theo van Gogh remake Blind Date. -
Creative Kingdom plans $650m Thai studio complex
Los Angeles-based themed architecture designer, Creative Kingdom, has unveiled plans for a $650m movie studio and residential development, CNXMovie World Studios, in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand. -
Digital Britain to allow commercial access to orphan works
The British Film Institute (BFI) is set to benefit from plans to allow commercial access to orphan works; content where the rights owner can not be identified or found. -
Digital Britain: Industry Reaction
ScreenDaily rounds up the industry reaction to key proposals for film industry from the Digital Britain report. -
Digital Britain's clear vision
Digital Britain lays an impressive and abitious framework for the future of communications in the UK, but leaves many questions unanswered. -
E J-yong starts shooting ensemble drama Actresses
Untold Scandal director E J-yong has started production on his upcoming film Actresses (working title) with an ensemble cast of six of Korea’s top female thespians. -
Exploiting the Imax premium
What part is Imax playing in the growth of digital 3D? -
German film fund to invest $56m in digital expansion
The German Federal Film Board (FFA) is planning to invest $56m (€40m) to help speed up the development digital cinema. -
Gigantic launches new online platform for first-run indie films
Gigantic Group is launching a full-service “online exhibition venue” for first-run independent films, called Gigantic Digital Cinema. -
Glenn McQuaid plans further projects related to I Sell The Dead
Writer/director Glenn McQuaid says he plans to follow his festival hit I Sell The Dead with another project exploring the same graverobbing characters. -
Goodman promoted at Paramount as Grey ousts Lesher, Weston
In a major shakeup at Paramount Pictures on Friday afternoon, studio chairman Brad Grey fired Paramount Film Group president John Lesher and president of production Brad Weston. -
Grand Rapids plans first festival in August
Grand Rapids, Michigan will host the inaugural Grand Rapids Film Festival from August 26-28. -
Greenbox rides with Sandow, Batistick's Ponies
New York-based Greenbox Entertainment has started production on its dramatic feature Ponies. -
Here completes merger with Planet Out
Here Networks has completed its merger deal with PlanetOut Inc. The new public company will be called Here Media. -
High Point signs deal with India’s Pritish Nandy
London-based distributor and sales agency High Point Media Group has formed an alliance with Indian production outfit Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC). -
Home
Dir: Yann Arthus-Bertrand. France. 2009. -
Hungary selects Goda's Chameleon as Oscar entry
It may not be officially summer yet, but the Hungarians are entering the Oscar-season race with Chameleon. -
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
Dir. Carlos Saldanha. US, 2009, 93mins. -
Israel Film Festival wraps successful LA run
The Israel Film Festival, the largest showcase of Israeli films in the United States, set a new attendance record during the two-week run in Los Angeles. More than 19,000 people attended. -
Jan-Pelgrom de Haas to step down from Kinowelt
Kinowelt chief executive Jan-Pelgrom de Haas is stepping down from the company at the end of this month for family reasons. -
JDC Trust forced to suspend business for three months
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has suspended ailing film and contents fund management firm Japan Digital Contents Trust Inc (JDC) from doing business for a period of three months. -
Jon Amiel to direct hitman comedy for Sidney Kimmel
Jon Amiel has come on board to direct comedy Old Timers (working title) for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. -
Kadokawa slate heavy on local productions
Kadokawa Pictures has unveiled a 12-picture distribution slate for 2009-10, headed by in-house productions such as $20m drama Shizumanu Taiyo starring Ken Watanabe. -
Karlovy Vary hosts 19 world premieres
The 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival host 19 world premieres at this year’s edition, which will run July 3 – 11. -
LAFF's Fast Track includes Rodney Evans, Matthew Bissonette
Today Film Independent, the non-profit organisation that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has selected the projects for its seventh-annual Fast Track programme, sponsored by Eastman Kodak. -
Lee Ginsberg, Chris Libby launch new PR firm
