Latest Cannes News – Page 244

  • News

    Big Sister dances with Johnny Clegg documentary

    2007-05-23T04:00:00Z

    South African musician Johnny Clegg is the subject of a major new feature documentary, The Last Dance Of A White Zulu. The film, due for release, is a French-South African co-production. It is being put together by French outfit Big Sister and Big World Cinema.The film will tell the story ...

  • News

    Luke G-Jones goes green with Cool Hand

    2007-05-23T04:00:00Z

    Luke G-Jones, the former head of co-production and finance at New Films International, has launched an innovative 'carbon credit' scheme for film production via his LA-based Cool Hand International.Cool Hand, says G-Jones, is a carbon-neutral company and any film in which he gets involved will be a carbon-neutral production. The ...

  • News

    Rotana's Arab production slate includes potential US co-production

    2007-05-23T04:00:00Z

    Ayman Halawani, head of film production for the Saudi Arabian media conglomerate Rotana, is in Cannes to promote a slate of Arab productions, including the company's first potential US co-production.'We're talking to various partners - it's a comedy about an Arab-American family, something like My Big Fat Greek Wedding,' Halawani ...

  • News

    New German $242m fund already backs 24 projects

    2007-05-23T04:00:00Z

    The Germans were in bullish mood in Cannes yesterday, talking up their 'lean, straightforward' new Federal Film Fund to an audience of international producers. The Fund, worth $242m (180m) Euros from 2007 to 2009, is open to international co-productions. In the five months of its existence, it has already backed ...

  • News

    Lightning strikes on Bonneville deal

    2007-05-23T03:56:00Z

    Aimee Schoof and Isen Robbins have partnered with Los Angeles production and sales company New Films International (NFI) to build aslate of up to 10 films a year.The producing duo, formally of New York-based Intrinsic Value Films,teamed with NFI on the recent thriller The Alphabet Killer, which isin post-production and ...

  • News

    Spain's Gomez re-elected as FIAPF president

    2007-05-22T17:45:00Z

    Oscar-winner Andres Vicente Gomez from Spain has been re-elected as FIAPF's General Assembly as FIAPF President. Argentinean producer Luis Alberto Scalella was newly-elected as 1st Vice-President, alongside representatives of Asia and Australasia, Europe, North and South America. The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), which gathers 26 producers' associations ...

  • News

    Charity amfAR comes on board for Dubai Film Festival

    2007-05-22T16:32:00Z

    The organisers of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) have teamed up with amfAR, the American foundation for AIDS research.This year's festival, Dec 9-16, will host a version of the Cinema Against AIDS event, the star-studded fundraiser that's become an annual fixture at Cannes.DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma confirmed that Sharon Stone, ...

  • News

    Arthouse takes on urban graffiti documentary Next

    2007-05-22T15:05:00Z

    Arthouse Films has taken all North American, Australian, New Zealand, and South African rights (without TV) to feature documentary Next: A Primer on Urban Painting.The film is director Pablo Aravena's first documentary feature and was co-produced by Aravena, Lovestreams & agnes b. and executive produced by Claude Girard and Nadja ...

  • News

    Brett Ratner and Quincy Jones team for Carnaval 3D

    2007-05-22T14:57:00Z

    Brett Ratner and Quincy Jones are teaming up on the US-Brazil co-production Carnaval 3D: The Magic And The Music.Jones will appear on camera profiling the high and low life surrounding the week-long Rio De Janeiro Carnaval. A portion of the film's profits will go improving the lives of impoverished Brazilian ...

  • News

    Aspect takes rights to Bad Day - WWII

    2007-05-22T14:53:00Z

    New London-based sales company Aspect Film Limited, run by Hugh Edwards, have taken rights to Jerry G. Angelo and Jonathan Artemis Pierce's action drama feature Bad Day - WWII. Directed by Jerry G. Angelo and starring Christopher Showerman and Basil Hoffman, the film is about US and UK soldiers in ...

