All Africa articles – Page 84

  • News

    In Berlin, Madonna says directorial debut was 'learning curve'

    2008-02-13T15:52:00Z

    Madonna, in Berlin with her directorial debut Filth And Wisdom, says the 81-minute feature was her version of 'film school.' 'I wanted to do it under the radar because I had to learn how to make a film,' the star told Screen International. 'I paid for it myself and begged, ...

  • Reviews

    War Child

    2008-02-13T12:01:00Z

    Dir: Christian Karim Chrobog. USA . 2007. 94 mins.Most hip-hop artists sell themselves on their school-of-hard-knocks credentials, but few rappers can have known the kind of hell that Sudanese artist Emmanuel Jal has endured - and lived to tell the tale. A universe apart from the ...

  • News

    Five European festivals form 'Doc Alliance'

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Five documentary festivals have hatched their very own pan-European programming initiative. 'Doc Alliance,' as the scheme is called, involves Switzerland (Visions Du Reel), the Czech Republic (Jihlava International Doc Festival), The Poles (Doc Review Warsaw), The Germans (Dok Leipzig) and the Danes (Copenhagen Documentary Festival). The idea is for each ...

  • News

    Mischa Barton thriller Homecoming sells to Russia, Latin America

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Principal photography has wrapped on the Mischa Barton thriller Homecoming, which Voltage Pictures is pre-selling here at EFM.Deals have closed in Russia and Eastern Europe (EEAP), Latin America (IDC), the Middle East (Gulf), Turkey (Grandview), Israel (Forum), Indonesia (Blitz) and the Philippines (Pioneer).Morgan J Freeman directed the tale of a ...

  • News

    Cinemavault polishes thriller Artefacts

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Toronto-based Cinemavault Releasing International has picked up international rights excluding Benelux to English-language thriller Artefacts.Mary Stockley and Felix Scott star in the Title Films and Bad Fourteen Pictures production as former lovers who try to survive a wave of murders by doppelgangers.Brussels-based film-makers Giles Daoust and Emmanuel Jespers directed. Grindstone ...

  • News

    Yvonne Catterfeld named to play Romy Schneider in German biopic

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Yvonne Catterfeld is to play the legendary Austrian-born icon Romy Schneider in Josef Rusnak's biopic Eine Frau Wie Romy (literally A Woman Like Romy) which will begin shooting at locations in France and Germany from July 23.According to German press reports, actresses such as Jodie Foster and Eva Green had ...

  • News

    Magnolia's world sales bloom for Timecrimes, Gonzo

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Magnolia Pictures' international sales department under Laird Adamson has had a successful EFM with its Spanish time travel thriller Timecrimes as well as the quirky romance Quid Pro Quo and Alex Gibney's documentary Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson. All three films, which will be handled ...

  • News

    Hungaricom has sales success with Egon & Donci, CATcher

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Ambitious Hungarian distribution and sales outfit HungariCom has announced a raft of deals on its EFM slate.Its cartoon features are selling especially briskly. Here in Berlin the companyhas closed deals on Egon & Dönci and CATcher - Cat City 2 to HGC Entertainment for China and Media International Pictures for ...

  • News

    Visual Factory eyes slew of deals for Hideout, Concrete Romance

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    UK-based sales outfit Visual Factory has closed a number of deals here at the EFM. Marco Martani's gangster story Concrete Romance has gone to CanalPlus for France; Pupi Avati's The Hideout, a US-shot thriller starring Laura Morante, Burt Young and Treat Williams, has gone to Film Depot for Russia and ...

  • News

    Fortissimo seals raft of deals on Marley, CSNY docs

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has closed a raft of deals on its recently-announced Bob Marley documentary, which Martin Scorsese is directing for delivery in 2010. The as-yet-untitled film, produced by Shangri-La Entertainment and unveiled at the beginning of the EFM, has already been snapped up by the UK's Contender, South Africa's Nu ...

