All Screen articles in 2 October 2008
View all stories from this month.
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Features
United Kingdom - Spirit of the ages
Jamie J Johnson, a former Screen International Star of Tomorrow, had an unusual tour of Europe making his debut feature documentary, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary, which had its world premiere in Toronto.The film, about several contestants in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, took Johnson to Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, ...
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Features
Australia - Blind Ambition
Matthew Newton has a passion for stories about male relationships. Three Blind Mice, which he wrote, directed and starred in, follows three young Australian navy officers who have one last night in Sydney before going to Iraq. It won a special commendation when it premiered at the Sydney Film Festival ...
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News
In Focus: Is Asia Crunch proof'
On a macro level, the credit crunch is only just starting to bite in Asia, a year after North America and Europe, but is not expected to have the same impact. Most pundits agree the major economies of the region will continue to grow in 2009, albeit more slowly than ...
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News
Pusan Markets: A launch pad for Asian projects
The era of the film festival with history and/or a competition is gone. What matters is whether you have a market function or not,' says Kim Ji-seok, executive programmer, Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF).PIFF and its Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) together are widely acknowledged internationally as must-attend events for their ...
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News
Pusan Special: Asia's Sundance'
Is Pusan becoming the Sundance Film Festival of Asia' South Korea's leading film event certainly takes pride in showcasing independent discoveries from the region.The Hong Kong International Film Festival and Filmart in April have the Chinese-language market covered, and next month's Tokyo International Film Festival and Tiffcom, although growing in ...
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Features
Belgium - Jungle fever
How do you shoot an epic Apocalypse Now-style drama in the Far East on a budget of $5.1m (EUR3.5m)' That was the challenge Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz set himself with Vinyan, the follow-up to his critical hit, Calvaire.The new film, shot in English and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Rufus ...
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News
Profile: Music Box Films
At the end of summer 2007, William Schopf, Ed Arentz and Brian Andreotti had a drink in the bar of a dazzling Chicago Loop skyscraper for a low-key launch of their new distribution concern.In the film business, timing is everything - and their timing seemed fairly perverse, pouring start-up money ...
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Features
Boxing clever
UK distributor Revolver Entertainment is planning the territory's first all-platform day-and-date release.The Boxing Day release of Steven Sheil's low-budget horror film Mum & Dad will open simultaneously in theatres, video-on-demand, electronic sell-through and rental. A similar US release is planned for Mother's Day 2009.The move will reopen the often fractious ...
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News
Interview: Pusan festival director Kim Dong-ho
Which festivals do you enjoy'Cannes and Berlin are huge and they can be complicated, but they have the advantage of letting you meet lots of people. I like Rotterdam for the same reason. As for a smaller, quieter but well-run festival with substance, I would pick Karlovy Vary. Locarno has ...
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News
In Focus: Epoch and Killer join forces for Gigantic
Gigantic, which saw its world premiere in Toronto recently, represents the first co-production between Epoch Films run by Mindy Goldberg and Killer Films run by Christine Vachon.Epoch Films is a prosperous 19-year-old commercials production company which was created by Goldberg in 1989 as a place where talented young directors could ...
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Features
International - Springboard for Hitler
Russian comedy Hitler Kaput! enjoyed a $6m opening weekend in three territories, and was the highest new entry in this week's Screen International chart. Distributed by Central Partnership, it played across 773 screens in three territories.The film, directed by Marius Balchunas, stars Sam Arutunian and Andrei Baliakin. Despite a good ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Positive Signs
The world of visual effects has changed immeasurably since London's Double Negative set up shop 10 years ago.Co-founders Alex Hope, Peter Chiang and Matt Holben had all joined the industry when editing was done on videotape. "It was a world apart from the wonderful things we can do today," says ...
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News
Profile: Pusan Promotion Plan
The Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) co-production market has long been one of the main draws at Pusan. This year it is showcasing 30 projects from 17 countries (the Co-production PRO, launched last year, has been absorbed into PPP).A slew of established Asian directors are producing projects featured in the PPP. ...
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News
Argentina opts for Pablo Trapero's Lion's Den as Oscar entry
The Argentinian Academy of Film Arts and Science has selected Pablo Trapero's fifth feature Leonera (Lion's Den) as its submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 81st Academy Awards.Trapero's film received 29 votes; Leonardo Favio's Aniceto, 19, and Daniel Burman's Empty Nest, 14Leonera tells the story of ...
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News
PPI's Eagle Eye to challenge Mamma Mia! in international
Can Mamma Mia! keep the momentum going and stay atop the international charts for another weekend' Universal's musical arrives in three new markets including Russia on September 25 and currently stands at $340.2m through UPI.The biggest competition for Mamma Mia! will come from DreamWorks-Paramount's thriller Eagle Eye when it launches ...
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News
Chinese domestic films reach record 57% market share
Chinese authorities have announced that the territory's box office revenues reached $347.21m (RMB2.368bn) up until the end of August, which is a 31% increase from the same period in 2007. In addition, the market share of local films (including co-production films) was much higher than in the past, accounting for ...
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Reviews
Eagle Eye
Dir: D.J. Caruso. US. 2008. 117 mins.A slickly-packaged yet ultimately-unpersuasive political action thriller, Eagle Eye collapses under the weight of various story incongruities, in large part because its sprawling, conspiratorial plot and mode of storytelling don't ever fully align. A re-teaming of Disturbia director D.J. Caruso and star Shia Labeouf, ...
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News
Maggie Q heads cast of Tian's Warrior And The Wolf
Maggie Q has been cast to play the lead role in Chinese Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's epic drama The Warrior And The Wolf, which is being produced by Hong Kong's Bill Kong and partners from Japan, China and SingaporeShe will star opposite Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (Tokyo Tower, Shinobi) ...
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News
First Branchage Jersey Film Festival heralds possible tax credit
The first Branchage Jersey Film Festival (Sept 25-28) kicked off last night with a gala screening of the multiple-festival-winning Man On Wire at the Jersey Opera House.Following the screening, producer Simon Chinn revealed that he isworking on another documentary project with Man On Wire director James Marsh.The festival aims to ...