All Screen articles in 13 January 2005 – Page 3

  • News

    BAFTA puts cap on membership

    2005-01-10T04:00:00Z

    BAFTA has decided to place a cap of 6500 on its worldwidevoting membership, effective immediately. The organisation said the decision followed many months ofdiscussion about how best to manage its membership base following an'enormous increase in membership applications over the past fouryears.'The American Academy has already capped its membership at6000. ...

  • News

    Ben-Ami gets promotion in anti-piracy department at Warner Bros

    2005-01-10T04:00:00Z

    Yotam Ben-Ami has been promoted to vice president of worldwideanti-piracy operations, North America, at Warner Bros Entertainment.Ben-Ami will oversee all North American anti-piracy operations andmanage strategic worldwide anti-piracy initiatives and projects, workingclosely with Warner Bros Entertainment's anti-piracy regional teams andbusiness units.He joined the company in 2002 as manager of corporate ...

  • News

    Italy pins hopes on local directors for 2005

    2005-01-10T04:00:00Z

    While the run-up to Christmas has once again been boosted by the releaseof blockbuster Italian comedies, only a handful of homegrown films have managedto gross more than Euros 1m - which is considered the benchmark for a strongrun at the box office - since September. Nevertheless, the local industry isconfident ...

  • News

    Singapore theatrical business soars in 2004

    2005-01-10T04:00:00Z

    Singapore'stheatrical business saw a 9% year-on-year rise in box office revenues in 2004 to $73m(S$120m) thanks largely to the popularity of summer releases. Spider Man 2, which grossed $3.27m,finished on top to become not only Singapore's highest grossing film in 2004,but also the fourth biggest film of all time after ...

  • Reviews

    Racing Stripes

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Frederick Du Chau.US. 2005. 102mins.A talking zebra picture which borrows liberally from Babe, NationalVelvet, Doctor Dolittle, Ice Age, The Incredible Journeyand every Disney movie on record, Racing Stripes may not be a familyfilm on the Pixar level of sophistication, but it generates enough of its owncharm to score with ...

  • Reviews

    Olga

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Dir Jayme Monjardim.2004. Brazil. 144minsAn adaptation of areal-life story set between Germany's concentration camps, Moscow, and aturbulent Rio de Janeiro, Olga was Brazil's box office champ of 2004 (atleast 3m admissions) and the country's official entry in the Oscar stakes.But despite a clutch ofsales to smaller territories, though, its telenovella-ish ...

  • Reviews

    White Noise

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Geoffrey Sax.UK-Can. 2004. 98mins.The idea of communicatingwith the dead has always had an irresistibly spooky appeal and with WhiteNoise production outfit Gold Circle and a team of mainly Britishbehind-the-scenes talents do a decent job building a movie around the hi-techequivalent of ouija boards and seances.Financed as a UK/Canadaco-production but ...

  • News

    Leigh's Vera Drake scores for Momentum in UK

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Vera Drake has given MikeLeigh his biggest UK opening to date through distributor Momentum Pictures.Thecritically-lauded drama, which is favourite to win the best actress BAFTA nextmonth for Imelda Staunton, opened on $496,850 (£266,010) from 65 screens for astrong $7,645 location average.Other key openersover the weekend included Alexander which took £1.2m ...

  • News

    Magnolia takes domestic rights to Sundance Enron doc

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    MagnoliaPictures has acquired North America distribution rights to Alex Gibney'sdocumentary Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room, which is set to make its world premiereat Sundance later this month.The picture isthe first complete project to be financed and produced by HDNet Films, thehigh-definition production division of Todd Wagner and Mark ...

  • News

    Fockers stays top but Gold Circle makes Noise at two

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Universal's Meet The Fockers stayed top and passed $200m in its third weekend while theparanormal thriller White Noise, produced by Gold Circle Films and handled by Universal in NorthAmerica, opened strongly in second place on an estimated $24m.Fockers becomes the sixth biggest release of 2004 and addedan estimated $28.5m for ...

