All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 15
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AFM: Amuse buys android fantasy
Korean thriller Natural City has finally been sold to Japan by its producer-sales agent Tube Entertainment.The big budget android fantasy was sold to Amuse Entertainment for a 'first rate price' after negotiations which began in Mifed and wrapped post-Berlin.Ina rare deal, Tube also pre-sold Fighter In The Wind, a fictionalised ...
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AFM: Strings ties up key pre-sales
Danish film Strings, which is already being tipped as a contender for Official Selection at Cannes, has tied together a number of key pre-sales.The film, a dark fantasy adventure told with string puppets, was sold by Trust Film Sales to Ascot Elite for Switzerland, Russian Report for Russia, Haut Et ...
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AFM: France's Gemini does due Process
France's Gemini Films has taken on international sales duties for Process, the experimental thriller by CS Leigh, which screened as a special event at this month's Berlin festival.Containing next to no dialogue, only 29 edits and the cinematography of Yorgos Arvanitis, the film is an unusual look at a woman's ...
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AFM: New Select prays on Belgian sex fantasy
Japan's New Select was an early buyer for Belgian sexual fantasy film Praying Mantis.Lou Broclain plays a woman involved in a love triangle, who despite her best intentions feels herself turning into a praying mantis, the female insect that kills its partners immediately after mating. Directed by veteran film-maker Marc ...
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AFM: Sunflower takes root for Zhang
Chinese director Zhang Yang starts production next week in Beijing on Sunflower, a family story set against the backdrop of China's 'Cultural Revolution' in the late 1970s. The film stars Joan Chen as a mother focusing on finding a larger apartment for her family.Fortissimo Film Sales is handling world sales ...
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Shochiku crosses swords again with Yamada
Shochiku is to produce andsell Kakushi Ken Oni No Tsume,the next picture by Yoji Yamada, director of this year's foreign language Oscarnominee Twilight Samurai.Production begins this month with the Japanese release scheduled for the autumn.The picture is anotherperiod Samurai drama that includes a love story that transcends class barriers.It is ...
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AFM:Maria full of sales for HBO
Maria Full Of Grace, the Spanish-language story about female drug 'mules', was one of Berlin chief Dieter Kosslick's first selection forcompetition and has proved a strong draw for buyers.Buoyed by Berlin andSundance successes, HBO Films London, its sales house, has now closed deals on Maria with ARP for France, Icon ...
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AFM: Moviehouse strikes trio of US sales
UK sales outfit Moviehouse Entertainment has secured US sales for three of its crossover art-house titles The Rage In Placid Lake, Live Forever and Dead Dog Blues.Larry Meistrich's Film Movement, a first-run DVD subscription service set up last year, bought rights to The Rage In Placid Lake, a dark comedy ...
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Mercier re-appointed as Directors' Fortnight scout
Chris Mercier has been appointed as the scout for English-language territories for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight sidebar (Quinzaine Des Realisateurs) for the second year.The announcement was made by Olivier Pere, the Fortnight's new artistic director, who said: "we are dedicated to discovering new talents and to supporting an eclectic range of ...
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Miramax snaps up Les Choristes
The hottest title at the European Film Market in Berlin this year, Les Choristes has been snapped up by Miramax.In a deal completed on Saturday, the US mini-studio acquired rights for North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.The first-time film directed by Christophe Barratier was screened on Monday (9 ...
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EFM chief examines market capacity
Beki Probst, European Film Market (EFM) chief, has had more meetings during this year's edition of the market than in any other previous EFM.She now seems more convinced of the case for expansion, but remains concerned to pick the right way forward."Either we stay [in the existing building] or we ...
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Rohmer projects becoming 'unfinanceable'
Europe's public sector film financiers got yet another skewering yesterday at the Triple Agent press conference, which was attended by actress Katerina Didaskalou .Long-time Eric Rohmer producer Francoise Etchegaray explained that the veteran French director's films are no longer finance-able in his native country.The Euros 5m indoor thriller had been ...
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F For Film goes South
French sales agent F For Film has picked up international rights to The South (Het Zuiden), the film by Martin Koolhoven that featured in the main programme of the recent Rotterdam festival.The film is an intense character study about the owner of an industrial laundry and has been described as ...
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Buyers sing to Choristes tune
A deal for North American rights to French film Les Choristes is imminent.Sales house Pathe International enjoyed high levels of interest in Berlin where the Market title was one of the few to unite buyers.Pathe is believed to have received a firm offer from Miramax. Executives were confident of a ...
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Jingzhe team stalks White Deer
Chinese film The Story Of Er Mei (Jingzhe) that features in Berlinale's Panorama Special, could be a dry run for a big-budget epic that has eluded a number of China's top-name directors.Jingzhe's director Wang Quanan, star Yu Nan and the powerful Xi'an Film Studio Corp plan to re-team to make ...
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Indie Circle finds Paradise
Completed yesterday, one of the most interesting deals so far this European Film Market involved a film which may only be ready for Berlin 2005.Paradise Now, a personal journey by two people become suicide bombers is being directed by Dutch-Palestinian Hany Abou Assad, who previously made Rana's Wedding.Sold by Celluloid ...
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Co-Production Office boards Jesus You Know
Upscale French sales and production outfit The Co-Production Office has boarded Ulrich Seidel's, Jesus You Know, which last year won the best documentary award at Karlovy Vary.The film takes a darkly comical look at five Austrians and their own, highly individualistic communion with God. Characters range from a student who ...
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Arclight strikes Beautiful deal with GMM
Australo-British sales company Arclight Films has picked up world sales rights to Beautiful Boxer, the Thai drama about a kickboxer who fought to earn money for a sex change that appears in Berlin's Panorama section. The deal is expected to be the beginning of a long-term relationship between Arclight and ...
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Paramount closes in on worldwide DVD rights to Metallica
Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is understood to be closing inon worldwide DVD rights for the hotly contested Sundance documentary Metallica:Some Kind Of Monster,which has reportedly got international buyers in Berlin lining up fortheatrical rights. A domestic theatrical deal is also close, with IFC Filmsleading the pack.DVD rights would be a ...
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Strand falls for Thai ladies
New York-based specialist releasing operation Strand releasing has picked up North American rights on Thai comedy Iron Ladies II.The gender-bending sequel directed by Yongyouth Thongkunthun was a huge box office hit in its native Thailand, where it grossed Baht 100m, and has been a top seller for sales agent, Fortissimo ...