All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 139
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Majestic Filmverleih adds two new films to release slate
Benjamin Herrmann and David Groenewold's new distribution company Majestic Filmverleih has added Doris Doerrie's Hanami and Alexander Adolph's documentary debut Con Man Confidential (Die Hochstapler) to its release line-up.Hanami, which will star Monica Bleibtreu, Elmar Wepper, Nadja Uhl, Birgit Minichmayr and Felix Eitner, will begin shooting at locations in ...
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Croatian film-makers funding set for big boost
Financial support for the film industry in Croatia could almost treble from the current amount with the planned creation of a Croatian Centre for Audiovisual Services next year.Speaking to Screendaily at the European Cinema and Audiovisual Days in Turin, Antonia D. Carnerud, Head of the Drama Department at Croatia's Ministry ...
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Cottbus forum to consider 13 film pitches
Thirteen projects will be pitched to potential production partners during this week's two-day Connecting Cottbus industry forum (November 16-17) at the FilmFestival Cottbus.They include the Czech production company Brutto Film's black comedy Choking Hazard: The Giant, the English-language sequel to its box office hit Choking Hazard; SEE Film Pro's omnibus ...
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Senator ends dispute over X-Filme
Producer-distributor Senator Entertainment is to retain its 56.1% interest in the Berlin production house X-Filme Creative Pool after an out-of-court settlement.The dispute dates back to 2004 when Senator filed for insolvency, since when there has been often acrimonious wrangling about the stake in X-FIlme.Now Senator's new majority shareholders Marco Weber ...
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Constantin and ProSieben Sat 1 continue output deal
Leading German independentdistributor Constantin Film Verleihhas extended its output deal with the ProSiebenSat.1 Group for a further twoyears.The new arrangement, which takeseffect from February 2007, will cover all of the ConstantinGroup's national and international in-house and co-productions shooting betweenJanuary 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008.Aside from the current deal -which ...
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Odeon gets rights to Fitzek's Die Therapie
Odeon Pictures hasacquired the film rights to adapt Sebastian Fitzek's bestselling psychothrillerDie Therapie, which was publishedthis July and immediately appeared in the bestseller lists.Berlin-based Fitzekwill be actively involved in the development of the screenplay and will serveas an advisor to the project from concept through to principal photography, which is ...
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Honor De Cavalleria takes Viennale Fipresci prize
Albert Serra's Honor DeCavalleria was named the winner ofthe FIPRESCI Prize at the Viennale 'for its imaginative and challengingcinematic reinvention of the classic novel Don Quixote.' The Vienna International Film Festival closedlast night with a gala screening of Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.The Vienna Film Prize forthe best Austrian ...
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EFP plans new film showcase in three cities
Following such initiativesas Shooting Stars in Berlin and showcasing young European filmmakers in KarlovyVary, European Film Promotion is planning a new series of screenings under thebanner of Picture Europe! The Best of European Cinema to highlight nationalbox-office hits from across Europe.The new initiative willscreen European films in three European capitals ...
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Kinowelt acquires producer/distributor Pegasos
After acquiring amajority stake in the license trader Intertainment earlier this year, theKinowelt Group has now continued its expansion by taking over the Cologne-baseddistributor-producer Pegasos Filmverleih und Produktion.In the deal signedin Leipzig on the eve of this year's Hof Film Days, Kinowelt has committed tocontinuing Pegasos' business exploiting rights to ...
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Wenders and Tykwer to celebrate 40th Hof Film Days
WimWenders, Tom Tykwer and Aki Kaurismaki will be among the film-makerscelebrating the 40th anniversary of the Hof Film Days, which opens today with MarcusH. Rosenmueller's comedy Schwere Jungs.WhileWenders and Tykwer will be coming to Hof for screenings of their films Paris, Texas and Deadly Maria (DieToedliche Maria) as part of ...
