All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 152
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Hof Film Days unveils festival programme
German documentariesare particularly strong at this year's International HofFilm Days (October 26-30) including world premieres of new films about musicianJohn Cale, a 'behind the scenes' look atthe casting couch in Hollywood, and thelegendary 1940s screenwriter 'Buzz' Bezzerides.Joerg Bundschuh's documentaryabout John Cale, ToTulsa And Back, is the first portrait ever made ...
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German box office woes continue in third quarter
Cinemaadmissions in Germany were down 27% and box office takings 25.5% less in thethird quarter between July and September compared to the same period last year,according to figures collated by Nielsen EDI.Thestatisticians noted that releases like Madagascar(Euros 34.6m), War Of The Worlds(Euros 16.5m) and the local film Die Weisse Masai ...
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Schloendorff, Kaurismaki projects win German funding
New films by Volker Schloendorff, Mika Kaurismaki,Angelina Maccarone, Ute Wieland and Djamshed Usmonov are among projectsreceiving production support from Filmstiftung NRW and MedienboardBerlin-Brandenburg (MBB) at their latest funding sessions.Veteran filmmaker Schloendorff received Euros 120,000from MBB for his historical drama Heldin Wider Willen about AnnaWalentynowicz, the initiator of the Solidarity movement ...
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Polish Film Centre chief named
Poland's Deputy Culture Minister AgnieszkaOdorowicz has been appointed by Culture Minister Waldemar Dabrowski as thedirector of the new Polish Film Centre (PISF).The new body, whichwill bring the activities of the Film Production Agency, Script Support Agencyand Polish Film Promotion together under one roof with an annual budget ofEuros 25m, is ...
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VIP Medienfonds chief arrested as part of tax probe
The troubles of the privateGerman media fund VIP Medienfonds took a dramatic turn on Wednesday (October 5)with news that its CEO Andreas Schmid has been arrested.Schmid was taken intocustody by the Munich's public prosecutor's office as it was feared he mightflee the country, leading German fund news service Fondstelegramm reportedtoday.Earlier ...
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Film, publishing industries to link up at Frankfurt Book Fair
Relationsbetween the publishing and film industries are to be intensified with a yetcloser collaboration between the Berlin International Film Festival and theFrankfurt Book Fair with the staging of joint industry events during thisyear's event between October 19-23.Thecollaboration was initially launched at the begining of this year with a seriesof professional ...
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Austria, Poland, Sweden, Norway name Oscar films
Austria, Poland and Swedenhave announced their contenders for the foreign language Oscar category.- Veteranfilmmaker Feliks Falk's The Collector (Komornik), which charts 48 hoursin the life of a ruthless debt collector, has been selected as the Polish entry.Falk's first film for ten years, The Collector was the bigwinner at the 30th ...
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Germany's TV-Loonland launches distribution arm
Family programmingspecialist TV-Loonland has launched its own theatrical and home entertainmentdistribution arm Loonland Pictures to market in-house and third partyproductions in Germany.The first title - Alan Simpson's animationfeature Heidi - will be released in collaboration with 20th Century Foxand NFP Marketing as distribution and marketing partners.The co-production between TV-Loonland, its ...
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Raneri takes over as interim head of Media Programme
Domenico Raneri, until now responsible foroverseeing the development action line of the European Union's MEDIA Programme,has taken over from Costas Daskalakis as the interim head of the MEDIA unit inBrussels.Although there hasn'tbeen an official unit head for MEDIA since Delmoly's exit last year, this postis now expected to be filled ...
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Top German fund VIP hit by tax evasion probe
BeleagueredGerman private film financier VIP Media Group has withdrawn its current fundsVIP 5 and 6 from the market after theoffice of Munich's public prosecutor began investigations this week intoalleged professional fraud and tax evasion.The authoritiesraided the Munich office and homesof VIP fund chief Andreas Schmid and other senior executives.The investigations ...
