Small MPU – Page 1378

  • News

    European parliament proposes promotion fund

    2001-10-30T23:46:00Z

    The creation of a European Promotion Fund and the "interconnecting" of existing automatic support funds in European Union member states are among a set of recommendations presented by European Parliament (EP) deputy Luckas Vander Taelen in a report "on achieving better circulation of European films in the internal market and ...

  • News

    TriPictures entices new Spanish directors

    2001-10-30T23:49:00Z

    Up-and-coming Spanish directors have a potential new outlet in Spanish distributor TriPictures' start-up production division, which is seeking directors on several projects in early development stages.Head Douglas Wilson says he is currently negotiating directors for two projects: The Inheritors, from scripter Fernando Camara, and The Suicide Club, based on the ...

  • News

    Lions Gate seals deals on three key titles

    2001-10-30T23:53:00Z

    Lions Gate International has closed key territory sales on its three hottest titles - Bret Easton Ellis adaptation Rules Of Attraction, Argentinian thriller Nine Queens and drama Monster's Ball.Icon Entertainment bought UK, Australia and New Zealand on Rules Of Attraction which stars James Van Der Beek and Kip Pardue. Metropolitan ...

  • News

    F&ME boards Fridriksson's Falcons

    2001-10-30T23:55:00Z

    Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), has boarded as co-producer Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's first English language project, Falcons, which has just started shooting in Iceland.Falcons is the story of Dua (Margret Vilhjamsdottir) a young woman who speaks to birds and prefers the company of animals to that of humans. In a ...

  • News

    Ross exits Ster Century to launch art-house plexes

    2001-10-31T00:14:00Z

    Mike Ross, managing director of pan-European exhibition circuit Ster Century Europe, has exited the company. He is replaced by Selwyn Grimsley, previously European operations director. Both Ross and Grimsley are founding directors of Ster Century, which now operates 190 screens across the UK, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Poland, Hungary, the Czech ...

  • News

    Gumpert joins Intermedia Film Equities

    2001-10-31T00:18:00Z

    Former Universal Pictures executive vp Jon Gumpert has joined the Internationalmedia Group as vice chairman of Intermedia Film Equities USA, Inc.In his new post, Gumpert will be in charge of supervising worldwide feature film operations, including the structuring and financing of film projects, while further areas of responsibility will be ...

  • Reviews

    Vajont

    2001-10-31T15:53:00Z

    Dir: Renzo Martinelli. Italy/France. 2001. 116 mins.Vajont is an all-European disaster movie. Although it's tempting to shuffle the word-order, producer-director Renzo Martinelli's $8.2 million production is not an all-European movie disaster: it's just a mediocre example of the genre. Although it boasts a couple of French co-stars (Daniel Auteil and ...

  • News

    Muted Mifed benefits smaller buyers

    2001-10-31T17:57:00Z

    With many of the big US and Japanese players absent, 2001 was never going to be a vintage year for MIFED. The market corridors of the Fiera in Milan were visibly quieter than in previous years and a number of exhibitor booths were paid for but remained empty. As a ...

  • News

    Tykwer's Heaven to open Berlinale 2002

    2001-10-31T18:15:00Z

    As predicted, Tom Tykwer's Heaven, starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, has been selected as the opening film of Dieter Kosslick's first Berlin festival as director, making its world premiere on February 6, 2002. (Screendaily Oct 12, 2001)German films have rarely opened the Berlinale, let alone been selected for the ...

  • News

    Iberoamerican forum to host 44 new film projects

    2001-10-31T18:18:00Z

    Spanish organisers of the annual Iberoamerican Co-production Forum (Nov 18-20) have unveiled the list of 44 new feature film projects set to participate in this year's event.Attendance at the Forum, which functions as a mini-market, is expected to be high thanks to its new date and location. The event will ...

  • News

    AFMA sees first revenue drop in six years

    2001-10-31T23:12:00Z

    The growth of the UK market last year helped indie film sellers to offset growing weakness in the world video markets. According to new data from the American Film Marketing Association (AFMA) members' revenue dropped for the first time in six years. Overall sales were down 6% to $2.62bn. In ...

  • News

    Kandahar opens to full houses in Canada

    2001-10-31T23:16:00Z

    Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar did sell-out business on its first theatrical engagement in North America. The Afghanistan-set film opened October 26 - October 28 in Toronto and Montreal through distributor Seville Pictures. Box office was $34,831 (C$54,986) from just two screens for a stunning screen average of $17,415. Seville ...

  • News

    DiCillo's Double Whammy to open Gijon festival

    2001-10-31T23:18:00Z

    US director Tom DiCillo is set to inaugurate Spain's International Film Festival of Gijon (Nov 23-30) with Sundance hit Double Whammy.The black comedy stars Elizabeth Hurley, Dennis Leary and Steve Buscemi in the story of a police detective struggling to gain back his reputation after failing to stop a fast-food ...

  • News

    Columbia, Winchester take over New Best Friend

    2001-11-01T12:26:00Z

    Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and UK and US-based Winchester Films have taken over New Best Friend, the college-age drama which was originally on MGM's slate for the US.Columbia has taken North and Latin American and Asian rights excluding Japan and Korea on the picture, formerly known as Mary Jane's ...

  • News

    Fireworks, Samuel Goldwyn pick up Me Without You

    2001-11-01T12:30:00Z

    Fireworks Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired all North American rights to Sandra Goldbacher's female relationship drama Me Without You.The US partners bought the film, which stars Michelle Williams, Anna Friel and Kyle MacLachlan, from the UK's Capitol Films. The acquisition was announced by Meyer Gottlieb, president of Samuel ...

  • News

    New chief trims running time at Edinburgh festival

    2001-11-01T13:20:00Z

    In his first move as artistic director of August's Edinburgh International Film Festival, Shane Danielsen has trimmed the marathon 15-day event to 12 days.The Scottish festival aims to channel cash saved by the move into creating other events throughout the year. Next year's edition runs Wednesday 14 to Sunday 25."A ...

  • News

    Dunaway, Boorman, Haneke head for Thessaloniki

    2001-11-01T16:49:00Z

    Faye Dunaway, John Boorman, Michael Haneke, Stanley Kwan and Mohsen Makhmalbaf are amongst the guests attending this month's Thessaloniki International Film Festival.The event, presided over by celebrated film-maker Theo Angelopoulos, kicks off with Jacques Rivette's Va Savoir on November 9. Peter Cattaneo's Lucky Break closes proceedings on November 18. Dunaway ...

  • News

    Bruce Willis cancels London for 'family reasons'

    2001-11-01T17:59:00Z

    Bruce Willis has bowed out of appearing at this month's London Film Festival, citing "family reasons".The star was due to attend a gala screening of MGM crime ensemble Bandits on November 15, as well as take part in a public interview with festival director Adrian Wootton at the National Film ...

  • News

    Harry Potter mega-release smashes advance records

    2001-11-01T18:10:00Z

    Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone was this week on course for the biggest opening ever in the UK, racking up record-breaking advance bookings for its release on a record number of sites and prints.UGC Cinemas reported that, with two weeks still to go before the release, bookings have equalled ...

  • News

    MIFED: Cineclick's Gangster scores with new buyers

    2001-11-01T22:10:00Z

    My Wife Is A Gangster, the Korean hit which twists the gangster genre by putting a woman in the criminal lead, proved a hit with MIFED buyers. The film, sold by Cineclick Asia, was bought by Audiovisual Entertainment for Greece, ASG Videofilm for Russia, PT Menara Media for Indonesia and ...