All articles by Leo Barraclough
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Screen wins top publishing accolade
Screen International was named international businessmagazine of the year at the Periodical Publishers Association awards in Londonyesterday (May 5).Judges praised Screen for the relaunch of its weeklyedition and website, ScreenDaily.com, in August, which has resulted in a30% rise in subscribers across 73 countries.Judges singled out the introduction of issue-driven,image-based front ...
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Mar del Plata chief postpones Village shoot
Argentine film-maker and Mar del Plata festival chief Miguel Pereira has postponed principal photography on his next feature, The Man Who Came To A Village, for six months, citing last month's changes to the UK tax rules as being the catalyst for the decision. The film's financial package is to ...
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...and mulls shifting dates to November
Mar del Plata, Latin America's only A grade film festival,is considering shifting its dates from March to November, according to festivalchief Miguel Pereira.The festival, which wrapped its 19th edition on Saturday,finds it difficult to attract the films they want, says Pereira, as it issandwiched between Berlin and Cannes in the ...
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Mar del Plata celebrates Buena Vida
Latin America's only A grade film festival, Mar del Plata inArgentina, wrapped on Saturday (March 20) with the prize for best film, theGolden Astor, going to a local picture, Buena Vida Delivery.Leonardo Di Cesare's directorial debut, which received backingfrom the Argentinian film institute (INCAA), Film Sud in France and the ...
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Latin American countries unite to protect their film industries
On the eve of the signing an ambitious pan-Latin American filmagreement, the head of Argentina's film institute has underlined hisdetermination to face off against the MPAA, protect the local film industry andsupport moves to make film and other "cultural products" an exception in worldtrade agreements.INCAA head Jorge Coscia and representatives ...
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Argentinian president to combat Hollywood 'Goliath'
The president ofArgentina, Nestor Kirchner, announced a raft of government measures to supportthe local film industry yesterday at the Mar del Plata International FilmFestival.In an emotivespeech delivered to an emphatically enthusiastic audience, in which heportrayed Argentinian cinema as a David locked in a heroic struggle withHollywood's Goliath, the popular president ...
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Mar del Plata unveils Latino flavoured line-up
Mar del Plata, Latin America's only A grade festival, has unveiled its competition line-up for this year's edition, which runs from March 11-20.Festival head Miguel Pereira has put together a 14-strong line-up that combines titles from established film-makers, a few of which have already appeared at other events out of ...
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Mar del Plata unveils competition jury
Latin America's only 'A' category festival, Mar del Plata, has named its competition jury for its 19th edition, which runs from March 11-20.The jury is composed of veteran Argentine-French cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich, Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros, Argentine actress Ana Maria Picchio, Brazilian director-writer-actor Domingos de Oliveira, whose film Breaking ...
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Mar del Plata chief embarks on Village shoot
Miguel Pereira, head of Latin America's leading film festival, Mar del Plata, is due to start principal photography on his latest feature film days after the festival closes.He is in Berlin this week helping artistic producer Mauro Andrizzi put the finishing touches to the festival line-up. Twelve films have been ...
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FIAPF set to rewrite festival rule-book
International film producers body FIAPF is set to revamp its film festival regulations and accreditation system following a meeting in Berlin with the directors of the world's leading international film festivals yesterday.At a meeting hosted by Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick, FIAPF's president, producer Andres Vicente Gomez, outlined FIAPF's plan to ...
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Sheridan's In America wins top Flanders prize
Jim Sheridan's In America won best film at the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent, which focuses on the impact of music on film-making, while Im Sangsoo was named best director for A Good Lawyer's Wife.Other prizes at the Fiapf recognised event, which wrapped on Saturday, included best music for ...
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UK's per-screen revenue points to cinema growth potential
UK revenue per screen is the best in the world but there is still room for admissions growth.Speaking at the UK Cinemas Conference in London last week, leading industry consultant Simon Rumbold dismissed claims that the exhibition market in the UK was over-screened and on the verge of a meltdown. ...
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UK government film minister addresses the industry
UK film minister Kim Howells has ruled out a levy on cinema tickets to compensate for the decline in lottery revenue, the government's main source of funding for the UK film industry. Speaking at the UK Cinemas Conference in London, Howells said: "Even though cinema admissions are rising we would ...
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Argentina unveils multiple audio-visual initiatives
Argentina has signed a series of agreements with its Latin American neighbours and Spain's autonomous regional governments as part of a drive to boost the production and distribution of Spanish and Portuguese-language films. As part of the first protocol, signed at last week's Mar del Plata International Film Festival, countries ...
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Mar del Plata risks losing its 'A' grade festival status
Domingos De Oliveira's Breaking Up (Separacoes) from Brazil won the Golden Ombu for best film at the 18th Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina on Saturday (15 March) amid heated controversy over the inclusion of local film Valentin in competition. The festival is now in danger of losing ...
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Argentinian actors voice concern over use of non-professionals
Argentina's actors' union is to look into limiting the number of amateur actors allowed to be cast in feature films in response to protests by local actors against the trend in the New Argentine Cinema to use non-professionals.At a heated meeting between representatives of the Asociacion Argentina de Actores and ...
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Skolimowski to return to film-making after 10-year absence.
Polish film-maker Jerzy Skolimowski, who won awards at both Cannes and Berlin, is set to return to film-making after a 10-year absence. Working with producer Jeremy Thomas, Skolimowski is developing Las Vegas-set project: The System on a budget likely to be around $12m, with the director aiming for an autumn ...
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Meirelles begins preparations for Intolerance
Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles has unveiled further details of the follow up to his worldwide box office and festival sensation City Of God, following the film's premiere in Argentina as the opening film of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival. His new project, Intolerance - which he jokingly describes ...
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Mar del Plata opens with peace dedication
Mar del Plata, Latin America's only A grade film festival, unspooled yesterday (March 6) with the screening of Fernando Meirelles' City Of God. Launching the event, new festival director Miguel Pereira dedicated the event to a celebration of peace. "At a time when we may soon see bombs falling on ...
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Mar del Plata completes competition line-up
Miguel Pereira, the new artistic co-ordinator of Mar del Plata, South America's leading film festival, has completed the competition line-up for his debut event, which runs March 6-15. The latest additions are Hugo Santiago's Le Loup De La Cote Ouest (France/Portugal), Matti Ijas' Blue Corner (Finland), David G Green's All ...