All Screen articles in 20 August 2002

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  • News

    Gladiator, Mummy head Premiere/Vivendi film deal

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    Beleaguered German pay-TV platform Premiere has sealed a deal with Vivendi Universal for such films as Gladiator, Erin Brockovich and The Mummy Returns as it attempts to put itself on a sound financial footing and attract new investors. Universal is the third studio, following Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and Dreamworks, ...

  • News

    European box office continues upward trajectory

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    The European box office saw more than 1 billion admissions in 2001, generating upwards of Euros5.6bn, according to new research from global cinema analysts Dodona Research.Dodona's Cinemagoing Europe report forecasts that the value of European box office will continue its current upward swing to hit Euros7.4bn by 2006, despite a ...

  • News

    Audiard, Felsberg, Kovacs join Venice jury

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    French director and scriptwriter Jacques Audiard, Russian poet Evgenij Evtusenko, producer Uli Felsberg, Hungarian cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, Italian actress Francesca Neri and Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu have joined the official jury of the Venice film festival (Aug 29-Sept 8). As previously announced, the jury is to be headed by Chinese ...

  • News

    Audiard, Felsberg, Kovacs to decide competition winners

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    French director and scriptwriter Jacques Audiard, Russian poet Evgenij Evtusenko, producer Uli Felsberg, Hungarian cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, Italian actress Francesca Neri and Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu have joined the official jury of the Venice film festival (Aug 29-Sept 8). As previously announced, the jury is to be headed by Chinese ...

  • News

    Veteran Indian film-maker appeals over 'ridiculous' censorship

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    Indian documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan is appealing to the country's Appellate Tribunal in a bid to overturn a decision by Indian censors that is insisting over 20 cuts be made to his anti-war film War and Peace before it can be shown in Indian cinemas.Despite triumphing at the Bombay International ...

  • News

    SPE smashes annual box office record

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    Sony Pictures Entertainment has broken its own industry record for North American ticket sales by one studio in a single calendar year, registering $1.29bn and passing 1997's previous best mark of $1.27bn with more than four months to spare.With a 2002 slate that includes such tentpole successes as Spider-Man and ...

  • News

    Restructured Nordisk Film aims for former glory

    2002-08-20T04:05:00Z

    Nordic media giant Egmont has once again restructured it film divisions and has merged its production outfit Nordisk Film with distribution arm Egmont Entertainment, into a new entity called Nordisk Film. Egmont Entertainment's managing director Kenneth D. Plummer will head up the new organisation that will have an annual turnover ...

  • Reviews

    Simone

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Andrew Niccol. US. 2002. 124mins A third slice of near-futuristic fantasy from Andrew Niccol, the creator of The Truman Show and Gattaca, Simone is a silly souffle of a movie that has some good ingredients but turns out overcooked and stodgy. The film's awkward tone - not to mention ...

  • News

    PowerHouse/Steeple pact on The Sailmaker

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    PowerHouse Studios has signed a deal with Steeple Distributions to co-produce two feature films in association with Arama/Zegna Pictures. Steeple will provide funding for the two projects via a $132m letter of credit issued by the Bank of New York.The first co-production will be Shimon Arama's The Sailmaker. To be ...

  • News

    Sex and religion prove winning formula in Melbourne

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    Writer/director Pan Malin's debut feature Samsara proved the most fashionable film of the 51st Melbourne International Film Festival when it won the Stella Artois Award for most popular feature. The India/Germany/Italy/France production is about the sexual awakening of a young Buddhist monk in the Himalayas. Another directorial debut, Paul Goldman's ...

  • News

    Toronto festival brims with high-profile world premieres

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    The 27th Toronto International Film Festival has announced another slew of world premieres, including titles from such leading filmmakers as Joel Schumacher, Neil Jordan, Robert Duvall, Phillip Noyce, Jim Sheridan and Paul Schrader .At the final press conference before the festival rolls Sept. 5, programming director Piers Handling and managing ...

  • News

    Festival brims with high-profile world premieres

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    The 27th Toronto International Film Festival has announced another slew of world premieres, including titles from such leading filmmakers as Joel Schumacher, Neil Jordan, Robert Duvall, Phillip Noyce, Jim Sheridan and Paul Schrader .At the final press conference before the festival rolls Sept. 5, programming director Piers Handling and managing ...

  • News

    Parker steps back from the Wilde side

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    Oliver Parker, in Edinburgh for the UK premiere of his latest Oscar Wilde adaptation The Importance Of Being Earnest on Wednesday (Aug 21) and a Script Factory masterclass on Saturday Aug 17, revealed his next project will be a step away from the Wilde side of his career. After An ...

  • News

    Hong Kong: ATV share deal collapses

    2002-08-20T00:00:00Z

    Hong Kong's richest tycoon Li Ka-shing has withdrawn an offer to buy a stake in local free-to-air broadcaster Asia Television (ATV), the day after it was revealed that the station has secured rights to broadcast on the Chinese mainland.Li Ka-shing's multimedia company, Tom.com was set to become ATV's second biggest ...

  • News

    Edinburgh: Irreversible director Noe lays down challenge to UK censors

    2002-08-19T04:05:00Z

    Aware that the UK has the most restrictive regulations in Europe on the screening of sexual violence, Gaspar Noe director of scandal film Irreversible challenged the UK censors to ban the film or leave it well alone."I don't think it will be released if it needs to be cut. I ...

  • News

    Spanish film industry cautious on TV merger

    2002-08-19T04:05:00Z

    The planned merger of Spain's two leading pay-TV platforms, Telefonica-owned Via Digital and Sogecable-backed Canal Satelite Digital (CSD), took one step further towards reality after Friday's decision by the European Commission to send the case back to the Spanish government for consideration.Local analysts agree that the move signals the ...

  • News

    Roadshow triumphs at annual Australian box office awards

    2002-08-19T04:05:00Z

    Australian distributor Roadshow trounced the opposition at the annual Australian box office awards taking the gold prize for Lord Of The Rings, which attracted A$47m in ticket sales, as well as the honours for the most number of films to gross over A$10m. Roadshow's seven films, out of a total ...

  • News

    Diageo finances African feature

    2002-08-19T04:05:00Z

    Brewing giant Diageo is attempting to cash-in on the widespread popularity of Michael Powell, a fictional journalist and star of its recent pan-African TV campaign for Guinness, by financing a $3m (£2m) feature film based around the character.The action thriller, which has just started principal photography on the outskirts of ...

  • News

    UK box office: best July for 31 years

    2002-08-19T04:05:00Z

    UK box office admissions in July were the highest for 31 years, according to the latest figures released by the Cinema Advertising Association.July admission totalled 15 million - an average of 3.38 million a week - and 8% up on the same period last year.Unsurprisingly, in the month that marks ...

  • News

    Powerhouse, Steeple pact on The Sailmaker

    2002-08-19T00:00:00Z

    PowerHouse Studios has signed a deal with Steeple Distributions to co-produce two feature films in association with Arama/Zegna Pictures. Steeple will provide funding for the two projects via a $132m letter of credit issued by the Bank of New York.The first co-production will be Shimon Arama's The Sailmaker. To be ...