All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 201
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News
Koelmels' Kinowelt takeover hits further delays
The takeover saga of the insolvent Kinowelt Group has continued into 2003, with news that brothers Michael and Rainer Koelmel have still not paid over the Euros32m agreed to acquire Kinowelt's core assets.Insolvency administrator Dr. Wolfgang Ott said that payment by the Koelmels' Neue Spielfilm Vertriebs- und Marketing GmbH ...
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German culture minister mulls national film academy
Germany's State Minister for Culture Christina Weiss has voiced her support for the creation of an AMPAS-style German Film Academy.In an interview with the Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, Weiss said there was a need for "a forum for the artistic interests of the industry", but stressed that she would ...
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IN-motion parts from Myriad
German media group IN-motion has sold its remaining 30% stake in Myriad Pictures to the existing shareholders and will in future concentrate its film/TV activities out of UK-based subsidiary IN-motion Pictures Ltd.In a statement, the Frankfurt-based group stated that it exited from Myriad as of January 1, but would continue ...
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European Pitch Point jury selects 12 best scripts
Twelve screenwriters and their projects have been chosen from 160 submitted to participate in next month's European Pitch Point.Screenwriters from the UK, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sweden are among the final 12 whose projects were selected from 160 submitted from all over Europe to participate in next year's European Pitch Point ...
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Grill Point leads German critics' award nominations
Andreas Dresen's Grill Point (Halbe Treppe) has picked up nominations in three of the four categories for this year's German Film Critics Award.Grill Point, which received the jury's Grand Prix at the last Berlinale and a Silver Lola at the German Film Awards, has been nominated in the Best Feature ...
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Kosslick gives Berlinale new tolerant motto
"Towards Tolerance" will be the motto for the 2003 edition of the forthcoming Berlinale in February.In his first festival as director, Dieter Kosslick last year tagged this year's Berlinale with the phrase "Accept Diversity".According to Kosslick, the Berlinale will "have several films in the programme which deal with topical political ...
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Fabritius ejected from Senator post
German producer-distributor Senator Entertainment has given executive Juergen Fabritius orders to leave his managerial post at the group's German theatrical arm Senator Film Verleih just days before the Christmas celebrations.Fabritius joined Senator in January 2002 to serve as one of the managing directors with responsibility for marketing and distribution for ...
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Premiere secures new owner and Hollywood films
German pay TV platform Premiere has signed film package deals with another two Hollywood studios - Paramount Pictures and Columbia - securing programming directly from seven of the eight majors from 2003. At the same time Premiere has become the first part of Leo Kirch's collapsed media empire to close ...
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Berlin Talent Campus attracts more than 2,000 applications
Over 2,000 young filmmakers from 70 countries have applied to take part in the Berlin International Film Festival's first Berlinale Talent Campus which will be held from February 10-14.The Talent Campus, which is being organised by Master School Drehbuch Berlin in co-operation with Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the UK's Film Council and ...
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Berlinale announces first Panorama titles
The Panorama section at the forthcoming Berlinale will be welcoming back several filmmakers who have had films screened in past editions.Returning directors include: Israel's Eytan Fox, the UK's Richard Kwietniowski, Hong Kong's Peter Chan, Spain's Isabel Coixet and Japan's Hideo Nakata, whose chilling thriller Dark Water opened the 2002 Panorama.After ...
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Eichinger joins Constantin Film supervisory board
Bernd Eichinger is being lined up to succeed Commerzbank's Franz Jung as a member of Constantin Film's supervisory board from January 1, 2003.Eichinger, who built Constantin Film up into Germany's most successful independent production and distribution house over the two decades since joining the company in 1979, had served ...
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'Extraordinary' Kinderfilmfest expected
Films from South Korea, Finland, Israel, Germany and Japan are among the first seven titles confirmed by the Berlinale Kinderfilmfest's new director Thomas Hailer for a programme which, in his words, "promises to be both diversified and extraordinary."Two films have been invited from Finland: Arto Koskinen's The Handcuff King (Kahlekuningas) ...
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Anouk Aimee to get Berlinale lifetime achievement award
French actress Anouk Aimee will be honoured with the Berlinale's Homage and receive a Lifetime Achievement Golden Bear at a screening of Lola on February 13.Announcing the tribute, festival director Dieter Kosslick stated that "Anouk Aimee is one of the great European stars to whom we owe so many ...
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German insolvency blow softened by Peppermint takeover
Helkon Media's production subsidiary Kinofilm Muenchen Filmproduktion and the Vienna-based associated company Helkon Media GesmbH have become the latest divisions of the bankrupt German media group to file proceedings for insolvency. Kinofilm Muenchen Filmproduktion, which produced such films as Hans-Guenther Buecking's Die Haeupter Meiner Lieben and Peter Gersina's Vienna, submitted ...
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Koelmels in the home straight
The seemingly never-ending saga of the Koelmel brothers' bid to take over their insolvent Kinowelt empire looks like having been resolved.After a meeting on December 13 between the Koelmels' Neue Spielfilm Vertriebs- und Marketing GmbH, the insolvency administrator Wolfgang Ott, representatives of Sparkasse Leipzig and members of the creditors committee, ...
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KirchMedia strikes film deals with Paramount, German distributors
Bankrupt KirchMedia has reinforced its future position in the German market by acquiring a $500m film package from Paramount Pictures, giving it the rights to around 100 feature films and series through to 2011. It has also unveiled a raft of long-term film deals with key German distributors.The Paramount deal ...
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European Film Promotion 2003 gets full MEDIA Plus support
For the first time, the pan-European marketing initiative European Film Promotion (EFP) has received confirmation of support in advance for a whole year from the European Commission's MEDIA Plus Programme rather than on a project-by-project basis. "This year-long contract will allow us the necessary lead time to develop our projects ...
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Yasujiro Ozu to be honoured with Berlinale retrospective
The forthcoming Berlinale (February 6-16) will devote a retrospective to the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth on December 12, 2003.His most famous work Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) will be screened at the Berlinale Palast, while other works by and about Ozu will be ...
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Transit Film picks up Fassbinder In Hollywood
Transit Film has picked up international sales on Robert Fischer's documentary Fassbinder In Hollywood which was produced to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the legendary German director's untimely death in June 1982.The production by Fischer's Fiction FACTory and Ulli Lommel's Los Angeles-based company Lavida looks at Fassbinder's relationship to ...
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Publisher Bauer close to signing ProSiebenSat.1 deal
The consortium of German publishing empire Heinrich Bauer and HypoVereinsbank is expected to sign a Euros 700m deal for a majority 52.5% stake in the ProSiebenSat.1 broadcasting family in the next two weeks.Speaking to the Reuters news agency after a meeting of the insolvent KirchMedia's creditor committee on Monday December ...