Public relations veterans Lee Ginsberg and Chris Libby are partnering to launch new PR firm Ginsberg Libby. -
Liddell/Freestyle plan July US launch for The Collector
Liddell Entertainment has acquired US theatrical rights to Marcus Dunstan’s horror-thriller The Collector. -
Man On Wire
Dir: James Marsh. UK. 2008. -
Media 8 picks up My Last Five Girlfriends
Los Angeles-based Media 8 Entertainment has acquired all worldwide rights to the British comedy My Last Five Girlfriends. -
Mendes' Away We Go opens 63rd Edinburgh Film Festival
Director Sam Mendes and actors John Krasinski and Carmen Ejogo flew into Scotland for the European premiere of their gentle road movie Away We Go, which opened the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on last night (June 17). -
Mike Mitchell to direct MGM's Once Upon A Time
MGM has tapped Shrek veteran Mike Mitchell to direct the live action fantasy Once Upon A Time. -
Moscow celebrates golden year with greater international focus
The Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) is seeking to boost its position on the festival circuit with a 16-strong competition line-up, including world and Russian premieres. -
My Sister's Keeper
Dir. Nick Cassavetes. US. 2009. 103 mins -
My Winnipeg
Dir: Guy Maddin. Canada. 2007. -
Nantucket honours The Cove, Dabis and Deller
The 14th annual Nantucket Film Festival closed tonight with Showtime’s Tony Cox Screenplay Competition award going to Jenny Deller for her script Future Weather. -
New BAMcinemaFEST kicks off with Don't Let Me Drown
New York City’s newest film festival, BAMcinemaFEST, kicks off tonight in Brooklyn with the opening night presentation of Cruz Angeles’ Brooklyn-based love story Don’t Let Me Drown. -
New York Asian fest kicks off with world premiere of Written By
The New York Asian Film Festival will show more than 50 features this year, after opening with the world premiere of Wai Ka-Fai’s Written By. -
New York, Terminator set to kickstart Indian box office
India’s box office market swings back into action this week with the release of three US films and Yash Raj Films’ New York, the first in a string of big-ticket Hindi films that were delayed by the stand-off between producers and multiplexes. -
Norwegian cinemas sign digital roll-out deal with US studios
The Norwegian cinema association, Film & Kino, has signed a virtual print fee (VPF) agreement with five Hollywood studios, to help finance the world’s first non-commercial national digital expansion. -
Norwegian Wood
A businessman reminisces about the intense romances of his university days, set against the turbulent student riots of the late 1960s. Based on a novel by Haruki Murakami. -
October Country, Mugabe take top awards at Silverdocs
Silverdocs, the AFI/Discover Channel Documentary Festival, has given out $80,000 in prizes along with its top awards this afternoon. -
Original wins top prize at Shanghai film festival
Danish-Swedish co-production Original won best feature in the Jin Jue Awards of the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), which wrapped on Sunday night (June 21). -
Orlando Tobon, Carlos Bolado team for family drama
Philanthropist, author and Maria Full Of Grace actor Orlando Tobon has co-written the script for independent drama Dona Blanca, which is being produced by New York-based Dona Blanca LLC. -
Oscars to widen field to 10 Best Picture nominees
In a bold move, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced that the number of Best Picture Oscar nominees will rise to 10, doubling the field from the current five contenders. -
Oscilloscope signs digital deal with Warner Bros
Oscilloscope Laboratories has signed an exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to offer O-Scope films on VOD, downloads to own across platforms including cable, wireless, satellite and digital. -
Overture swoons for Rashida Jones' Forever
Overture Films has acquired romantic comedy Celeste and Jesse Forever, co-written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. -
Palm Springs Shortfest kicks off 315-film programme
The 2009 Palm Springs International Shortfest kicked off its 300+ film programme last night in the California desert resort town. -
Patrik, Herb & Dorothy win audience prizes in Provincetown
At the 11th annual Provincetown International Film Festival in Massachusetts, the HBO Audience Awards were presented Sunday with Ella Lemhagen’s Patrik, Age 1.5 taking the best narrative feature award. -
Peter Carlton to lead Warp’s European expansion
