All Asia articles – Page 589
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Japanese pay TV company Wowow establishes feature film label
Major satellite pay tv provider Wowow has announced the establishment of a feature film label, Wowow Films. 'In looking at the image Wowow has for its subscribers, the overwhelming response was 'movies'. We're answering that demand by eagerly entering feature film production,' said Wowow CEO Nobuya Wazaki. Wowow Films announced ...
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Set report: Kim Ki-duk's Breath
Kim Ki-duk's eyes gleam with concentration as he surveys his actors taking their places for the final scene of Breath, the director's 14th film. It is a freezing cold day in Seoul and Kim is shooting in a former Japanese colonial prison where Korean independence movement fighters were once tortured ...
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Celluloid Dreams and HanWay Films: the power of two
There is a temptation to see the merger between Hengameh Panahi's Celluloid Dreams and Jeremy Thomas' HanWay as a commentary on the scary state of today's arthouse business. But the real issue is what it says about the digital future.The most obvious conclusion to draw from the merger of two ...
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The smart money is on Singapore
As the Singapore International Film festival opens, Screen International examines how the territory is aiming to pull in new backers. A key global economic hub, Singapore has set its sights on becoming a media-financing centre for the 21st century and is positioning itself as a meeting point of finance and ...
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Celestial strikes Malaysian, African deals for Shaw Brothers titles
Celestial Pictures has signed a home video distribution deal with Movie Master for the DVD release of more than 500 films from Shaw Brothers film library in Malaysia over five years. The titles include Justice, My Foot and Out of the Dark starring Stephen Chow and the Casino Tycoon series ...
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Apichatpong withdraws Syndromes from Thai cinemas after censors row
Acclaimed Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is withdrawing his latest film Syndromes and a Century from theaters in response to local censors' demand for four cuts in the film.The film, which premiered at Venice last year and recently won best editing at the inaugural Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, was ...
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Japan's Nikkatsu opens international office in LA
Nikkatsu Corp will open an international office in Los Angeles in mid-April under the name Nikkatsu Pictures International (NPI).Nikkatsu has invested $500,000 of capital to establish NPI, as part of a strategy to position itself at the global film industry's front lines. NPI will focus on strengthening Nikkatsu's international sales ...
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India's UTV to float film production arm on London AIM
Indian media conglomerate UTV Software Communications is to transfer all its worldwide film production activities into one of its overseas subsidiaries, which will move to be listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.The move is a clear signal of the interest of the group in ...
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Penguins march into India with aims for 1m admissions
The Oscar-winning French documentary March Of The Penguins sees its Indian release this week under the name Penguins - A Love Story. Luc Jacquet's film has been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and will be released in four languages (including English) for the Indian market. Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan ...
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Shanghai Film Group takes over two cinemas from WBIC
Warner Bros International Cinemas (WBIC), the international cinema division of Warner Bros, and Chinese government-owned Shanghai Film Group (SFG), announced today that SFG will take over two WBIC Cinemas in Shanghai and Nanjing. Both cinemas were joint projects of WBIC and SFG. Before today's deal, WBIC with its partner SZITIC ...
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Media Asia set to go private with eSun takeover
Media Asia, the Singapore-listed Hong Kong producer of Infernal Affairs, is set to go private through a buyout led by Hong Kong-listed media conglomerate eSun Holdings. eSun, which already owns 37.33% of the company, is offering to acquire all outstanding shares to make Media Asia its wholly owned subsidiary. The ...
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Yu establishes Ming Yue Tang to develop Chinese co-productions
Hong Kong-based production house October Films has established a Beijing-based company, Ming Yue Tang Film and TV Cultural Ltd, to develop Chinese-language co-productions between China, Hong Kong and Korea. Daniel Yu, former COO of Andy Lau's Focus Films, will be in charge of developing the company's first four projects. Yu ...
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Japan's JDC sets up international acquisition fund
Japan Digital Contents Trust Inc (JDC) has established a foreign film acquisition fund in partnership with three Japanese distributors.The first phase of the 'Cinema Trust: Acquisition Fund' will provide from $16.76m-$33.52m (Y2b-Y4b) for the acquisition and distribution of foreign-produced feature films. The three distribution partners, chosen for their proven success ...
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300, Bean 2 lead spectacular international weekend
300 returned to winning ways as Warner Bros Pictures International's (WBPI) action hit beat Mr Bean's Holiday by a whisker to the number one spot overseas.The film added an estimated $32m from 6,500 prints in 61 markets to raise the tally to $173m. It shot to the top in Germany ...
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Industry has mixed reactions to HanWay-Celluloid merger
The announcement yesterday of the merger between HanWay Films and Celluloid Dreams to create a new combined company, dreamachine, has provoked a mixed response from the European film industry. Some have welcomed the consolidation of the two companies. For example, Tartan Films founder Hamish McAlpine applauded the move. 'Hanway and ...
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Love, Betelnut conquer Hong Kong film festival awards
Malaysian director Tan Chui-mui and China's Yang Heng continued their awards sweep at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) yesterday where both picked up prizes in the Asian Digital Competition. Tan's Love Conquers All, about a young woman involved in an unconventional relationship in the big city, was presented ...
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Rang De Basanti leads Idea IIFA Awards nominations
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has announced nominations for the 2007 Idea IIFA Awards, which will be given out in Sheffield, UK, in June.In the main categories, hit Rang De Basanti led the nominations with 14 nods. Omkara scored 11 and Lage Raho Munnabhai and Dhoom 2 with 10 ...
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Korean film companies join forces to fight piracy
The Korean film industry has formed a coalition of 78 film companies which have banded together to fight piracy. The newly announced Filmmakers Council brings together member companies from the Korean Motion Picture Producers Association and the Association of Film Companies. The council blames piracy for the downfall of the ...
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HanWay and Celluloid Dreams merge to create dreamachine
In a move that will shake up the international sales world, Jeremy Thomas' UK-based HanWay Films and Hengameh Panahi's Paris-based Celluloid Dreams are planning to merge. The new sales, production and financing venture, dreamachine, will be based in London, Paris and Toronto. Financial terms have yet to be disclosed, but ...
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Yubari film festival to relaunch under original name
The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (YIFFF) will reopen under its original name and mandate in late February 2008. The announcement was made by the non-profit organisation (NPO) Yubari Fanta which is the nickname of the festival. The NPO was set up by the citizens of the financially troubled city ...