All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 157
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News
Episode 3 by Renzo Martens opens 21st edition of IDFA in Amsterdam
The 21st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is to open next month with the world premiere of Episode 3 by Renzo Martens.IDFA runs from 20 to 30 Nov.The film is the third in a series of three films in which Martens questions the role of filmmakers and photographers in ...
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BAFTA rejects new best feature doc category
BAFTA has ruled out a new Best Feature Documentary category at this year's Orange British Academy Film Awards.With the growth of interest in the theatrical documentary, some film-makers have been calling for their own award. That sense of missing out has been exacerbated by BAFTA's decision to introduce an 'animated ...
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Rotterdam Festival undergoes revamp
Rotterdam is going in for a revamp. The 38th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), running 21st Jan to 1st Feb 2009, is to get a new and simplified format with three main sections - Bright Futures, Spectrum and Signals.The overhaul comes amid criticisms in recent years that ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Positive Signs
The world of visual effects has changed immeasurably since London's Double Negative set up shop 10 years ago.Co-founders Alex Hope, Peter Chiang and Matt Holben had all joined the industry when editing was done on videotape. "It was a world apart from the wonderful things we can do today," says ...
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Features
Belgium - Jungle fever
How do you shoot an epic Apocalypse Now-style drama in the Far East on a budget of $5.1m (EUR3.5m)' That was the challenge Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz set himself with Vinyan, the follow-up to his critical hit, Calvaire.The new film, shot in English and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Rufus ...
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BBC Films says it's 'business as usual' despite Tranter's move
BBC Films contends it will be 'business as usual' despite the news earlier this week that BBC Head of Fiction Jane Tranter will leave the UK to join BBC Worldwide in Los Angeles next January.Joe Oppenheimer, Executive Producer BBC Films, said day-to-day operations at BBC Films wouldn't be impacted by ...
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Hammer resurrection as production of The Wake Wood begins
The long-awaited resurrection of British horror label Hammer Films has finally happened. Production has just begun on The Wake Wood. This is Hammer's first horror movie since To the Devil a Daughter starring Christopher Lee in 1976 and its first feature of any sort since The Lady Vanishes in 1979.The ...
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Profile: Uberto Pasolini
Uberto Pasolini produced one of the biggest hits in recent UK history, 1997's The Full Monty, but he struggled to find UK finance for his feature directorial debut Machan, and took the project to Italy's Rai Cinema instead.'In Italy, I am known as the guy lucky enough to have made ...
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Features
Belgium - Saying it like she means it
Fien Troch's new feature Unspoken, starring French actors Emmanuelle Devos and Bruno Todeschini, screened at Toronto and is now heading to San Sebastian. This may provide a logistical challenge for the young Belgian writer-director who - like Lars von Trier - has a fear of flying.Unspoken, which is being sold ...
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Russia's Central Partnership partners with Paramount
In a groundbreaking deal that highlights the increasing lure of Russia for the US majors, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) is to partner with Russian major, Central Partnership.The exclusive agreement, which comes into force on January 1st 2009, will see Central Partnership releasing Paramount titles theatrically in the former USSR, excluding ...
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Festival review: Venice leaves best to last
The best was saved for last at the 65th Venice film festival. Darren Aronofsky's Golden Lion-winner The Wrestler was the final film to screen while artistic director Marco Mueller snagged the headlines with the revelation he intends to push back the start of future Venices - to potentially overlap with ...
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London boasts 14 world premieres, plus Bond, W and Frost/Nixon
With 14 world premieres and screenings for the new Bond, Oliver Stone's W and opening film Frost/Nixon, artistic director Sandra Hebron says The Times/BFI London Film Festival has become an international launch pad for major films.'Film-makers and film companies are starting to see that London as a festival offers a ...
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Interview: British Film Institute chairman Greg Dyke
When Greg Dyke was appointed chairman of the British Film Institute (BFI) earlier this year, he was asked why he wanted the job. Why would the former director-general of the BBC and one of the most powerful figures of the UK media industry want to throw in his lot with ...
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Erik Van Looy signs deal with Woestijnvis
Erik Van Looy, the Belgian TV personality and director of hit TheAlzheimer Case (also knownasThe Memory Of A Killer), has signed an exclusive seven-year deal with production outfit Woestijnvis.This is the company behind both his new feature Loft (being sold internationally by London-based The Works) and his highly successful TV ...
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Norwegian government affirms commitment to film
Speaking in Venice this weekend, Norwegian Minister of Culture Trond Giske has outlined the country's long-term plans to boost film production and to attract foreign movies.At a time when other Western European Governments are feeling the financial squeeze, Norway is continuing to strike a bullish note about its film policy. ...
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Wild Bunch Holland plans take shape
Former-A Film boss Pim Hermeling has revealed details of the distribution operation he is setting up in the Netherlands with Wild Bunch.Speaking in Venice, he said the new venture marked the latest step in Wild Bunch's long march toward setting up a pan-European distribution network and follows on from alliances ...
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Pasolini's Redwave plans films with Taylor, Donnellan & Ormerod
Uberto Pasolini, who unveiled Machan, his first film as director, in Venice earlier this week, has revealed further details of projects he is developing through his company Redwave Films.The Full Monty producer is riding ahead with director Alan Taylor, withwhom he worked on Palookaville and The Emperor's New Clothes, on ...
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US Che sale expected alongside Venice deals for upbeat Wild Bunch
During a torpid start to this year's Mostra, some industry figures have been questioning the expense and inconvenience of Venice, but French powerhouse Wild Bunch has given the festival a ringing endorsement. The company is in the process of closing a deal with Italian distributor Lucky Red for its new ...
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Features
Germany - Partner in climb
German writer-director Philipp Stolzl is famous for music videos for such talents as Madonna, Mick Jagger and German metal band Rammstein, and he directed the video for James Bond theme song The World Is Not Enough.Yes, he acknowledges, he has worked with difficult and temperamental performers but none was as ...
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3D film-maker warns of difficulty in cracking US market
Producer-director Ben Stassen has warned that the US remains a tough market to crack for independent 3D films.'It's a David and Goliath battle,' Stassen commented in the wake of thebelow par US performance of his film, kids' animated tale Fly Me To The Moon. Click here for review.The 3D film ...