Small MPU – Page 1034

  • News

    Venice Days premieres include Aprahamian's Broken Lines

    2008-07-25T14:11:00Z

    Czech director Bohdan Slama's A Country Teacher (VenkovskyUcitel) will have its international premiere at this year's Venice Dayssidebar, which is heavy on European and Eastern European films in thisyear's edition.A Country Teacher, sold by Wild Bunch, tells the story of a brilliantprofessor who moves to the Bohemian countryside in order ...

  • News

    Council of Europe sponsors Sarajevo's main award

    2008-07-25T14:19:00Z

    The Council of Europe has become the partner of the Sarajevo Film Festival and sponsor of the 'Heart of Sarajevo' award for the best feature film.Since 1988, the European Support Fund for the Co-production and Distribution of Creative Cinematographic and Audiovisual Works, or Eurimages, has worked within the Council of ...

  • News

    Samantha Morton to direct drama for UK's Channel 4

    2008-07-25T14:22:00Z

    Actress Samantha Morton will make her directorial debut on a Channel 4 television drama, The Unloved.The drama is a Channel 4 production with co-finance from regional screen agency EM Media through the European Regional Development Fund.The story is about a young girl growing up in a children's home.Morton plans to ...

  • News

    Japanese box office plummets 13.7% in first half of 2008

    2008-07-25T14:26:00Z

    Japanese box office earnings for the first half of 2008 totaled $743.54m (Y79.83bn), a 13.7% drop from the same period last year, according to figures reported by media trade publication Bunka Tsushin.The total comprises grosses of the the top 13 foreign and local distributors in the territory, representing approximately 95% ...

  • News

    Sundance names documentary film-makers for Aug lab

    2008-07-25T21:49:00Z

    The Sundance Documentary Composers and Story Lab has named the seven film-makers and six composers invited to the lab Aug 3-8 at the Sundance Resort in Utah.The lab, which will explore the creative process in sound and story and the role of film music in nonfiction storytelling, is a collaboration ...

  • News

    Man On Wire takes British feature prize at third BritDoc

    2008-07-27T12:22:00Z

    The UK's third BritDoc documentary festival wrapped on Friday (July 25) with James Marsh's Man On Wire continuing its festival awards spree by winning the British Feature Film Documentary Prize.Jerry Rothwell's Heavy Load - a film about a punk band with learning difficulties that was pitched at BritDoc in 2006 ...

  • News

    Altavista eyes Spain as production base

    2000-10-24T19:54:00Z

    Expanding Mexican producer Altavista Films has unveiled plans to establish a production beach head in Spain. "We hope to set up local operations in order to gain access to Spanish government incentives," said Altavista director general Francisco Gonzalez Compean.Altavista is currently in co-production talks with some of the biggest players ...

  • News

    Theo Angelopoulos pulls Dust of Time from Venice

    2008-07-28T06:00:00Z

    Just one day before theVenice Film Festival announces its line-up (Tuesday), one of the most eagerly-awaited world premieres, Theo Angelopoulos' Dust of Time has been pulled from the selection.The decision by the Greek auteur and his producers came after screenings slots could not be found that would have allowed leading ...

  • News

    No One's Son sweeps Croatian national awards

    2008-07-27T22:15:00Z

    Arsen Anton Ostojic's No One's Son picked up six of the 16 Golden Arena awards at the 55th Pula Film Festival, including best film, best director and best actor.The crime drama - Ostojic's second feature - about a crippled Croatian soldier in search of his identity also won the Croatian ...

  • News

    Knight clubs the competition with $65.6m international weekend

    2008-07-28T02:30:00Z

    The bat ruled the waves as Warner Bros Pictures International's (WBPI) The Dark Knight clobbered the opposition thanks to an estimated $65.6m weekend gross from 43 markets for $126.3m after two weekends.The action epic has grossed 156% of the box office its 2005 prequel Batman Begins generated in the same ...

  • News

    Warner's Knight crosses $300m in record time in North America

    2008-07-28T02:40:00Z

    The Dark Knight demolition derby continued apace as Warner Bros' world-beating action epic grossed an estimated $75.6m to set a new second weekend record and crossed $300m in another new mark of 10 days.Christopher Nolan's phenomenon currently stands at $314.2m and trails Iron Man by a whisker as the second ...

  • News

    Arranged wins best picture at Japan's Skip City fest

    2008-07-28T02:51:00Z

    US-based directors Stephan Schaefer and Diane Crespo's Arranged has won best picture at the 5th annual Skip City International Digital Cinema Festival (July 19-27). The accolade also carried a $92,700 (Y10m) cash prize by fest sponsor Sony. Arranged tells the story of two female teachers in Brooklyn, one Jewish and ...

  • News

    Studios parade 2008 and 09 blockbusters at Comic-Con

    2008-07-28T02:47:00Z

    Sam Raimi will commence exploratory work this week on a new instalment in his iconic Evil Dead series, the director told Comic-Con attendees.Speaking after he unveiled footage from his upcoming horror release Drag Me To Hell, a back-to-roots exercise following the grand scale of the Spider-Man franchise, Raimi said he ...

  • News

    Oz filmmakers urged to seek different subject matter

    2008-07-28T02:57:00Z

    Scripts must reflect big ideas that are unique and engaging, local distributors and potential overseas partners told the Australian and New Zealand filmmakers pitching projects as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival's financing market 37South. While hardly a new or surprising message, it is a crucial one at a ...

  • News

    Chaser takes top awards at Korea's PiFan fest

    2008-07-28T03:20:00Z

    The 11th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) awarded Na Hong-jin's serial murderer thriller The Chaser with its top Best of Puchon prize and the European Federation of Fantastic Films (EFFF) Asian Award. The film also took best actress for Seo Young-hee. 'We had great rains over the weekend and ...

  • Reviews

    Tropic Thunder

    2008-07-28T11:20:00Z

    Dir. Ben Stiller. US. 2008. 106 mins

  • News

    Sierk promoted to deputy role in acquisitions/sales at Telepool

    2008-07-28T11:26:00Z

    Thomas Sierk has been named deputy head of acquisitions & sales for German-speaking territories at Telepool.He reports to the division's new head Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, who takes her post as of January 2009.Sierk is a law graduate who has worked at Telepool since 2003.Higuchi-Zitzmann said: 'In Thomas Sierk I have found ...

  • Reviews

    Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

    2000-10-25T10:37:00Z

    Dir: Joe Berlinger. US. 2000. 90minProd co: Haxan Films, Artisan Entertainment. US dist: Artisan Entertainment. Int'l Sales: Summit Entertainment, tel: (1) 310 309 8400. Exec prod: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez. Prod: Bill Carraro. Scr: Dick Beebe, Berlinger. DoP: Nancy Schreiber. Prod des: Vince Peranio. Ed: Sarah Flack. Music: Carter Burwell. ...

  • News

    Three And Out gets simultaneous DVD/VOD launch

    2008-07-28T11:45:00Z

    Sky Television and Worldwide Bonus Entertainment have struck a deal to release UK feature Three And Out simultaneously on DVD and Sky Box Office.Three And Out will be offered on Sky Box Office and Sky's online VOD service for a four-month window priced around $8 per viewing.The DVD retail and ...

  • News

    First Light gets kids' shorts on Virgin Atlantic planes

    2008-07-28T11:59:00Z

    First Light Movies, the initative to get UK youngsters making films, has struck a deal for five of its shorts to be shown on Virgin Atlantic planes.First Light-funded films made by six- to 18-year-olds will be shown on Virgin Atlantic's inflight entertainment system from July to November.The selected films are: ...