All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 109

  • News

    Mannheim top prize for Rain, FIPRESCI Prize to Borderline

    2008-11-19T17:47:00Z

    Argentinian director Paula Hernandez's Rain (Lluvia) received the top award at this year's Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival. The international jury headed by veteran German filmmaker Edgar Reitz gave the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Prize to Stephanie Duvivier for her film A Police Romance (Un Roman Policier).Its special award was presented to ...

  • News

    Russia dominates awards at FilmFestival Cottbus

    2008-11-16T20:03:00Z

    Russian cinema was the big winner for the second year running at the FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema (November 11-16) taking home six of the 12 awards presented at the weekend. The International Jury, which included the Israel Film Fund's Katriel Schory, Oscar-winning set designer Allan ...

  • News

    Cottbus gives boost to German-Russian film relations

    2008-11-13T17:47:00Z

    Relations between the German and Russian film industries have been given a boost at this week's FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of European Cinema.At the opening ceremony, Germany's Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier voiced his support for a German-Russian co-production treaty, saying that negotiations should be brought to a swift conclusion.He ...

  • News

    14 projects to be pitched at Cottbus East-West co-production market

    2008-11-13T12:20:00Z

    New films from Romania, Slovenia, Austria and Bulgaria are among 14 projects from 13 countries selected for presentation at this year's Connecting Cottbus East-West co-production market. The projects include Romanian filmmaker Gabriel Achim's black comedy Adalbert's Dream; first-time writer/director Martin Turk's A Gram Of Love; Alexander Hahn's 1970s drama Stopover; ...

  • News

    Tilda Swinton to be jury president at Berlinale 2009

    2008-11-12T16:49:00Z

    Actress Tilda Swinton has been named as president of the international jury for the next edition of the Berlinale (February 5 - 15 2009) by festival director Dieter Kosslick.'I'm pleased that the wonderful Tilda Swinton will be our Jury President in 2009,' Kosslick said. 'Her commanding screen presence has made ...

  • News

    Mannheim Meetings co-production market selects 50 film projects

    2008-11-10T21:30:00Z

    The Mannheim Meetings has selected 50 projects from Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Africa for this year's edition of the co-production market for arthouse films, which runs from November 12 to 16. Almost half of the selected projects are from Western Europe including UK film-maker David Andrew Ward's wry thriller ...

  • News

    Beta Cinema clinches US deal with MPI for Il Divo

    2008-11-07T06:00:00Z

    Beta Cinema has announced its first raft of sales at the AFM, including a US sale to MPI Media Group for Paolo Sorrentino's Cannes award-winner Il Divo. The drama about the controversial Italian politician Giulio Andreotti has also been sold to Germany (Delphi Film), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Denmark (Sunrise Film), ...

  • News

    Oliver Hirschbiegel's back with Angel Face at Telepool

    2008-11-07T06:00:00Z

    Telepool has secured world rights, excluding German speaking territories, to Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel's new project Angel Face (working title).The adaptation of the best-selling book by Spiegel magazine author Andreas Ulrich unites Hirschbiegel with Moritz Bleibtreu, the lead actor in his 2001 psychodrama The Experiment. Principal photography on the German-Italian ...

  • News

    Axiom in UK, Star Sands in Japan take on Dornhelm's La Boheme

    2008-11-04T22:01:00Z

    UK distributor Axiom and Japan's Star Sands/Theaters have acquired Robert Dornhelm's film version of the Puccini opera La Boheme ahead of its market premiere at the AFM.According to sales agent Beta Cinema, the film featuring opera stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon has also been picked up by Palace for ...

  • News

    Leipzig's top prize for Rene, FIPRESCI Award for Oblivion

    2008-11-03T18:08:00Z

    Czech filmmaker Helena Trestikova's Rene has received the International Jury's Golden Dove at the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.The story of an outsider of society observed by Trestikova over the course of almost 20 years was also awarded the MDR Film Prize for an outstanding East European ...