Film4 senior commissioning executive Peter Carlton is leaving to set up the European division of Warp Films.Carlton, who leaves Film4 after six years, will also act as executive producer across selected projects from its UK-based slate, and will work closely with Warp Films’ joint managing directors’ Mark Herbert and Robin Gutch.Warp Europe aims to develop bigger projects with international directors and international appeal. The company will focus on developing and financing no -
Piano, Goodbye Ani take top prizes at Shanghai’s CFPC
Zhang Meng’s The Piano In The Factory and Kwok Jae-yong’s Goodbye Ani took the top two prizes at China Film Pitch and Catch (CFPC), the projects market of the Shanghai International Film Festival, last night. -
Pierre Morel to be honoured at Cinema Expo Awards
Pierre Morel is to be named International Director of the Year, for his film Taken, at the 2009 Cinema Expo Awards Ceremony tonight. The film starring Liam Neeson took $77m internationally and grossed $222m at the box office worldwide. -
Playing Away
The Oscar winner Sam Mendes tells Mike Goodridge why his Edinburgh opener Away We Go is a far cry from big-budget Hollywood. -
Pula Film Festival to include Almodovar retrospective
The Pula Film Festival, the oldest film festival in Croatia, has introduced a new section focusing on European directors. The first retrospective will be dedicated to Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodóvar. -
Putting the foreign first
As the blockbuster success of Angels & Demons outside the US is proving, a number of major studio films are being crafted and targeted with international markets in mind. -
Revenant takes CineVegas audience prize
The 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival has announced the winners of its audience awards, with Kerry Prior’s The Revenant winning best narrative and Ben Steinbauer’s Winnebago Man winning best documentary. -
Sarkozy taps Frederic Mitterrand as culture minister
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has reshuffled his cabinet with at least one key change affecting the entertainment business. -
Schwarz promoted to SVP at Participant
Participant Media has promoted Liana Schwarz to Senior Vice President, Campaign Development & Operations. -
Silhol's Dominic wins best live action prize at Toronto's CFC short festival
French director Nicolas Silhol took the C.O.R.E Digital Pictures Award For Best Live Action Short with his psychological drama, My Name Is Dominic as the 2009 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival wrapped this weekend. -
SmartJog strikes digital server deal with Europalaces
French cinema chain Europalaces, which owns Gaumont and Pathe cinemas, has struck a deal to use SmartJog Digital Cinema Central Library Servers. -
Spain reveals plans for $125m film fund
Ignasi Guardans, the new director general of Spain’s Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), has announced plans for a new $125m (€90m) film funding scheme. -
Splitting Hairs
Dir: F. Stone Roberts. US. 2009. -
Stephen Fry to star in Dardentor
Three aspiring teenage film-makers have scored a coup after British writer and actor Stephen Fry signed on to act in their debut project. -
Stern says indies are hurting, but have huge opportunities online
Despite the economy, there was a slightly sunnier outlook at the Los Angeles Film Festival’s Film Financing Conference this weekend.James D. Stern, chairman and CEO of LA-based production and financing company Endgame Entertainment, struck a more positive note than 2008’s famous keynote speech by The Film Department’s Mark Gill.In his Saturday address, Stern tried to answer the question — “What does it take to be a filmmaker or financier in these difficult times?”Stern sa -
Sundance boosted Utah economy by $92m, study says
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival had an overall economic impact worth a record $92.1m in Utah, the Sundance Institute announced. -
Sweden unveils plans to scrap state film censor
Sweden is planning to scrap its film censorship body under plans revealed in a government research paper this week. -
Taipei film festival opens with Yang Yang
The Taipei Film Festival kicks off today (June 26) with the screening of local filmmaker Cheng Yu-chieh’s Yang Yang and will close on July 12 with Chang Tso-chi’s How Are You, Dad? -
Telefilm Canada gives $6.4m to seven French-language projects
New projects from Max Films, Cinemaginaire and Cirrus Communications are among seven French-language feature to be backed by Canadian film finance agency Telefilm Canada. -