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Germany's FFA backs next Glawogger film
New feature films fromAustria's Michael Glawogger, theatre/film director Leander Hausmann and the directorialduo Marcus Mittermeier and Jan Henrik Stahlberg are among seven projectsawarded a total of $2.8m (Euros 2.25m) production support by the German FederalFilm Board (FFA).Glawogger received $313,937(Euros 250,000) for Contact High, thesequel to his comedy Nacktschnecken, which will ...
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Berlinale gets cooking with new culinary cinema sidebar
Berlinale festivaldirector Dieter Kosslick is introducing a new film programme of features,documentaries and shorts entitled Look & Cook - Culinary Cinema at the 2007festival. Held at the Wintergartenvariete theatre ten minutes away from Potsdamer Platz, the programme will includescreenings complemented by discussions and tastings as top German chefs will beinvited ...
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New fees and passes planned for Berlin market
The organisers of nextyear's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin (Feb 8-18, 2007) will now be offering film professionals three waysof attending the market.As EFM deputy director KarenArikian told ScreenDaily.com, the EFMwill have "alternatives which were not in place before. For example, forthe first time, we are offering EFM attendees ...
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Novkovic wins hat-trick of awards at Cottbus festival
Serbiandirector Oleg Novkovic scored a hat-trick at this year's FilmFestival Cottbus(Nov 14-18) when his latest feature Tomorrow Morning (Sutra Ujutru) won the Main Prize for Best Film, the FIPRESCI Prize and thenewly-created From Cottbus to Cinema Distribution Support Prize.This Novkovicthird film to show at the festival of East European Cinema, ...
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Polish Insitute backs new films from Loach and Zelenka
Newfeature projects by Ken Loach, Petr Zelenka and Oliver Parker are among sixinternational co-productions supported with a total of $4.1m (Zlotys 12.8m) bythe Polish Film Institute in its latest round of funding. Loach's These Times, which hasproducer-distributor SPIInternational as its Polish co-producer, received $176,376 (ZL 546,508)production support. The Polish elements ...
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Warsaw jury goes euphoric for Vyrypaev's debut
Russian dramatist Ivan Vyrypaev's feature film debut Euphoria was the winner of the Grand Prix inthe New Films, New Directors competition at this year's Warsaw InternationalFilmFest. Announcing the winner at the awards ceremony on Saturdayevening, jury president Petr Zelenka said that the choice of the drama about alove triangle on ...
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Wortmann's football doc sets new record in Germany
SoenkeWortmann's "fly on the wall" football documentary Deutschland. Ein Sommermaerchen hasbroken Germany's record for the most successful documentary release, which hadbeen held previously by another Kinowelt title, The March Of The Penguins, which hadposted 1.45m admissions. Accordingto Kinowelt's head of press Martin Wieandt, the Little SharkEntertainment/WDR-WDR mediagroup production was expected ...
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Wajda starts shoot for Katyn massacre film
Veteran Polish director Andrzej Wajda has begunshooting of his long-cherished project PostMortem about the Katyn massacre of 1940 at locations near Krakow.The $5.2m (Zloty 16m) Polish-French co-production byAkson Studio with Margaret Menegoz's Les Films du Losange as minority partnerhas received $1.9m (Zloty 6m) backing from the Polish Film Institute, $564,884(Euros ...
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Margaret von Schiller departs Berlinale Panorama
TheBerlinale's Panorama section has announced personnel changes as part of the restructuringof the past few months that has seen the Panorama Short Film programme mergedwith that of the Official Competition.In apersonal communique, Panorama's director Wieland Speck revealed that Margaretvon Schiller, who had become his successor as Panorama shorts programmer in1992, ...
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Yacoubian Building wins best debut in Zurich
Egyptian filmmaker MarwanHamed's The Yacoubian Building (OmaretYacoubian) won the Golden Eye Awardin the Best Debut category at this year's Zurich Film Festival, which ended onSunday.The International Jury,headed by veteran US producer EdwardR. Pressman, noted its appreciation of the film's approach of'using classic melodrama to discuss issues and conflicts in Egyptiansociety ...