All articles by Scott MacMillan
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Egypt's bid to try and entice foreign production
In a bid to compete with Moroccofor foreign productions coming to North Africa and the Middle East, Egyptian filmindustry officials are expected to recommend a single government entity to handlelocation shoot permissions, replacing the Byzantine system of multipleauthorities that exists now. Film industry veterans led by producer Khaled Alkhamissi are ...
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First feature film to come out of Yemen shows at Cairo
London-basedFelix Films Entertainment has kicked off a festival tour for A New Day in Old Sana'a, the firstfeature film ever to come from Yemen. Intended to showWestern eyes a softer side of a country usually associated with terrorism, thefilm had its international premiere on Monday when it screened in competition ...
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Cairo film festival focuses on war drama
TheCairo International Film Festival entered its 29th year this week witha focus on war dramas like Danielle Arbid's In the Battlefields and Mohamed Amin's Egyptian competition entry The Night Baghdad Fell. The festival runs from November 29 - December 9. Thefestival also features a special tribute to Chinese cinema, opening ...
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Stillking opens Cape Town production office
Prague based production service company Stillking Films hasopened an office in Cape Town, South Africa.The move highlights the growing importance of South Africaas an international film location. Stillking is the Czech Republic's topproduction services company, working on films such as The Bourne Identity (Universal), Shanghai Knights (Disney), Van Helsing (Universal), ...
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Czech producers battle against the odds
For full Czech listings click HEREFollowing 2003's banner year for local cinema, Czech producers are looking out for another winner. But with the usual local sources of film funds drying up and with a slate of upcoming releases that includes only a few of the most famous Czech directors, ...
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Czech government plays down tax incentive talk
The Czech government has sent out yet another signal that it is not interested in offering tax incentives to incoming productions. Czech Culture Minister Pavel Dostal, long the target of criticism from foreign filmmakers, says he doubts Prague-based producers' claims that the film industry brings $250 million into the country ...
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New head appointed at Czech Television
Czech authorities named a well-known news anchor, Jiri Janecek, to head state-owned Czech Television, the primary backer of local-language films in the Czech Republic. The appointment of Janecek is intended to bring stability to the public broadcaster, which has suffered in recent years from financial troubles and a high turnover ...
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Czech distribs pounce on Karlovy Vary titles
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival came to a close over the weekend with several deals in place or close to completion for Czech distribution of foreign titles. Czech art house ArtCam is in negotiations for local distribution of three films, according to ArtCam's Eliska Fuchsova. The films are Buddy, ...
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Ozpetek's Facing Windows scoops top Karlovy Vary prizes
Ferzan Ozpetek's Facing Windows won the top prize, the Grand Prix Crystal Globe, at the 38th annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Saturday night (July 12).The Turkish-Italian director, who was carried to the stage by muscular dancers to pick up his award at the closing ceremony, also took the ...
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Karlovy Vary chief calls for urgent multiplex upgrade
As this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival approaches its final weekend, organisers say the otherwise healthy annual event is on dangerous ground when it comes to the small city's capacity of high-quality screening halls.The festival is pressing local and national government for a $3.7m upgrade of the city's Kino ...
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Slovak epic production halted by cash shortfall
The Euros 5.5m Slovak epic Juraj Janosik - A True Story has been halted mid-way through production while producer Rudolf Biermann waits for his US backer to hand over Euros 3m of overdue cash.The film, directed by mother-daughter team Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, has been hyped as the Polish-Slovak ...
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Czech producers plan private film commission
Czech film producers have started a working group to establish a Czech film commission and are prepared to move ahead with the project even without financial support from local and national governments. "The commission we are setting up at this stage is essentially a private one," said Matthew Stillman, head ...
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Karlovy Vary prepares for celebrity guests
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which kicks off its 38th edition this week, will honour Morgan Freeman and British director Stephen Frears, with awards for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. Festival organisers remain guarded concerning other celebrity guests' attendance, however, mindful of the previous two years' disappointments at ...
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Gilliam's Grimm starts 17-week Prague shoot
Terry Gilliam's $75m Brothers Grimm kicks off its 17-week shoot in Prague today, with Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Heady, Peter Stormare and Jonathan Pryce in the main roles. The shoot will travel around the Czech Republic for the next two weeks, with Czech castle- and cathedral towns including Krivoklat, ...
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Karlovy Vary unveils cosmopolitan competition line-up
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled this year's line-up, with films in competition including Korean Kim Ki-duk's Coast Guard and Facing Windows from Italy's Ferzan Ozpetek. The festival, which takes place in the Czech west Bohemian spa town July 4-12, will feature 16 films in the main competition for ...
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Aliens vs. Predator to do battle in Prague
The long-awaited Aliens vs. Predator is likely to begin filming in Prague in October for 20th Century Fox with horror director Paul Anderson (Resident Evil) at the helm, although the project has yet to receive the final greenlight, according to sources.Long subject to speculation by fans of the monster films, ...
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Scott takes Tristan And Isolde to Prague in August
Ridley Scott's Tristan And Isolde is set to go into production in the Czech Republic at the end of August.The film is a co-production between Quality International and ApolloMedia/ApolloProMedia, UK-based MFF and Filmgroup 111 Prague. Moshe Diamant is set to produce and Ridley Scott oversee as Executive Producer. Kolin Luxembourg ...
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Karlovy Vary unveils Int'l film festival jury
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced the line-up of its grand jury, with Canadian producer Rock Demers chairing a seven-member panel for the Czech event. Demers (pictured) leads a multinational team of seven judges including Indian director Buddhadeb Dasgupta (The Wrestlers); Czech actress Ana Geislerova (Return Of The ...
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Prague film-makers look to international cheques
With local sources of funding drying up, Czech producers are increasingly looking abroad for cash and international co-productions are becoming the new financing model.Czech cinema has traditionally been an insular world, with local sources of funding contributing to projects with local themes, a local style and a local sense of ...
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Advertisers exploit Czech box-office bonanza
Czech hit Pupendo, combined with the local success of The Matrix Reloaded, have given a welcome boost to the Czech box office, with advertisers investing in local campaigns and sponsorship to an unprecedented degree, according to the Prague Business Journal. "Blockbusters and especially Czech movies have been motivating advertisers ...