Telluride picks Payne as guest director for 2009 festival
Alexander Payne will serve as the guest director for the 36th Telluride Film Festival, which will run September 4-7. -
Telstar rocks the UK, Three Monkeys in Spain
ScreenDaily’s weekly round up of the local and independent openings in key markets this week. -
Texas Instruments moves into 4K digital cinema
Texas Instruments has announced plans for a 4K option for its next generation digital projectors. US exhbitor Cinemark has already committed to using the technology when it is ready. -
The Calling
Dir/scr: Jan Dunn, UK. 2009. 105 mins -
The Cove
Dir: Louie Psihoyos. US. 2009. -
The Cove, 12 Notes Down take Silverdocs audience awards
Silverdocs, the AFI/Discovery Documentary Festival, still has one more day of festival favourite screenings today, but the audience award winners have now been announced. -
The End Of The Line
Dir: Robert Murray. UK. 2009. -
The Long Night wins Golden Tauro at Taormina Film Festival
Hatem Ali’s The Long Night (Al Layl Al-Tawil) won The Golden Tauro for best film in the Mediterranean Competition section of the 55th Taormina International Film Festival. -
The road to independents
IM Global is one of the few international sales companies that seems to be making headway in a tepid foreign-sales market. Founder and CEO Stuart Ford explains the principal causes of the current market conditions -
The Shock Labyrinth
A group of teenagers deal with the sudden return of a friend who went missing a decade ago. When the friend falls ill they take her to a hospital but end up trapped in a labyrinthine haunted house. Japan’s first live-action feature shot in digital 3D -
Theatres of opportunity
The UK’s ambitious exhibition sector is pioneering new release concepts to defy the credit crunch and harness the territory’s cinema-going boom. -
Toronto unveils new city section, announces first programme selections
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the first selections for its 34th edition (September 10-19). -
Transformers 2 heads into 60-territory launch for Paramount
Giant robots invade the international marketplace this week as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens with 10,769 prints in 60 markets day-and-date with its North American launch. -
Transformers 2 off to strong start with $20m from two territories
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made a powerful early start in the international marketplace this weekend, grossing an estimated $20m from 846 locations in just two territories. -
Transformers sequel stomps into Japan, UK ahead of US launch
Expected global blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen lands in two major international markets this weekend, almost a week ahead of its North American debut. -
Travis modernises Macbeth with Smuggler's Come Like Shadows
Pete Travis has come on board to direct Come Like Shadows for Smuggler Films. -
UK film censor takes softer view on drugs
The British Board of Film Classification has revised its guidelines to allow references to drugs in ‘U’ rated films, if they are ‘infrequent and innocuous’. In the past such reference would have earned a film a ‘PG’ classification. -
UKFC and Nesta call on industry to exploit digital world
The UK Film Council and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) is calling on the film industry to expand digital distribution, seek new sources of funding and work with online audiences as publishers not just viewers, as part of series of findings from their digital innovation programme. -
Weather Girl to get US theatrical release via producers
Secret Identity Productions will handle the US theatrical release of Weather Girl, which plays this week at the Los Angeles Film Festival. -
Wide Open Spaces
Dir. Tom Hall. Ireland/UK. 2009. 85m. -
Woo, Yeoh set to collaborate on martial arts project
Michelle Yeoh is set to star in a martial arts film, Jianyu Jianghu, which will be co-directed by John Woo and Taiwanese director Su Chao-pin. -
XDC deal boosts Palace Cinemas' digital expansion
XDC has struck a deal with Palace Cinemas to supply digital projection systems to the company’s cinemas. -
Year One
Dir: Harold Ramis. US. 2009. 96 mins. -
Zac Efron signs on for Dixon's Mandate thriller
Zac Efron has signed on to star in an untitled thriller for Mandate Pictures. Leslie Dixon, the veteran screenwriter behind Freaky Friday and The Thomas Crown Affair, is writing the script.