  • News

    Pretty Pictures strikes German deal for Joy Division

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Pretty Pictures has added German rights on Grant Gee's Toronto hit documentary Joy Division. Pretty also holds the French and Benelux rights. 'We're considering our options,' said Paris-based Pretty Pictures head James Velaise. 'We think it makes sense with a documentary of this kind to acquire several territories. For example, ...

  • News

    Key US sellers stir up debate over EFM

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    The heads of two of the biggest US sales companies have challenged the business viability of EFM and called for a return to the two-market calendar.The fact that the Berlin market follows hot on the heels of Santa Monica's AFM in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Sundance festival in the ...

  • News

    Intercinema picks up two French titles from Films Distribution

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Russian sales agent and distributor Intercinema, which is screening a promo reel of Fedor Bondarchuk's two-feature $36.5 million sci-fi opus The Inhabited Island here at the EFM on Thursday, has picked up a package of two of films from French seller Films Distribution.Intercinema's Raisa Fomina confirmed that she has bought ...

  • News

    Fandango Portobello heats up Gomorra sales

    2008-02-13T06:00:00Z

    Fandango Portobello has followed its successful sales of Competition title Quiet Chaos (Caos Calmo) with a round of deals on Matteo Garrone's Gomorra, which is now in post-production for Fandango and Rai Cinema (Fandango's Domenico Procacci is producing).Gomorra has gone to France (Le Pacte), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Canada (Seville) and Benelux ...

  • Reviews

    Night and Day (Bam gua Nat)

    2008-02-12T17:30:00Z

    Dir: Hong Sangsoo, S. Korea, 2008. 147mins.Light, charming but not terribly engaging, and as French as any Korean film is ever going to get, Hong Sangsoo's full-on tribute to the New Wave follows Korean expatriates around the City Of Lights. While brevity has never been one of Hong's particular talents, ...

  • Reviews

    Later (Plus Tard Tu Comprenderas)

    2008-02-12T15:57:00Z

    Dir: Amos Gitai. France / Germany, 2008. 89mins.The first Gitai film in a long time not to deal with Israeli politics, Later (Plus Tard Tu Comprenderas) is also one of his most emotional outings to date. This Franco-German co-production based on Jerome Clement’s autobiographical book (Clement ...

  • News

    Ceylan's Daydreams are happy for Pyramide

    2008-02-12T14:19:00Z

    Pyramide has been enjoying a strong response at EFM to Daydreams, the latest film from Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan which, like his last two features, is expected to be in competition at Cannes.BIM bought the film for Italy, Imagine for Benelux, Rosebud for Greece, Filmcoopi for Switzerland, Maywin for ...

  • Reviews

    Cherry Blossoms (Kirschblüten - Hanami)

    2008-02-12T11:57:00Z

    Dir: Doris Dorrie, Germany, 2008, 127minsDoris Dorrie's bittersweet film is a story of mourning and the futility of trying to recover something lost. A Bavarian husband who is nearing retirement loses his wife suddenly, and flies to Japan to visit sites that she never had a chance to see while ...

  • News

    SPE buys North America on Leiner's Balls Out

    2008-02-12T06:00:00Z

    Sony Pictures Entertainment picked up North American rights to Danny Leiner's comedy Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story (aka Gary The Tennis Coach) in an eight-figure deal that closed late on Sunday night [Feb 11].Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group's (SPWAG) Scott Shooman brokered the agreement with UTA acting on behalf ...

  • News

    Montage, Quality, MGN among buyers for IM Global's Shelter

    2008-02-12T06:00:00Z

    IM Global has reporting a storming business on the upcoming $25m supernatural thriller Shelter set to star Julianne Moore. Jonathan Rhys Myers is a recent addition to the cast.Deals have closed in South Korea (Montage), Latin America (Quality), Russia (MGN), Benelux (RCV), the Middle East (Gulf), Greece (Village Roadshow), Turkey ...