All Berlin articles – Page 241

  • Reviews

    Restless

    2008-02-14T21:30:00Z

    Dir: Amos Kollek. Israel/ Canada/ Germany/ France/ Belgium, 2007. 100 mins.Back home in Israel after many years of self-imposed exile in Manhattan, Amos Kollek presents Restless as his most personal film to date. With a reputation as an American independent specializing in portraits of anti-social dropouts, he has apparently decided ...

  • Reviews

    Another Love Story (Mare, Nossa Historia de Amor)

    2008-02-14T15:56:00Z

    Dir: Lucia Murat. Brazil/France/Uruguay. 2008. 105 mins.'It's the West Side Story of the Brazilian favelas'. Indeed - but for all the energy, goodwill and rhythmic drive of this colourful teen musical, what sounds great on the poster is less convincing on the screen. Though some of the dance sequences are ...

  • Reviews

    Beautiful

    2008-02-14T15:47:00Z

    Dir: Juhn Jaihong Korea, 2007. 88minsBeautiful, whose original title in Korean is the mellifluous 'Arumbdabda', is often confused and sometimes, especially near the end, even downright silly, but it's never wholly without interest. Its first-time 30-year-old director, Juhn Jaihong, is a protege of Kim Ki-duk, the prodigiously productive and internationally-known ...

  • Reviews

    Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

    2008-02-14T14:08:00Z

    Dir: Matt Wolf. US. 2008. 70mins.A long-neglected cult musician gets his well-deserved moment in the limelight in Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, a moving, celebratory documentary that will turn many viewers on to its subject's strange, compelling sounds. Expect neither myth-making nor music-biz scandal from this level-headed, informative ...

  • Reviews

    Our Mother (Kabei)

    2008-02-14T13:32:00Z

    Dir: Yoji Yamada. Japan 2007. 132 minsIn Kabei - Our Mother, Yamada's 80th film to date, the veteran Japanese director offers a sweet, gentle, weepy recollection of Japan on the eve of the Second World War (1940-41), based on the autobiographical story by Teruyo Nogami.An out-and-out melodrama, the picture tells ...

  • News

    Cinema Libre acquires worldwide rights to Bloodline

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    Cinema Libre Studio has acquired worldwide rights to Bruce Burgess' hot-button Holy Grail documentary Bloodline and has set the US premiere for May.The film-makers interviewed archaeologists and members of secret societies and investigated a tomb that some say could prove the existence of a Jesus Christ-Mary Magdalene bloodline.The subject of ...

  • News

    Andrzej Wajda lines up Tatarak with Krystyna Janda

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    Further details have emerged this week about Tatarak, the next project from revered octogenarian Polish auteur Andrzej Wajda whose Oscar-nominated Katyn screens out of competition in Berlin on Friday.Production will begin later this year on the film which is an adaptation of the book by Polish novelist and poet Jaroslaw ...

  • News

    Niels Arden Oplev preps Scandinavian detective opus

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, whose Worlds Apart screened in official selection in Berlin, has revealed further details of his big budget new project Men Who Hate Women, an adaptation of the first part of Stieg Larsson's 'detective trilogy.' Oplev is directing the first part as both a feature film ...

  • News

    David Lee steps down as EVP at Weinstein Company in Asia

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    DavidLee has stepped down as executive vice president of Asian Operations atThe Weinstein Company, where he was responsible for overseeing creativeaspects of the company's Asian Film Fund. He will be partially replaced by Steve Squillante who has come on board as a consultant for the fund. Squillantewill work alongside TWC's ...

  • News

    As Berlin winds down, attention turns to potential Cannes selections

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    A clearer picture is emerging of what films will be ready for this year's Cannes Film Festival in May and the lineup looks like it will be filled with its usual blend of veteran auteur films, new discoveries and US studio fare.Official selection berths already seem set for Ari Folman's ...

  • News

    Bavaria closes further deals on Cherry Blossoms and Black Ice

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    BavariaFilm International (BFI) has reported a raft of sales on two of itstitles in Berlinale Competition. DorisDoerrie's Cherry Blossoms - Hanami has now been sold to South Korea(JinJin Pictures), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Colombia (Cine Colombia),Mexico (Cine Video y TV) and Greece (PCV) in addition to the deal ...

  • News

    Shorts Golden Bear splashed out for A Good Day For a Swim

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    The Berlinale's shorts jury has given its Golden Bear to A Good Day For a Swim (O zi buna de plaja) by Romania's Bogdan Mustata, about three juvenile delinquents who break out of prison and go to the beach.Of the winner, the jury said: 'The film raises questions about its ...

  • News

    UGC buys Canadian Berlin selection Tout Est Parfait

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    UGC has picked up Canadian Panorama selection Tout Est Parfait for France, Benelux and Switzerland from Anick Poirier of Montreal-based sales outfit Seville International.The feature debut of Quebecois documentary and commercials director Yves-Christian Fournier, the film is the story of a young man (Maxime Dumontier) bereft by the suicide pact ...

  • News

    Big titles at EFM overshadow festival selection in Berlin

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    The Berlinale kicked off in fine style with Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary Shine A Light but after several days the general consensus was that - at least for buyers - the festival line-up was in danger of being upstaged by the market.Focus inevitably turned to the EFM following a ...

  • News

    New Wave takes Ceylan's Cannes-bound Daydreams for UK

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    New Wave Films, the new UK distribution company set up by former Artificial Eye bosses Robert Beeson and Pam Engel, has made its second acquisition of the Berlin market, taking Daydreams, the latest feature from Turkish maestro Nuri Bilge Ceylan from Pyramide International.Like New Wave's first pick-up - the Dardennes' ...

  • News

    Heart of Fire producers stack up new projects

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    Producers Sven Burgemeister of TV-60Film and Goldkind Film and Andreas Bareiss of BurkertBareiss Development have unveiled their slate of new projects ahead of the world premiere of Luigi Falorni's Heart Of Fire in competition at Berlin today.Bareiss and partner Gloria Burkert are producing newcomer Su Turhan's feature debut Ayla about ...

  • News

    Nordisk/Trust rack up sales on Lordi horror, Von Trier, Moodysson

    2008-02-14T06:00:00Z

    As the EFM draws to a close, Nordisk and Trust are continuing to rack up sales on their Berlin slate. One heavy seller is their English-language horror film Dark Floors, starring Finnish rock band and Eurovision Song Contest winners, Lordi. Deals announced yesterday (Wednesday) included Turkey (Umut Sanat/Ozen FilmTAS), Benelux ...

  • Reviews

    Filth and Wisdom

    2008-02-13T21:56:00Z

    Dir: Madonna. UK. 2008. 81 minsContrary to billing, there's not much filth and precious little wisdom in Madonna's directing debut. Even so, you have to applaud her for daring to get behind a camera, given that her career in front of it has been strewn with clunkers. While Filth And ...

  • Reviews

    What No One Knows (Det Som Ingen Wed)

    2008-02-13T16:14:00Z

    Dir. Soren Kragh-Jacobsen. Denmark/Sweden, 2008. 95minsNow 61, Danish director Soren Kragh-Jacobsen has only made a handful of films in the last thirty years, and while they have done well in Denmark , they haven't left much of a mark elsewhere. The well-known exception was Mifune (1999) which enjoyed the distinction ...

  • 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, ...