  • News

    EFP names members of board, adding Simon Perry

    2007-05-22T14:17:00Z

    During the Cannes Film Festival, European Film Promotion members elected a new board of directors at its general assembly. The six-member board serves for two years.The board is now comprised of:Germany's Christian DorschSpain's Pilar Torre Germany's Renate Rose The Netherlands' Claudia Landsberger Switzerland's Francine Brücher Hungary's Éva Vezer Ireland's Simon ...

  • News

    Cinexport starts sales for Algerian story Morituri

    2007-05-22T11:31:00Z

    Cinexport has taken on world sales for Morituri, and Cinexport president Anne-Marie Rombourg-Caraco is handling the project here in Cannes.Okacha Touita's thriller is based on the novel by Yasmina Khadra, set during Algeria's civil war in the 1990s.The cast features Miloud Khetib, Azzedine Bouraghda, Boualem Benani, Ahmed Benaissa, Rachid Fares, ...

  • News

    Bavaria slides onto Finland's Black Ice

    2007-05-22T11:27:00Z

    Munich-based Bavaria Films International has picked up all rights outside of Finland and Norway to thriller Black Ice by Finnish director Petri Kotwica. Also in post-production on Bavaria's slate is Shadows (formerly titled Bones) by Macedonian auteur Milcho Manchevski (Before The Rain.)Bavaria is also taking the plunge into animation for ...

  • News

    Belgian tax shelter looks shaky

    2007-05-22T11:24:00Z

    Is the Belgian tax shelter in danger' This week, the EU sent back proposals for the renewal of the shelter, the fiscal incentive that has provided a major boost to the local industry as well as supporting international production. It is understood that the EU had reservations about the lack ...

  • News

    Salvatores commands God with new RAI-Colorado alliance

    2007-05-22T11:22:00Z

    Italy's RAI Cinema has pacted with Maurizio Totti's Milan-basedColorado Films to produce four new films including Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores' upcoming project As God Commands (Come Dio Commanda) based on best-selling novelist Niccolo Ammaniti's book of the same name.The film reunites Salvatore with Ammaniti, who authored their 2003 collaboration I'm ...

  • News

    Nassiri launches peace film and initiatives in Cannes

    2007-05-22T11:19:00Z

    Singer/songwriter, philanthropist and world peace activist Nassiri is launching his global peace initiative in Cannes.The programme falls into five key initiatives: the world premiere tomorrow of a 12 minute short film Love Sees No Colour sung in 15 languages by children in 18 countries and filmed by 18 directors; World ...

  • News

    F&ME strikes with White Lightnin'

    2007-05-22T11:16:00Z

    Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) the London-based production and distribution outfit run by Mike Downey and Sam Taylor, has begun production on three feature films all shooting in the US and with a fourth slated to start in October in Canada.Headlining the slate is the debut feature from Dominic Murphy, ...

  • News

    Cronenberg swarms to executive produce Woodley's Drone

    2007-05-22T11:14:00Z

    David Cronenberg will executive-produce horror Drone, the next film by Aaron Woodley (being pre-sold in Cannes by Global Cinema Group.) The film is being produced by Joel B. Michaels and Garth H. Drabinsky.Drone, written by Jon Felson and Rusty Gorman, is based on a short story by TC Boyle. It ...

  • News

    Night Bus drives to UK and Korea

    2007-05-22T11:12:00Z

    Italy's Intramovies has sold Night Bus (Notturno Bus) to ACMEInternational Investments for the UK with theatrical release through Maiden Voyage Pictures and to K& Entertainment for South Korea.A debut film by Davide Marengo, Night Bus is an action comedy starring Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Valerio Mastrandrea. Producers are Maura Vespini and ...

  • News

    BIG Media rides with Jingle Ma's Playboy Cops

    2007-05-22T11:05:00Z

    Hong Kong's BIG Media Group is joining forces with mainland Chinese digital cinema operator Time Antaeus to co-produce Jingle Ma's next project Playboy Cops.Chinese actor Chen Kun and Hong Kong's Shawn Yue are set to star in the $2.2m action comedy which is scheduled to start shooting at the end ...