All Screen articles in 12 December 2000
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News
UK film censor could lose powers to new super body
A UK communications super watchdog unveiled on Tuesday could take over some of the activities of film certification body the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as part of far-reaching regulatory changes.Under one scenario proposed by the government, the new OFCOM regulatory body could take over video classification, currently under ...
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Buena Vista acquires Living Forest for Spain
Buena Vista International Spain (BVIS) has picked up Spanish theatrical and video rights to local animated feature film The Living Forest (El Bosque Animado).Digital satellite platform Via Digital has pay-TV rights to the film, while free-to-air rights in Spain are still under negotiation. BVIS is expected to release Forest in ...
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News
Dinosaur stirs up ratings row in Italy
Italian communications under-secretary Vincenzo Vita has called for a parental guidance classification to be added to Italy's ratings system, after a row erupted over the bloody scenes in Walt Disney's Dinosaur.The Italian Parliament and local parental associations have lashed out against the blockbuster's unrestricted release, which they claim doesn't give ...
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News
Chabrol awarded France's Prix Louis-Delluc
Claude Chabrol's latest opus Nightcap (Merci Pour Le Chocolat) has won France's coveted Prix Louis-Delluc, while Laurent Cantet's Sundance title Human Resources has been awarded the Louis-Delluc prize for a first film.Other contenders included Dominik Moll's Cannes sensation Harry, Un Ami Qui Vous Veut Du Bien, Jean-Pierre Denis' Les Blessures ...
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News
Russian media baron Gusinsky arrested in Spain
Vladimir Gusinsky, head of Russian media empire Media Most, was taken into police custody in Spain late Monday night, just a few weeks after the Russian authorities placed him on an international wanted list in connection with fraud charges.Gusinsky, who was picked up in the southern beach resort of Sotogrande, ...
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Ukrainian film industry to receive boost from AVIC
A group of Ukrainian film professionals have launched a privately funded, non-profit organisation, called AVIC (Audiovisual Information Centre), to act as a link between local film-makers and the international industry.Still smarting from the 1998 rouble crisis, which badly affected the local hryvnia currency, the ailing Ukrainian film industry is far ...
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News
Carlton rethinks European internet alliance
The UK's Carlton Communications has scaled back its plans for an internet "Grand @lliance" with France's TF1 and the Epsilon trio of Kirch, Mediaset and Telecinco.According to sources, the pact came unstuck when it failed to secure financial commitments from Kirch, Mediaset and Telecinco. But Carlton denies that its internet ...
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News
E-M-S New Media acquires stake in Advanced
Rapidly-expanding German video and DVD distributor E-M-S New Media has secured a flow of top-flight US and European product by acquiring a 24.7% stake in film licence trader Advanced Medien, with an option to buy an additional 13%.The Neuer Markt-listed company said the deal would allow it to secure commercially ...
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Investors warm to Vivendi Universal
After a 1.6% fall on their first day of trading mostly due to technical arbitrages, Vivendi Universal shares livened up a flat French stock market on Tuesday (Dec 12), opening at Euros75.25, for a 1.69% gain.The bullish trend - helped by the fact that Vivendi Universal opened up 3% at ...
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Reviews
Cast Away
Dir: Robert Zemeckis. US. 2000. 143 mins. Prod cos: ImageMovers, Playtone. US dist: 20th Century Fox. Int'l dist: DreamWorks SKG. Exec prod: Joan Bradshaw. Prods: Steve Starkey, Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke. Scr: William Broyles Jr. DoP: Don Burgess. Prod des: Rick Carter. Ed: Arthur Schmidt. Mus: Alan Silvestri. ...
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News
The Grinch, Angels thrive at UK box office
In a repeat of recent events at the US box office, Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas held on to pole position in the UK this weekend, seeing off the opening of Buena Vista International's 102 Dalmatians which came in at number three. Both first and second places remained ...
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News
Vivendi Universal down on first day of trading
Arbitrageurs wasted little time in getting to grips with the shares of the new Vivendi Universal group and the markedly downsized Canal Plus outfit. The merger may only have been waved through on Friday evening, when Canal Plus shareholders gave their 96.6% approval, but trading began almost immediately in the ...
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News
DNA passes review despite not releasing a film
Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald's DNA Films, which has yet to release a film, has become the third and final UK National Lottery franchise to pass its mid-term review.The operation can now access the remainder of the $42m (£29m) in lottery cash that it was originally awarded over six years. ...
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News
Loews Cineplex gets brief credit extension
Struggling exhibitor Loews Cineplex has extended its credit agreement with the syndicate of principal creditors, from December 8 through January 26, 2001. The extension allows the company meet its anticipated obligations. However, Loews Cineplex had to agree to provide additional collateral. In a statement, the company said it will continue ...
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News
IN-motion's fifth fund to back Brosnan starrer
Germany's aggressively acquisitive IN-motion has launched a private media fund, World Media Fonds V (WMF V), through which it plans to raise at least $45m (DM100m) for three projects including $46m Pierce Brosnan-starrer The Day After Tomorrow.WMF V is also backing $32m martial arts TV movie Invincible, which is being ...
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News
French broadcast quotas not affected by EU Treaty
France managed to hold on to its broadcast quotas in the Nice Treaty finally signed by the 15 member states of the European Union on Monday (Dec 11).France, which has been striving to protect what it describes as the European Union's "cultural diversity", successfully retained its veto on decisions affecting ...
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News
NTT, Motion Pro start downloading films to PCs
Japan's NTT Satellite Communications, together with film distributor Motion Pro, has started the first service in Japan for downloading films to home PCs. Launched on December 1, the service charges viewers Y300 ($2.73) per download. The partners transmit films via the Sky PerfecTV communications satellite platform. Viewers receive them using ...
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News
Bac planning wide release for Kitano's Brother
French distributor Bac Films is releasing Takeshi Kitano's Brother on 300 screens across France on Wednesday, marking the country's biggest ever release of a Japanese film."It is also the largest opening anywhere for a film of mine," Kitano said at a press conference in Tokyo.The film, a cross-border gang thriller ...
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News
Japanese DVD sales set to triple by 2003
Sales of DVDs in Japan are set to overtake sales of videocassettes next year, and more than triple to $3.106bn (Y341.7bn) by 2003, according to a report from the Japan Video Software Association (JVSA). In 1999, the market share of DVDs in Japan was only 12%, rising to 30% in ...
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News
Oslo Cinemas unveils multiplex plans
Norway's largest exhibitor Oslo Cinemas, which is soon to be opened up to private investors, is planning to build a 10 to 20 screen multiplex in the centre of Oslo, to be ready in 2005.The company is also looking for sites to build a 4-screen cinema in the eastern area ...