  • News

    Berlinale expands eastwards with new venue for 2009

    2008-11-03T16:40:00Z

    The Berlinale will include Europe's largest revue theatre, the Friedrichstadtpalast, as one of its screening venues at the 2009 festival.The Berlinale plans to programme four to six screenings each day at the venue, from the Competition or Berlinale Special sections.The venue will be known as the FriedrichstadtFilmpalast during the festival ...

  • News

    Gomes receives FIPRESCI at Viennale for Aquele Querido Mes De Agosto

    2008-10-31T13:13:00Z

    Portuguese director Miguel Gomes received the FIPRESCI Critics Award at this year's Viennale for Aquele Querido Mes De Agosto. In a statement, the critics' jury said that Gomes' film 'brings to life a world of music, passion, romanticism and tragedy.' Miguel Gomes was also the subject of a special homage ...

  • Features

    AFM buzz - Germany

    2008-10-31T00:00:00Z

    German sales agents will be at the AFM presenting a diverse range of product from the territory. Bavaria Film International will have a promo-reel of Esther Gronenborn's mystery thriller Kaifeck Murder, starring Benno Furmann and Alexandra Maria Lara, which is inspired by one of Germany's most infamous crimes.Telepool will screen ...

  • News

    Beta Cinema presents four market premieres at AFM

    2008-10-30T12:42:00Z

    The Munich-based sales agent will be having market screenings for the first time of:Robert Dornhelm's $ 6.4m (Euros 5m) production of the Puccini opera La Boheme with star singers Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, which has been released so far in Austria (Constantin Film) and Germany (NFP/Warner);Nicolai Rohde's drama 10 ...

  • News

    Berlinale 2009 retrospective dedicated to 70mm

    2008-10-28T18:07:00Z

    The programme will concentrate on 70mm films which were originally shot on 65mm or 70mm negative film and then printed onto 70mm for the cinema screen. It will be prepared by the Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum for Film & Television.Among the classic titles already confirmed for screening are David Lean's ...

  • News

    South-East Asian projects backed by World Cinema Fund

    2008-10-28T17:07:00Z

    Three South-East Asian film projects have been backed with a total of Euros 160,000 by the Berlinale's World Cinema Fund (WCF).The five-person jury chose three projects from among 108 submitted from a total of 33 countries:Primitive: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand), prod co: ...

  • News

    Aramid backs first German P&A fund for independents

    2008-10-27T19:36:00Z

    Aramid Capital Partners (ACP) is behind the launch of PA CO, the first fund in Germany specialised in P&A financing for independent films.The Munich-based $ 12.5m (Euros 10m) fund will be headed by PA CO director and distribution veteran Manfred Wenzel who previously held senior positions at Kinowelt and VCL ...

  • News

    On Set: Christian Alvart's Pandorum

    2008-10-24T00:00:00Z

    German director Christian Alvart could not believe his eyes when he was given an early draft of Pandorum to read by UK producers Jeremy Bolt and Paul WS Anderson of Impact Pictures and Robert Kulzer of Germany's Constantin Film: Travis Milloy's spec script was similar to a project Alvart had ...

  • News

    Berlinale doubles festival accreditation fee

    2008-10-23T17:25:00Z

    The Berlinale has introduced a 100% price hike for festival accrediation next year (February 5-15).The fee for the general festival accreditation will increase from $64 (Euros 50) to $ 128 (Euros 100). The charges for the market badge and festival accreditation and EFM Screening Pass will remain stable at the ...

  • News

    Strong European representation under EFP's AFM umbrella

    2008-10-21T16:48:00Z

    28 European sales agents and production companies from 13 countries have registered at European Film Promotion's (EFP) umbrella office in Santa Monica's Loews Hotel for the forthcoming AFM.The companies working out of the European Film Promotion office will include: the UK production houses Zephyr Films, Foundation Films and Reach Up ...