Small MPU – Page 120

  • News

    Oscars winners in full

    2007-02-26T06:11:00Z

    THE WINNERSClick on film name for reviewBEST PICTUREBabelWINNER: The DepartedLetters From Iwo JimaLittle Miss SunshineThe QueenBEST DIRECTORAlejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, BabelClint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima Paul Greengrass, United 93Stephen Frears, The QueenWINNER: Martin Scorsese, The DepartedBEST ACTORLeonardo DiCaprio, Blood DiamondRyan Gosling, Half NelsonPeter O'Toole, VenusWill Smith, The Pursuit Of ...

  • News

    Full list of Academy Award winners

    2007-02-26T06:34:00Z

    THE WINNERSClick on film name for reviewBest PictureBabelWINNER: The DepartedLetters From Iwo JimaLittle Miss SunshineThe QueenBest DirectorAlejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, BabelClint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima Paul Greengrass, United 93Stephen Frears, The QueenWINNER: Martin Scorsese, The DepartedBest ActorLeonardo DiCaprio, Blood DiamondRyan Gosling, Half NelsonPeter O'Toole, VenusWill Smith, The Pursuit Of HappynessWINNER: ...

  • News

    'Could you double-check the envelope please'' Scorsese jokes as crime thriller proves biggest winner of the night

    2007-02-26T09:16:00Z

    The Departed stole the show at the 79th Academy Awards in Hollywood last night, taking top prize for best picture and propelling Martin Scorsese to his long-awaited first directing Oscar.Warner Bros and Initial Entertainment Group's crime thriller remake took four awards overall and had been regarded as a solid contender ...

  • Features

    Editorial - But is it any good'

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin." Henry Louis Mencken's aphorism springs to mind because there are times when belief in one's open-mindedness is challenged. This week, Dieter Kosslick, Berlinale festival director offered a flower-sniffing test par excellence.The critics pretty much universally ...

  • Features

    In focus - Berlinale round-up - Bear's market bullish

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    This year's Berlinale and European Film Market (EFM) was the most successful ever, at least in statistical terms: more industry visitors, more festival-goers, even the branded teddy bears sold out.So this year's expansion of market floorspace and new programmes looks to have been justified. Indeed, the unprecedented arrival of 430,000 ...

  • Features

    In focus - Digital rights sales - The fight for bytes

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    The spectre of digital rights haunted this year's Berlinale."It's a difficult market in general because of anxieties over VoD (video on demand)," admitted Celluloid Dreams' Charlotte Mickie.The potential of new platforms is a mainstream issue but quantifying the value of downloads, VoD and online distribution is tough. Smaller content owners ...

  • Features

    In focus - Critical round-up - Potsdamer clamour

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    This may prove to have been the biggest Berlinale ever - in everything but film quality. The patchy selection of films in competition failed to ride the wave of success, and left critics muttering that the Berlinale would do better to refocus on its core business.True, there was a last-minute ...

  • News

    Patriot ends event movie roll-out in Oz

    2000-07-26T16:39:00Z

    One of the last event blockbusters on release in Australia this winter, The Patriot, took $1.6m (A$2.8m) from 325 screens on its opening four-day weekend (July 20-23). This gave the Australian office of Columbia TriStar its third biggest opening weekend ever and knocked last weekend's opener X-Men off the top ...

  • Features

    Think's big picture

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    ThinkFilm went on a bit of a shopping spree at last month's Sundance Film Festival. The five-year-old independent US and Canadian distributor, not known for high-profile purchases, paid a reported $2m for North American rights to space-programme documentary M, wrote another big cheque for North American theatrical rights to spoof ...

  • Features

    Industry moves

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Lischak joins Odd LotFormer First Look Studios COO Bill Lischak has joined Odd Lot Entertainment in the same capacity. Also Linda McDonough has been promoted to executive vice-president of production and development; Natalya Petrosova has joined as vice-president of finance; Eryl Woodlief as vice-president of development and acquisitions; Delphine Perrier ...

  • Features

    United Kingdom - Shaking things up

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Summing up the frustrations of many of his peers, Edward Fletcher of Soda Pictures says simply: "It's difficult to be an independent in the current climate."Fletcher and co-managing director Eve Gabereau started the indie UK distributor in 2002 when foreign-language and arthouse films seemed to be connecting with audiences. But ...

  • Features

    United Kingdom - Rise of the Gilbeys

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    When Julian Gilbey was told he had received a Bafta nomination for special achievement by a first-time British film-maker, he thought someone was pulling his leg. But while his film Rollin' With The Nines enjoyed only modest commercial returns last year, it won the best film jury prize at the ...

  • Features

    Austria/Germany - Seeing double

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky must have been the right man for The Counterfeiters, a drama about a Nazi-organised forgery scam in a German concentration camp - he was independently approached by two production companies for the same project within the space of three weeks.With a resume including two successful horror ...

  • Features

    Brazil - The away game

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Brazilian film-maker Cao Hamburger first began to think about The Year My Parents Went On Vacation, which just played in Competition at Berlin, while living in London in 2001."All the cab drivers I spoke to knew by heart the Brazilian soccer team that won the World Cup in 1970," says ...

  • Features

    Production - Bollywood in the UK - Passage from India

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    When UK chancellor Gordon Brown made a government visit to India last month it was telling that he made a bee-line for Bollywood, taking in a tour of the YRF Studios in Mumbai and speaking of the need to provide further incentives for Indian film-makers to shoot in the UK.This ...

  • Features

    Production - The big pull

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Italy's government has designated India as its trade target for 2007. Speaking at a press conference earlier this month in Mumbai, minister for international trade Emma Bonino said: "We want to invite Indian film-makers to shoot in Italy. After all, we too have some of the most picturesque locales."India has ...

  • Features

    Production - UK shoots - The brit factor

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    GoalDir: Vivek AgnihotriThis Bollywood production from major Indian conglomerate UTV - about a group of Indians playing football in the UK - starts shooting in London this month. Starring real-life couple John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, director Agnihotri will use mostly Indian crew.Dance Baby Dance (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom)Dir. Shaad AliThis ...

  • Features

    Production - co-productions - Forming partnerships

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Aside from Bollywood projects coming to the UK solely for location work, there is now a new generation of Indian film-makers interested in working more closely with UK producers and technicians and even considering the benefits of the new tax relief."Although the treaty obviously isn't having an effect yet, the ...

  • News

    Kinowelt enters Russia with Scriba's Gemini

    2000-07-26T18:43:00Z

    German mini-studio Kinowelt is continuing its expansion into Eastern Europe by establishing a Russian distribution outfit, Gemini Kinomir, in partnership with Bodo Scriba's Moscow-based distributor Gemini International.The new company will handle Kinowelt's existing slate and take over from Gemini International as exclusive distributor of 20th Century Fox product in Russia. ...

  • Features

    Production - Set jetting

    2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

    Bollywood productions may bring work for UK crews and facilities, but another financial benefit is found through tourism.The UK Film Council's Clare Wise says: "The Bollywood films that are going to travel are going to be somewhere between the $2m-$20m mark, which means even if they spend 70% or 80% ...