All articles by Leon Forde – Page 15
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European exhibition sector heads for firm ground
The western European exhibition sector may at last be starting to reach an even keel, according to a new report by film industry analyst Dodona Research. While screen growth in the region is set to slow to a trickle over the next four years, cinema admissions will continue to rise ...
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Former All Saint Shaznay Lewis makes feature debut
Former All Saints member Shaznay Lewis is turning to feature films after the highly-publicised break-up of the all-girl pop act.The only All Saint not to appear in Dave Stewart's critically-panned Honest is making her feature debut in soccer comedy Bend It Like Beckham.Lewis will play the captain of a soccer ...
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UK's May box office take hits 26-year high
The mammoth release of The Mummy Returns and the ongoing success of Bridget Jones's Diary helped make May's admissions in the UK the highest for the month in 26 years, according to figures released by the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA).In its fourth week on release, The Mummy Returns has grossed ...
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Amelie opens 55th Edinburgh Film Festival
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie is to open this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs August 12-26.Amelie, released as Amelie From Montmartre in France, is set for UK release on October 5 through Momentum, which picked up the film earlier this year. The story of a naive waitress who eventually finds ...
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Tartan's Teddy puts Bundy into production
Tartan Films, the production offshoot of UK specialist distributor Metro Tartan, is in production on Bundy, a biopic about the notorious mass-murderer. The film is backed by Overseas FilmGroup, which is also handling international sales. Bundy, currently shooting in California, will be the second instalment in Tartan Films' serial killer ...
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Optimum picks up classics for new video/DVD label
UK distributor Optimum Releasing has picked up UK rights on two classic arthouse titles from TF1 for release through start-up video and DVD distribution and sales operation World Cinema.Luchino Visconti's Rocco And His Brothers and Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages Of Fear will both be re-mastered by Optimum and released on ...
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Before Night Falls falls foul of UK censor
Before Night Falls, Julian Schnabel's acclaimed biopic of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, has fallen foul of UK censor, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).Before agreeing to certify the film, the BBFC demanded a scene involving the capture of a bird in prison be cut under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) ...
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Optimum takes Eloge De L'Amour for UK
Independent UK distributor Optimum Releasing has picked up all UK rights on Jean Luc-Godard's Cannes competition entry Eloge De L'Amour (In Praise Of Love).Described as a meditation on the themes of memory and history, the film was sold on the Croisette this year by Wild Bunch, and was hailed as ...
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Artificial Eye buys two more Cannes titles for UK
Closing a busy festival for the company, UK art-house distributor Artificial Eye Film Distribution has picked up Cannes competition titles Va Savoir! and I'm Going Home (Vou Para Casa).Feted in Screen International's review as "resplendent from first frame to last" Jacques Rivette's Va Savoir! centres on the drama created by ...
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Japan says The Bunker is Mi-Pic
UK-based sales outfit The Film Company has sold UK psychological thriller The Bunker to Mi-Pic for Japan.Touted at this month's Cannes market, The Bunker tells the story of a group of German soldiers who get trapped into a disused bunker system on the French-Belgian border during World War 2. Starring ...
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BFI to programme art films for UCI
The British Film Institute (BFI) has partnered with UK exhibitor UCI Cinemas to programme classic films, world cinema and previews of new films. Dubbed "BFI@UCI" the partnership will cover 35 of UCI's UK multiplexes, giving the BFI wide access to multiplex cinemagoers. The institute currently has a smaller programming arrangement ...
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UK BO enjoys best April for quarter of a century
After an uncertain start to the year, things are finally looking up for the UK's exhibition sector. According to the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) admissions in April were the highest for 26 years, averaging 3.26m ticket sales a week. This, says the CAA, could translate into 148m admissions by the ...
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Winchester sells slate, Heartbreakers goes east
UK-based Winchester Films has closed a host of deals to the Far East on its MGM comedy Heartbreakers.The story of mother and daughter con artists went to Hong Kong (Delon), India (RDB), Indonesia (PT Multiplex), Philippines (AIX), Singapore (Shaw) and Taiwan (Long Shong).The feature arm of listed media concern Winchester ...
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Bafta readies pre-Oscar slot for next year
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) is to return to its pre-Oscar slot for its film awards next year, subject to some routine consultations.Bafta has scheduled next year's awards for Sunday February 24, aiming to repeat this year's success when the ceremony moved from April. The repositioning ...
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Cambridge festival relaunched by City Screen
The Cambridge Film Festival, a stalwart of the European festival scene before its demise in 1996, is to be resurrected by London-based independent exhibition chain City Screen.This year's festival, which runs for 11 days (July 12-22) at City Screen's Cambridge Arts Picture House, kicks off with the UK premiere of ...
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Chapman heads Birmingham festival
The Birmingham Film and TV Festival has appointed Barbara Chapman as its director.Chapman, the festival's film programmer for the last three years, replaces Sarah McKenzie, who left last year to join the British Film Commission. Part of Chapman's brief is to add new elements to the festival such as a ...
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Ramsay's Callar gets early call-up
Alliance Atlantis has closed a clutch of pre-sales on offbeat drama Morvern Callar, by one of Britain's hottest directing talents, Lynne Ramsay.The film has been snapped up by Diaphana in France, Artist House in Japan and Prooptiki in Greece. Momentum Pictures will release the film in the UK.Morvern Caller is ...
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Africa, Middle East offer cinema growth potential
Beleaguered cinema exhibitors, increasingly concerned about the growth potential in overcrowded Western markets, could benefit by expanding into the world's nascent cinema markets such as Africa and the Middle East. Cinemagoing Africa Middle East, a new report from film industry analysts Dodona Research, predicts that while screen count in many ...
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Microsoft agrees to EC cable conditions
A European Commission (EC) antitrust inquiry into Microsoft's investments in European cable companies has been wound down after the company promised to modify existing technology pacts with two digital cable operators.'Microsoft has agreed to modify its relationship with two partner companies in order not to exercise undue influence over their ...
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UK cinema supply outstrips demand
Despite a 7% increase of 200 new cinema screens last year, the UK's exhibition sector continued to struggle with sluggish market growth of just 3%, according to industry analysts Dodona Research. This is just the latest confirmation of a trend of industry supply growing faster than demand, that is ...