All News articles – Page 5334
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Valladolid opens with Dancer, unveils competition
Lars von Trier's Palme d'Or winner Dancer In The Dark will inaugurate this year's 45th annual Valladolid International Film Week.Dancer will screen out of competition in the popular festival's Official Section. Von Trier's Breaking The Waves opened Valladolid in 1996.Among the films in competition are L'Amour, L'Argent, L'Amour from Germany, ...
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Gaylord Films, Warner Bros sign co-financing pact
Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Company, which last year bought Paris-based Pandora Cinema, has created a new company Gaylord Films and entered into a co-financing and production deal with Warner Bros Pictures which could result in as many as ten films over the next four years.Headed by veteran producer Hunt Lowry, Gaylord ...
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Locarno appoints Solari as president
The Locarno International Film Festival has appointed Marco Solari to succeed Giuseppe Buffi as president of the festival.Solari, an executive at the Swiss publishing house Ringier AG, will officially take over from the festival's committee of directors who had shared the president's duties after Buffi's sudden death on the eve ...
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Tokyo festival bolsters Asian cinema selection
Only days after actor-director Takeshi Kitano launched a rival festival of Asian and indie cinema, the region's leading film event the Tokyo International Film Festival is upping its focus on local films.The festival, which runs October 28 to November 5, will showcase 16 films from Hong Kong in a focus ...
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Ex-Aurum chief Ramos lines-up slate for new outfit
A romantic comedy from the hip Spanish directing duo Alfonso Albacete and David Menkes is set to be the first project to go through a new production company launched by former Aurum Producciones chief Francisco Ramos.Albacete and Menkes, whose credits include Atomica and Mas Que Amor, Frenesi, are to shoot ...
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Fuji Bank launches film funding drive
Fuji Bank, one of Japan's largest city banks, is plunging into film financing in a drive to invest in the production of entertainment software, including films, animation and music. By the end of 2000, Fuji plans to expand its entertainment investments, reaching a year-on total of $9.5m. The bank is ...
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Star TV buys 26% stake in Indian cable operator
Rupert Murdoch's Star TV is strengthening its position as a programme provider in the competitive Indian market by buying a 26% stake in local cable TV operator Hathway Cable and Datacom Private, according to wire reports.The Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp is understood to be paying around $75m ...
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Thailand's Iron Ladies Win In Hong Kong
A team of Thai male transsexual volleyball players took the number one slot at the Hong Kong box office as the Thai hit The Iron Ladies served up $675,324 in its first four days, making a weekly gross of $954,157 (Aug 31-Sept 6). Distributed on 23 screens by Golden Scene, ...
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Canadian cable player abandons Videotron bid
Canadian cable leader Rogers Communications has abandoned its bid for Quebec-based rival Groupe Videotron.The move ends a six-month battle with publishing giant Quebecor and its powerful backer, pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. Last month, Quebecor and the Caisse, through a jointly-held company, topped Rogers' February $26-per-share ...
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Italian watchdog fines Stream, Telepiu
Italy's communications watchdog has slapped a $130,000 fine onto rival pay-TV groups Stream and Telepiu for failing to agree to a single decoder that will allow viewers to freely zap from one channel to another.Communications chief Enzo Cheli ordered the two groups to undertake the necessary measures within the next ...
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Gala takes Second Skin for UK
UK distributor Gala Film Distribution has picked up UK rights to Second Skin (Segunda Piel), a Spanish language film starring Javier Bardem and produced by Lolafilms.Directed by veteran Gerardo Vera, the sexually-charged Skin features a cast including Volaverunt's Jordi Molla, Belle Epoque's Ariadna Gil and All About My Mother's Cecilia ...
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TF1 records 53% jump in profits
TF1, France's leading TV channel, has announced a 53% jump in first-half profits to $144m.The company cited a bullish advertising market and tightly controlled programming costs. A 39% rise in revenues stemmed from its diversification activities, notably cable and satellite sales.First-half revenues rose 23.4% to $1.2 billion, compared to $798m ...
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Odeon Films buys Andersson's Songs for Canada
International sales company The Coproduction Office has sold Canadian rights to Roy Andersson's Cannes competition entry Songs From The Second Floor to Odeon Films, a subsidiary of Alliance Atlantis Communications.Latina Film in Mexico and Gutek Film in Poland have also acquired the film which screens in the Toronto International Film ...
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Mexican hit Amores Perros goes to Lions Gate in US
Lions Gate Films has completed its deal to acquire all US and Canadian rights to Amores Perros, the critically lauded Mexican film directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Lions Gate Films International took the film on for foreign sales prior to Cannes where it screened in Critics Week, winning the Grand ...
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Dinosaur opens Leeds children's festival
Walt Disney Co's Dinosaur gets its first UK public screening as the opening gala film for the Leeds Children's Film Festival (October 7-15).Opening the Leeds International Film Festival, which runs alongside the children's event, is Purely Belter, by Little Voice director Mark Herman. The Newcastle-based comedy makes its English premiere ...
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UK trio generates midway buzz at Toronto festival
A trio of UK films - Stephen Frears' Liam, Kieron J Walsh's When Brendan Met Trudy and David Kane's Born Romantic - are amongst the titles triggering most interest halfway through the Toronto International Film Festival.The films, all three being handled by London-based The Sales Co, have all been well-received ...
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UGC, UIP move towards cinema pass resolution
UIP and UGC's feud over rental revenues from the exhibitor's Unlimited cinema pass has taken a major step towards being resolved after UGC agreed to release UIP's Shaft this Friday.Although a law suit continues, UGC and UIP are also expected to strike agreements for the wide releases of Billy Elliot ...
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UK cast lines up for Pasolini's Napoleon picture
Tom Watson, Tim McInnerny, Trevor Cooper, Chris Langham and Nigel Terry have joined Ian Holm and Iben Hjejle in the cast of The Emperor's New Clothes, a Napoleon fantasy story from The Full Monty producer Uberto Pasolini.Palookaville director Alan Taylor started shooting the Redwave Films production on location in Italy ...
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Dancer In The Dark disappoints in Scandinavia
Dancer In The Dark, this year's Cannes Palme D'Or winner, had a disappointing opening when it was released last weekend (Sept 8) in Scandinavia - the first territory the drama-musical has played to a paying audience. Despite successful preview screenings of $180,223 (dkr1,562,965) in Denmark, mixed reviews are likely to ...
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Gaumont, UGC step up loyalty pass battle
The French loyalty pass battle heated up this week as Gaumont linked up with MK2 and Cine Classiques to launch a common loyalty card, Le Passe. UGC is now also seeking to partner with independent exhibitors, starting with the Ritman theater operation.Le Passe is to be launched September 27, to ...