All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 4
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Reviews
Lila Says (Lila Dit Ca)
Dir: Ziad Doueiri. Fr.2004. 89mins.Watching Lila Saysis like putting a watercolour painting instead of a photograph on the frontpage of a newspaper. Just conceivably, there are circumstances where, indefiance of expectations, the broad brush-strokes could work instead of thecrisp snapshot. And, directed by a French Muslim Ziad Doueiri as an ...
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News
Recycle marks new direction for Universe, Matching
The Pang brothers latesthorror film Recycle, now shooting in Thailand, marks the beginning of along-term co-operation between Hong Hong's Universe International Holdings andThailand's Matching Motion Pictures.The $5m picture reunitesDanny and Oxide Pang with Lee Sin-je, star of their international breakout hit TheEye. Lee plays a writer who discovers that events ...
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News
France faces film release bottleneck
Between Jan 19 and Feb 2, noless than 48 films will be released in France. Among them: Closer, TheAviator, Vanessa Paradis-vehicle Mon Ange, Buena Vista France's LaMarche De L'Empereur and EuropaCorp.'s Danny The Dog. This glut of films hasrekindled the long-debated issue of how to give films a chance to ...
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False start for otherwise promising Bangkok film market
The second edition of theBangkok Film Market (BFM) gets underway tomorrow (Tuesday 18) after a falsestart today.Organisers of the olderBangkok International Film Festival had previously advertised the market asrunning from 17-21 Jan, but with only days of advanced notice, pushed back theofficial start of the event by a day. This ...
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News
Hulbert quits as president of Disney TV
David Hulbert has quit histwin jobs as head of Walt Disney Television International and Buena VistaInternational Television. The sudden move sparks a substantial reorganisationof the division. Hulbert's role will be splitbetween John Hardie, who is promoted toexecutive vice president/managing director, Branded Television, Europe MiddleEast Africa, and Tom Toumazis, promoted to ...
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News
France's Rezo launches long-awaited int'l sales arm
French producer and distributor Rezo Films will bring to fruition a long-gestating plan to expand into international sales at this weekend's Rendez-Vous of French cinema, as well as at next month's Berlin Market.The new Rezo Films International operation will handle eight to ten feature films a year, in an equal ...
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Reviews
Holy Lola
Dir: Bertrand Tavernier.Fr. 2003. 128mins.At times Holy Lolafeels closer to fly-on-the-wall documentary than dramatic feature as it followsa handful of French couples in Cambodia on the trail of children to adopt. Thefilm's worthy subject matter and the reputation of veteran director BertrandTavernier may get it some play at smaller festivals. ...
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News
Music seeks film support for joint anti-piracy attack
The music industry isbelieved to be close to asking the film industry to join forces in the fightagainst piracy.According to a report in theFinancial Times senior music executives have asked Jay Berman, formerchairman and chief executive of the International Federation of thePhonographic Industry (IFPI), to meet with Dan Glickman, who ...
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News
Canal Plus, France Telecom sell cable TV operations
Canal Plus and France Telecom have agreed tosell their French cable TV operations to UK private equity firm Cinven andaggressive cable group Altice.The deal, which will be completed in the firsthalf of 2005, sees 60% of the cable company sold for a total of Euros528m. Itis subject to various EU ...
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News
Piracy problems to worsen in 2005
Audiovisual piracy problemsare set to get worse in 2005, according to a new report by lobby body, theEuropean Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services(AEPOC).The association says thattwo factors will contribute to the growing scale of the piracy problem. Itsays: "the growing ubiquity of audio-visual services creates new ...
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News
Bangkok festival unveils animation sidebar
The forthcoming Bangkokfestival (Jan 13-24) will dedicate a new sidebar to animated film. It willinclude a special tribute to animator, producer, director, Gabor Csupo.The Csupo retrospective will becomplemented by a series of animation seminars conducted by Csupo andexecutives from his Los Angeles-based firm Klasky-Csupo - Hal Waite, seniorvice president of ...
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Reviews
The Queen Of Sheba's Pearls
Dir/scr: ColinNutley. Swe-UK. 2004. 130mins.Lush decor,swooping cinematography and stirring music. Director Colin Nutley makes hiscanvas clear from the opening frames of The Queen Of Sheba's Pearls, apassionate 1950s-set drama about growing up, love, loss and lingering memories.The film, Nutley's first for ages set in his nativeEngland, rather than his adopted ...
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News
Focus acquires Alzheimer Case remake rights
Belgium's foreign-languageOscar contender The Alzheimer Case (De Zak Alzheimer) has beenbought for English-language remake by Focus Features of the US.The Flemish-language thriller,directed and co-written by Erik Van Looy, sees an assassin with a failingmemory become caught in a web of government intrigue. It was produced by HildeDe Laere and Erwin ...
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News
Leading French producer Rene Cleitman dies
Leading French producer ReneCleitman, who founded the Hachette Premiere empire, died yesterday aged 64.Specialising in large-budgetand event pictures, Cleitman produced over 20 features including the five-timesOscar nominee Cyrano De Bergerac, Tenue De Soiree, The Horseman On The Roof,Tango, Monsieur Hire and Urga.He also became the inadvertentvillain of Lost In La ...
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News
CME acquires Czech broadcaster TV Nova
CentralEuropean Media Enterprises (CME), the multinational media conglomerate, hasagreed to buy leading Czech private sector television station TV Nova.Thedeal is rich in irony as TV Nova previously broke away from CME, sparking along-running series of court and arbitration battles.Under theterms of the new deal CME will pay Euros 485m in ...
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News
Six film-makers selected for Cannes 'Residence'
The Cannes festival hasselected six young film-makers to join the next round of its "Residence"intensive training course.The interns, who will spendfour months from the end of February to July developing their next features,include Hernan Belon of Argentina, Noam Kaplan of Israel, Jeffrey St Julesfrom Canada and Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa from Finland. ...
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German, Spanish pictures dominate European Film Awards
Spanish and German pictureswere the big winners at this weekend's European Film Awards in Barcelona,although Spain's national hero Pedro Almodovar walked away empty handed.Hong Kong's Wong Kar-wai wason hand to receive the award for best non-European film with hissci-fi-retro-romance 2046 and in the process become the first two-timewinner of the ...
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Koch Lorber elopes with Syrian Bride in US
Koch Lorber Films has acquired all US rights to The Syrian Bride, the political comedy that won prizes at Locarno and Montreal. World sales are handled by France's TF1 International.Structured as a French-German-Israeli co-production, Bride is the story of a woman who crosses from the disputed territory of theGolan Heights ...
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Reviews
36 Quai Des Orfevres
Dir: Olivier Marchal.France. 2004. 110mins.A muscular police actionthriller, 36 Quai Des Orfevres is a welcome throwback to the stylish1980s French cops and robbers pictures of Blier, Corneau and Beineix. That itis by relative newcomer director (and former cop) Olivier Marchal (who directed2002's Gangsters) and the recently somnolent Gaumont are also ...
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Vera Drake shines at British Independent Film Awards
Venice Golden Lion-winner VeraDrake took four of the top awards and scooped a total of six prizes at lastnight's British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).The story of a well-meaningback-street abortionist was named best independent film, Mike Leigh was namedbest director and lead actors Imelda Staunton and Phil Davis were named bestactors. ...