Large MPU – Page 1087
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Features
Australia - Blind Ambition
Matthew Newton has a passion for stories about male relationships. Three Blind Mice, which he wrote, directed and starred in, follows three young Australian navy officers who have one last night in Sydney before going to Iraq. It won a special commendation when it premiered at the Sydney Film Festival ...
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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
United Kingdom - Spirit of the ages
Jamie J Johnson, a former Screen International Star of Tomorrow, had an unusual tour of Europe making his debut feature documentary, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary, which had its world premiere in Toronto.The film, about several contestants in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, took Johnson to Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, ...
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In Focus: Is Asia Crunch proof'
On a macro level, the credit crunch is only just starting to bite in Asia, a year after North America and Europe, but is not expected to have the same impact. Most pundits agree the major economies of the region will continue to grow in 2009, albeit more slowly than ...
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Pusan Special: Asia's Sundance'
Is Pusan becoming the Sundance Film Festival of Asia' South Korea's leading film event certainly takes pride in showcasing independent discoveries from the region.The Hong Kong International Film Festival and Filmart in April have the Chinese-language market covered, and next month's Tokyo International Film Festival and Tiffcom, although growing in ...
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Interview: Pusan festival director Kim Dong-ho
Which festivals do you enjoy'Cannes and Berlin are huge and they can be complicated, but they have the advantage of letting you meet lots of people. I like Rotterdam for the same reason. As for a smaller, quieter but well-run festival with substance, I would pick Karlovy Vary. Locarno has ...
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Pusan Markets: A launch pad for Asian projects
The era of the film festival with history and/or a competition is gone. What matters is whether you have a market function or not,' says Kim Ji-seok, executive programmer, Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF).PIFF and its Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) together are widely acknowledged internationally as must-attend events for their ...
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Toei's Firefly finally ready to roll
Toei's Firefly (Hotaru), a feature about Word War II kamikaze pilots starring Japanese screen legend Ken Takakura, is finally ready to go before the cameras after months of delay. Toei intended the film as a tentpole release for the New Year season but dropped it from its line-up when negotiations ...
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Profile: Pusan Promotion Plan
The Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) co-production market has long been one of the main draws at Pusan. This year it is showcasing 30 projects from 17 countries (the Co-production PRO, launched last year, has been absorbed into PPP).A slew of established Asian directors are producing projects featured in the PPP. ...
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Features
International - Springboard for Hitler
Russian comedy Hitler Kaput! enjoyed a $6m opening weekend in three territories, and was the highest new entry in this week's Screen International chart. Distributed by Central Partnership, it played across 773 screens in three territories.The film, directed by Marius Balchunas, stars Sam Arutunian and Andrei Baliakin. Despite a good ...
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Features
Boxing clever
UK distributor Revolver Entertainment is planning the territory's first all-platform day-and-date release.The Boxing Day release of Steven Sheil's low-budget horror film Mum & Dad will open simultaneously in theatres, video-on-demand, electronic sell-through and rental. A similar US release is planned for Mother's Day 2009.The move will reopen the often fractious ...
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UK government won't bail out digital cinema stragglers
The UK government will not bail out cinemas left behind in the switch to digital cinema, Stewart Till, chairman of the UK Film Council has warned.Speaking at Screen International's annual digital cinema summit, Till said public money could not and would not pay for the installation of digital equipment at ...
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Australians In Film launches Heath Ledger Scholarship
Los Angeles-based Australians In Film (AiF) has launched the Australians In Film Heath Ledger Scholarship.The scholarship will be awarded to an emerging Australian actor for up to US $10,000 plus a return airfare from Australia to pursue their career in the US. Applications will be accepted from October 1-November 28 ...
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Plum options feature rights to Harlan Coben's The Innocent
Plum Pictures has acquired feature rights to Harlan Coben's bestselling thriller The Innocent.Coben wrote Tell No One which Guillaume Canet adapted into the acclaimed thriller and went on to gross more than $27m in France and $5m in the US and earned four Cesar Awards including best director.The Innocent follows ...
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Hypernia, Brave New Films team for online distribution of Moore film
Hypernia Hosting Corp has signed up as global online partner to distributor Brave New Films headed by activist and film-maker Robert Greenwald in the distribution of Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising.Earlier this week Brave New Films launched a free download of the Oscar-winning film-maker's latest feature, which it claims is the ...
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Wrestler, Good get gala screenings at Chicago Film Festival
Darren Aronofsky's Venice Golden Lion winner The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke will screen as a gala presentation and Vicente Amorim's Good will close the 44th Chicago International Film Festival, which runs from October 16-29.Slumdog Millionaire gets a gala screening slot alongside the world premiere of Jada Pinkett Smith's The Human ...
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Roger Corman among new officers elected to IFTA board
The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) has announced the results of its board of directors election in which four industry leaders will join the global trade organisation's executive committee.Elected to two-year terms on the IFTA executive committee are: Roger Corman, vice chairperson (New Horizons Picture Corporation); Elisabeth Costa De ...
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Argentina opts for Pablo Trapero's Lion's Den as Oscar entry
The Argentinian Academy of Film Arts and Science has selected Pablo Trapero's fifth feature Leonera (Lion's Den) as its submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 81st Academy Awards.Trapero's film received 29 votes; Leonardo Favio's Aniceto, 19, and Daniel Burman's Empty Nest, 14Leonera tells the story of ...
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Tokyo governor set to open film office
The governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, has called for the creation of a Tokyo film office to assist film-makers shooting in the Japanese capital.Tentatively called the Tokyo Location Box, the new office is set to open next spring. Speaking at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Ishihara said the Tokyo government ...
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PPI's Eagle Eye to challenge Mamma Mia! in international
Can Mamma Mia! keep the momentum going and stay atop the international charts for another weekend' Universal's musical arrives in three new markets including Russia on September 25 and currently stands at $340.2m through UPI.The biggest competition for Mamma Mia! will come from DreamWorks-Paramount's thriller Eagle Eye when it launches ...