All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 184
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News
Director Joe Wright collaborating on Hangover Square
Sought-after young Britishdirector Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice)and writer David Nicholls (Starter forTen) are collaborating on a new version of Patrick Hamilton's classic 1941novel, Hangover Square, for Fox/DNA. Dixie Linder is to producethe feature, currently in development at DNA.Fox own the rights to Hamilton's novel. It has been filmedfor the ...
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Wild Bunch to launch sales for Leconte feature
French outfit Wild Bunch is to launch sales on Mon Meilleur Ami,(My Best Friend), Patrice Leconte's latestfeature at the Paris Rendez-Vous later this month. Touted as a comedy in the style of François Veber, Leconte's new film tellsthe story of a snobbish art gallery owner who gradually comes to realise ...
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Reviews
Lassie
Dir/scr: Charles Sturridge. UK-Ire-Fr-US 2005.Hansomely crafted, full of lively performancesfrom both animals and humans, and with far more satirical bite than might havebeen expected, Charles Sturridge's Lassie is a richlysatisfying affair.In drawing his inspirationdirectly from Eric Knight's 1938 story, Sturridge hastaken the famous collie away from Hollywood and back to ...
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Peter La Terriere to produce Quiver
Ex-Trainspotting hardman and former Bond villain RobertCarlyle is to star as Cupid in a new romantic comedy, Quiver, being set up by London-based First Foot Films. Frenchactress Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach) will play the woman whobreaks his heart. Also in the cast is James McAvoy.Scripted by Liam Gavin, Quiver is ...
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Atmo and Zentropa to partner on animation film
Swedishproduction outfit Atmo and Lars Von Trier's Zentropa are partneringon an unusual new cartoon venture - an adult-themed, English-language animatedsatire which promises to lay bare the political tensions at the heart of modernEurope.Metro, asthe animated feature is called, is written and directed by TarikSaleh (whose Guantanamo Bay documentary Gitmo received ...
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Reviews
Keeping Mum
Dir: Niall Johnson. UK. 2005. 103mins.Keeping Mum is acurious mish-mash: part morbid comedy in the vein ofold Ealing classic Kind Hearts And Coronets, part family drama, part Rowan Atkinsonvehicle, part murder mystery, part Mary Poppins, its disparate elements are thrown together withlittle craft or subtlety.Director and co-writer NiallJohnson never seems ...
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Drouot takes MD role at Flemish Audiovisual Fund
PierreDrouot has been appointed managing director of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund(VAF), it was announced late last week. Hesucceeds former MD Luckas vander Taelen, who made an abrupt exit from the Fundearlier this month.Drouotalready worked for the Fund in various capacities, for instance as a mentorguiding young filmmakers and as a ...
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Dutch doc festival focuses on freedom of speech
AyaanHirsi Ali was a surprise guest at the opening of theInternational Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). In her speech to festivalguests, the Somalian-born Dutch MP and filmmaker hailed IDFA for dedicatingthis year's event to freedom of speech and for offering a platform "tomakers of documentaries about Muslim women and the lives ...
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Verhoeven steers new course for shipwreck tale
Paul Verhoeven and his regularscriptwriter Gerard Soeteman are pushing ahead again with Batavia's Graveyard, their blood-curdlinghistorical epic about the shipwreck of the Bataviain 1629. The film was previously set up at FilmFour."It's a story in the directionof the Bounty but it's much more about the development of a fascist regime," ...
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Allegro joint slate with F&ME reaches Fever pitch
Austrian production outfitAllegro Films is joining with London's Film and Music Entertainment on a slateof three films including a new project, Fever,to be directed by Bruce Beresford (DrivingMiss Daisy). First up is the latestproject from Swiss-born director Simon Aeby,titled MulberryCrossing. This will shoot in English,with a British cast. Currently ...
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News
New Serko deals for Diot's Onoma
Pascale Diot's Paris-basedOnoma has closed new deals on Serko,the 19th Century-set Russian adventure on which it is co-producer aswell as sales agent. Italy's Lucky Red and Switzerland's Monopole Pathe have joined distributors announced at AFM such as Seville Pictures for Canada and Cineartfor Benelux. Directed by JoelFarges, the film follows ...
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News
Flemish fund terminates managing director's contract
The Board of Governors of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) has terminated the contract of its managing director Luckas vander Taelen. Financial director Hans Everaert and Pierre Drouot (producer of Toto The Hero) will take over the running of the Fund until a new MD is appointed. The reasons for ...
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Kilmer joins Silverstone, Gallo in Luna's Moscow Zero
Val Kilmer has beenconfirmed as the third major lead in Moscow Zero, the psychological horror picture from cult directorLuna. Appearing alongside Vincent Gallo and Alicia Silverstone, he will play anunderground dweller fighting demons in the Moscow subway. Shooting begins nextmonth in Russia and Spain.The project, sold byValentia at the AFM, ...
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Content sells Mee Shee to VCL/Warner and others
Content Film has closed adeal with VCL/Warner for German rights to its new family adventure, $25 millionMee-Shee The Water Giant. Thedeal was the first major territory closed on the film, which features specialeffects from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Deals with Senafor Iceland, Lusomundo for Portugal, WEG India for India, Intersonic ...
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News
Von Trier plans documentary about Dreyer's Gertrud
Lars Von Trieris hatching a documentary about one of his favourite films - legendary movie auteur Carl TheodorDreyer's 1964 feature Gertrud.Von Trier'sproducer Vibeke Vindelow said here that Von Trier will write, direct andconduct all the interviews for the documentary which will feature the cast andcrew from the film who are ...
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News
Vindelow, Muasya team on Sunshine And A Funeral
Lars Von Trier's regularproducer Vibeke Vindelow has revealed details of an intriguing new project sheis hatching with Danish director Vibeke Muasya. Together, the two Vibekes areputting together A Bit Of Sunshine And A Funeral. Trust will be handling saleson the low-budget drama. It's inspired by the true story of an ...
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News
Wild Bunch continues roaring trade on Arctic doc
Paramount Pictures has addedFrance to its collection of territories acquired on National Geographic'sArctic documentary Call Of The North, while Shochiku has won a ferocious bidding war for Japanese rights,according to sales company Wild Bunch."I don't know if it'sbecause of the penguins," Wild Bunch's Vincent Maraval says of the hugeinterest the ...
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News
Celluloid to sell Eltringham's east Berlin 60s comedy
Celluloid Dreams' everexpanding English-language slate continues to swell. Yesterday at the AFM,Celluloid confirmed it is to handle international sales on Mrs Ratcliffe'sRevolution, the bittersweet newBritish comedy from Leslee Udwin's Assassin Films.Bille Eltringham (This IsNot A Love Song, The Long Firm) willdirect from a screenplay by Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor. ...
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Betafilm sells Genghis Khan project to Hopscotch, LNK, Lumiere
Early on in the AFM, Germansales outfit Beta is doing a roaring trade with Mongol - Part One, Sergei Bodrov's new feature about the hirsute andbloodthirsty warrior leader Genghiz Khan. The film, which has juststarted shooting with Tadanobu Asano in the central role, has now gone to Hopscotch in Australia/NewZealand, ...
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News
Silverstone, Gallo sign on for Luna's Moscow Zero
Alicia Silverstone andVincent Gallo have been confirmed as leads in $12 million psychological horrorpicture Moscow Zero, the new feature from Luna (Whore, Stranded). The film, due to shoot next month, is the firstproject from aggressive new Spanish production and sales outfit ValentiaPictures.On the first morning of theAFM, Valentia pre-sold several ...