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UK animator wins Cartoon D'or with Jo Jo
UK animator MarcCraste has won this year's Cartoon D'or for his dark 12-minute short Jo JoIn The Stars at theCartoon Forum co-production market held in Denmark's Kolding from September21-24.Described as"a story of love, self-sacrifice and jealousy played out against ablack-and-white world that is both nightmarish and hauntingly beautiful", JoJo In ...
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Swiss select Hiver as Oscar candidate
Greg Zglinski's featuredebut Tout Un Hiver Sans Feu hasbeen selected as Switzerland's entry for the race for the Foreign LanguageOscar.According toSwitzerland's Federal Office for Culture (BAK), Zglinski's film was chosen"for its broad cinematic staying power, its universally valid language,its sensitive mise-en-scene, its convincing screenplay and its cinematographywhich conveys a wonderful ...
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Germany names Sophie Scholl as Oscar choice
Marc Rothemund's Silver Bear winner Sophie Scholl - TheFinal Days has been selected as Germany's entry to enter the race for theForeign Language Film Oscar.Announcing its decision, the jury responsible for selectingthe country's Oscar candidate described Sophie Scholl as "a film ofgreat emotional concentration, carried by outstanding acting achievements. Itssignificance ...
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White Masai takes top spot at German box office
The White Masai,directed by Hermine Huntgeburth, has become the second local film this yearafter Til Schweiger's Barefoot to take the number one spot at the Germanbox-office.The love storybetween cultures between a Swiss businesswoman and a black Masai warrior hadbeen primarily targeted by distributor Constantin at female audiences, althoughthe Euros 7m ...
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Falk's Collector gathers Polish Film Fest prizes
Veteran filmmaker FeliksFalk was the big winner at this year's 30th Polish Film Festival (Sept 12-17)in the Baltic port of Gdynia with his first film for 10 years, The Collector(Komornik), which picked up five prizes at the weekend's closing galaceremony.Falk and his producer JanuszMorgenstern of Film Studio Perspektywa received the ...
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UK animated shorts make Cartoon d'Or final
TwoUK animated shorts - Marc Craste's Jo Jo In The Stars and Daniel Greaves' LittleThings- are among the five finalists nominated for this year's Cartoon d'Or to beawarded at the Cartoon Forum co-production market (Sept 21-25) in Denmark'sKolding.The other nominated films are: Gaelle Denis' CityParadise (France), Peter Kaboth's Falling (Germany) ...
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Warsaw festival launches CentEast film market
The Warsaw International Film Festival (WFF)(Oct 7-16) is launching the CentEast regional film market for films fromCentral and Eastern Europe for the first time this year over four days fromOctober 12-15.WFF festival director Stefan Laudyn told ScreenDaily.comthat CentEast builds on the experiences of the festival's previous WarsawScreenings and will include ...
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Funny Balloons swoops for Mueller's Face Addict
Paris-basedFunny Balloons has taken on international sales for Edo Bertoglio's documentaryFace Addict whichwas produced by Venice Film Festival director Marco Mueller's Downtown Picturesand Switzerland's Amka Films in association with Swiss Television and the USA'sMako Productions.Focusing onthe past and present lives of New York's downtown scene from the late '70s andearly ...
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MDC to mastermind Trzaskalski's San Sebastian entry
MDCInternational is to handle world sales for Polish director Piotr Trzaskalski's TheMaster (Mistrz) which will have its world premiere in San Sebastian'sZabaltegi section next month.The title role of the master, an Afghanistan war veteran travellingthrough Poland with a knife-throwing act, is played by the Russian actorKonstantin Lavronenko.Hebecame known to international ...
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Russell shows off Hot Pants at Oldenburg
VeteranUK director Ken Russell is to be feted with a retrospective including theworld premiere of his latest film Hot Pants at this year's OldenburgInternational Film Festival (Sept 7-11).Themaverick filmmaker will come to the festival which has been dubbed the"German Sundance" for the screening of such films as Women In Love,The ...