All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 182
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News
Pinewood Studios stage rebuilt and ready for Bond
Less than a year after the fire last July that destroyed the celebrated 007 stage at Pinewood, the stage has been fully rebuilt and is back in action. The news comes as Pinewood makes its case to keep the next 007 film, Bond 22, in Britain. The studio is already ...
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News
Gurinder Chadha in pre-production on Full-Frontal Snogging
The hunt is on for a teenage actress to star in Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Casting is getting underway in London this week on the $18 million adaptation of the first in UK author Louise Rennison's best-selling Confessions Of Georgia Nicolson series about adolescent angst. It has now been ...
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Features
Denmark - Overthrowing the old guard
Based on the memoirs of James Gregory, Goodbye Bafana tells the story of the white South African who guarded Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. But while it is a South African story, the $20m project is directed by a Dane, Bille August, and has an international flavour in terms of ...
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News
Princess Of The Sun to become first film screening at Pyramids
French animated feature Princess Of The Sun is to receive its world premiere tomorrow at a special outdoor screening in Egypt, at the bottom of the pyramids of Giza. This is the first time the Egyptian Government has sanctioned such a screening. The Egyptian premiere is the brainchild of French ...
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Reviews
Gone (aka Middle Of Nowhere)
Dir: Ringan Ledwidge. UK-Aust. 2006. 88mins Young British travellers should steer well clear of the Australian Outback. Having suffered at the hands of a deranged and sadistic bushman in Greg McLean's ferociously unpleasant Wolf Creek, the Brits Down Under are again put through the wringer in Gone. Like Wolf Creek, ...
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Features
European - Aardman animations - 'We feel liberated in a delightful way'
Peter Lord, a founder of Aardman Animations, is in optimistic mood following the company's recent divorce from DreamWorks."We just feel liberated in an incredibly delightful way," says Lord. "Many other people are interested in doing business with us, both within Europe and in the US. What it means creatively is ...
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Features
European animation - Drawn to Europe
It may boast an abundance of talent, but European animation has always been little more than a cottage industry. And in a global market dominated by the likes of Disney and DreamWorks Animation, Europe's lack of marketing clout, branding and distribution is painfully obvious.But there are signs that European feature ...
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Features
European animation - Case Study: Arthur and the Invisibles - 'We had no clue how tough it was going to be'
In making Arthur And The Invisibles, Luc Besson (pictured) refused to accept the conventional wisdom that European animation was a cottage industry. It looks as if his gamble has paid off, with the film already scoring more than 6.2 million admissions in France. The aim now is to shoot the ...
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Features
European - Selling European animation - Drawing the battle lines
Television looms large over European animation. "The biggest problem in selling animation in Europe is that the market is primarily for (TV) series - 30-minute episodes," says Czech-based producer and sales agent John Riley, who has sold the work of Czech master Jan Svankmajer.With bigger-budget Euro-animated features, sales agents need ...
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News
The casting cash
Stars can be important elements when it comes to packaging elaborate European co-productions. Obviously, casting a German lead may help sell the film in German-speaking territories or raise funding in those territories. The Weinstein Company's Colin Vaines acknowledges that with lower-budget European films, directors are often what sell the work ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Filmworks' ethic
When broadcaster Sky and UK exhibitor Odeon joined forces in a 50-50 venture to create new distribution company, Odeon and Sky Filmworks, some eyebrows were raised. Why, observers asked, did the two companies want to venture into an overcrowded and overly competitive field such as theatrical distribution'Six months after its ...
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News
The European name game
Even the most cursory list of Europe's best-known actors reveals a continent stocked with starry talent: Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren from the UK; Eva Green, Isabelle Huppert, Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche from France; Monica Bellucci and Roberto Benigni from Italy; Franka Potente ...
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News
Delpy's latest sparks sales boom for Rezo
The Works UK Distribution has taken UK rights on Julie Delpy's Two Days In Paris, one of the buzz titles in this year's Berlinale. The film, which screened as a Panorama special, stars Delpy, Adam Goldberg and Daniel Bruhl. It's about a New York-based couple on holiday in Europe, trying ...
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News
Norwegian Culture Minister pledges extra funds for local films
In Berlin this week, Norwegian culture minister Trond Giske has promised increased Government support of the local film industry.Since coming to power in late 2005, Norway's left-centre alliance has pumped an extra 6.2 million Euros into the Norwegian Film Fund, taking the overall spending to 32 million Euros per annum. ...
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News
Wolfe takes Shelter for US from Wide
Loic Magneron's Wide Manaagement has closed a slew of deals as the EFMwinds down, including a US deal on Marco Simon Puccioni's Italian Panorama entry, Shelter.The film, about two young Italian women who find a Moroccan immigrant hiding in their car, has sold to Wolfe Releasing. The film stars Portuguese ...
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Reviews
Hot Fuzz
Dir: Edgar Wright. UK/USAt its best, Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's follow-up to Shaun Of The Dead, is wildly funny and very inventive. The film-makers take the conventions of the British cop drama and subvert them entirely. They relish combining gentle whimsy with hellzapopping violence. Their frame of ...
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News
Starfield, Maybe team on Lebanon drama
Paul Raphael's London-based Starfield Productions is working on After The Summer Rain, a new drama that was partly shot in Lebanon during the war last year. The project, which is already in post-production and will be vying for a slot in Cannes, is directed by Philippe Aractingi, whose Bosta was ...
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News
Englund to direct The Vij in Hungary for ReDark
Freddy Kreuger is back - but this time he is behind the camera. At the EFM this week, ReDark's Loris Curici has announced two new projects including one that will be directed by Robert Englund, the star of the legendary Nightmare On Elm Street films.Production is due to begin in ...
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News
Intercinema lands deal for The Island
Aki Kaurismaki is Russia-bound. The Finnish director's work is rarely seen in the country, but thanks to Raisa Fomina' sales and distribution outfits Intercinema, Russian audiences will soon be able to lap up almost every movie Kaurismaki has ever made.First, Intercinema released A Man Without A Past and Lights In ...
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News
Wild Bunch seals deals with Picturehouse, Magnolia, Goldwyn
Wild Bunch may have broken off official relations with the Berlinale and set up shop in a jerry-built cabin, but the French sales powerhouse has had its best EFM ever, including three US deals.Morgan Spurlock's untitled documentary has been an especially hot seller. UK rights have now gone to Optimum, ...