  • News

    Cinepolis fast-tracks Mexican IMAX expansion

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Spurred by impressive results at its IMAXcinema in Mexico City, Latin American exhibitor Cinepolis has moved forward to2005 the target opening dates for two proposed Imax cinemas in other Mexicancities. The cinemas are part of a deal previouslyannounced in 2004 and were originally scheduled to open in mid-2006 andlate-2007 respectively. ...

  • News

    Canal Plus strikes NBC Universal film deal

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    TheCanal Plus group and NBC Universal have concluded a long term exclusiveagreement which will see Canal's pay-TV service air all films emanating fromthe US studio.Theaccord includes first window rights for the main Canal Plus channel and secondwindow for its thematic channels and rights for its pay-per view service.Canal'sdeputy managing director ...

  • News

    Baby wins National Society Of Film Critics' prize

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Clint Eastwood's MillionDollar Baby has been named Best Picture ofthe Year 2004 by the National Society of Film Critics, adding further impetusto the drama's swelling Oscar prospects.Baby'sHilary Swank tied for best actress with Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake on 54 votes apiece, while Jamie Foxxedged out Paul Giamatti in the ...

  • Reviews

    I Am Cuba, The Siberian Mammoth (Soy Cuba, O Mamute Siberiano)

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Vicente Ferraz.Brazil. 2004. 90mins.Saddled with an unhelpfuland slightly repellent title, I Am Cuba, The Siberian Mammoth isn'tactually a wildlife film but an intelligent making-of documentary which alsomanages to examine a particularly-interesting slice of Cold War history.And although it can getbogged down in its own minutae, Mammoth is fascinating enough ...

  • News

    Piracy growth eats into European theatrical admissions

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    While many Europeanterritories have reported a growth in cinema admissions during 2004, the sizeof the increase appears closely linked to the growth of film piracy in therespective countries.In the UK, for example,admissions climbed 6% during the year while admissions in France grew at afaster rate of 12%.However, figures show thatthe ...

  • News

    White Noise makes waves with $24m US opening

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Universal's Meet The Fockers stayed top and passed $200m in its third weekend while theparanormal thriller White Noise, produced by Gold Circle Films and handled by Universal in NorthAmerica, opened strongly in second place on an estimated $24m.Fockers becomes the sixth biggest release of 2004 and addedan estimated $28.5m for ...

  • News

    Bridget enjoys massive $4.2m launch in Italy for UIP

    2005-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Bridget Jones: The EdgeOf Reason scored Working Title'sbiggest ever opening in Italy through UIP at the weekend, ranking number one onan estimated $4.2m on 376 screens.The debut was approximately107% bigger than that of Bridget Jones's Diary in 2001 in US$ and 30% bigger inEuros.Overall the romantic comedysequel added $7m through ...

  • News

    ITALY Production Listings - January 9 2005

    2005-01-08T00:00:00Z

    ITALIAN LISTINGS -January 9 2005 PRE-PRODUCTION ADIUS, LA FESTA E'FINITA(Verdecchi Film) Backer: Fondo di Garanzia. Word gets out in high-flying Romansociety that a well-known Italian singer-songwriter is to make his comeback -despite the fact that his death was officially announced in 1980. Prod:Alessandro Verdecchi. Dir: Ezio Alovisi. Scr: Ezio Alovisi.Contact: ...

  • News

    Global film series including Fuse, Whisky starts US tour

    2005-01-07T04:00:00Z

    The Global FilmInitiative's second annual Global Lens touring film series will kick off inSeattle today (Jan 7) and wind its way through 14 US cities during theremainder of the year.This year's series comprises 10 features and one shortfilm from developing countries and will play in cultural institutions rangingfrom the Museum ...

  • News

    Dutch Filmworks wins private equity backing

    2005-01-07T04:00:00Z

    Private equity fundMain Capital has paid Euros 3.5m to acquire a substantial minority interest inNetherlands based distributor Dutch Filmworks (DFW). During the past seven years, the indie distributor hasbecome a leading distributor in the Benelux region. The company has built up astrong track record in DVD and is now increasingly ...