Small MPU – Page 1426

  • News

    Focus acquires The Pianist from VU stablemate StudioCanal

    2002-05-27T00:00:00Z

    Focus, Vivendi Universal's new speciality label has acquired US and select international distribution rights to Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Pianist from stablemate StudioCanal. Focus has scheduled a December release for the film in the US, according to a statement from Focus co-presidents David Linde and James Schamus.The English-language feature, ...

  • News

    Bollywood release triumphs in the shadow of Star Wars' attack

    2002-05-28T00:00:00Z

    Five new openers launched into the UK chart this week but were unable to make much impact on the box office of chart leader Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones.The most impressive of this week's debutantes was Eros International's latest Bollywood release, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. The ...

  • News

    The Man Without A Past has a promising future

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Aki Kaurismaki's Cannes Grand Jury prize winner, The Man Without A Past, has been snapped up by Sony Pictures Classics for the US, while in its home territory, the film has seen an 80% leap at the local box office.According to news wire sources, Sony Pictures Classics picked up both ...

  • News

    Record-breaking Spider-Man sets new precedent in India

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Columbia Tristar India's release of Spider-Man has set at least three new records in the territory having grossed nearly $1.4m from 250 screens on its first weekend - just three weeks after its US debut.The film was released simultaneously in English and three local languages - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu ...

  • News

    Korean Film Commission appoints president and new staff

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Lee Choong-jik (pictured) has been appointed chairman of the Korean Film Commission (KOFIC), the nation's foremost promotional body. Chang Mi-hee, a film professor and former actress, was named vice chairman. A total of nine new commissioners were appointed to the organisation, seven of whom currently hold positions as film ...

  • News

    Oz exhibitors and distributors forge amicable relationship

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Just four years ago it would have been absolutely unimaginable but the first day of the Cinema Owners Association of Australia's (COAA) annual conference closed in Sydney yesterday with something resembling a love-in between independent exhibitors and the major distributors. The final session had been reserved to discuss progress on ...

  • News

    IFC Films closes in on Sex Is Comedy for US

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    IFC Films is in advanced negotiations to acquire Catherine Breillat's Sex Is Comedy, which opened this year's Directors' Fortnight sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival, for US theatrical release."This would be a very good sale," said Flach Pyramide International's Eric Lagesse, who is handling worldwide sales on Sex Is ...

  • News

    Fast Runner strolls past C$1m in Canada

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Zacharias Kunuk's Anatarujuat: The Fast Runner has grossed more than C$1m ($650,000) at the Canadian box office. The film has been on release since April 12 through Alliance Atlantis' art house distribution arm Odeon Films. The film won the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 2001 and went on to win ...

  • News

    New Yorker takes US rights on Etre Et Avoir

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Dan Talbot's New Yorker has acquired US rights to Cannes title Etre Et Avoir, a documentary by Nicolas Philibert which was screened out of competition in the main selection.Mercure Distribution, which is handling worldwide sales duties, has also sold Japanese rights to the title, which follows a group of children ...

  • News

    '99 Euro Films' expands European dimension

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    The UK's Richard Stanley, France's Tony Baillargeat, Spain's Nacho Cerda, Belgium's Harry Kuemel and Germany's Benjamin Quabeck are to contribute to a second edition of the '99-euro films' series of digitally produced shorts which is now being opened up to European filmmakers.Producer Torsten Neumann and creative director RP Kahl have ...

  • News

    Pathe UK closes raft of sales on Campion's In The Cut

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Pathe International UK has closed a raft of sales on forthcoming Jane Campion erotic thriller In The Cut. Deals were closed at Cannes with Senator for Germany, Nexo for Italy, Gaga for Japan, Brandon Young for Korea, AB Svensk for Scandinavia, Interncontinental for Hong Kong, PT Amero for Indonesia, Four ...

  • News

    Beta Cinema closes US distribution deal on Sun Alley

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Germany's Beta Cinema has closed a US distribution deal with Outrider Pictures for Leander Haussmann's feature film debut Sun Alley (Sonnenallee) with a release planned for this autumn.This is the second Beta title to secure US distribution this year following Roxie Releasing's acquisition of Roland Suso Richter's The Tunnel at ...

  • News

    Son Of The Bride to open Munich film festival

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Juan Jose Campanella's romantic comedy and directorial debut Son Of The Bride (El Hijo De la Novia), which was nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar, will open this year's Filmfest Muenchen in Germany on June 29.The 20th edition of Munich's audience festival under Eberhard Hauff's direction (June 29 - July ...

  • News

    Gimmick boosts Denmark's digital post-production status

    2002-05-29T04:05:00Z

    Denmark has increased its already considerable status as a source of state-of-the-art digital post-production, with the launch of start-up outfit, Gimmick..Veteran Bo Christensen founded and ran ShortCut for seven years before selling it to major Nordisk Film, where he continued as MD of postproduction for three years. Late last year ...

  • News

    Real Women have deals too

    2002-05-28T00:00:00Z

    A number of internationaltheatrical distributors have bought local territorial rights to HBO Films' RealWomen Have Curves, even though theaward-winning made-for-cable production will not be seen in US theatres.Among the buyersannounced yesterday by the pay-TV networks sales arm, HBO Enterprises, were MosaicEntertainment, which bought UK rights in association with Optimum Releasing;Italy's ...

  • Reviews

    Irreversible

    2002-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Gaspar Noe. France. 2002. 95mins. Flagged from the beginning of the festival as Cannes' 'succes de scandal', with a huge commotion in the French media and an official warning printed on its tickets, Irreversible emerges as neither successful nor, come to that, especially scandalous. A significant backward step for ...

  • Reviews

    Divine Intervention (Yadon Ilaheyya)

    2002-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Elia Suleiman. France-Palestine. 2002. 92mins. Subtitled a "chronicle of love and pain", Elia Suleiman's second feature belies its own maudlin-sounding description and reinvents the tragic tensions in Palestine as a deadpan, slow-burning, almost silent comedy. Lacing the surreal apocalyptic humour of Roy Andersson's Songs From The Second Floor with ...

  • Reviews

    The Son (Le Fils)

    2002-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Dirs: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Belgium/ France. 2002. 103 mins.The Dardennes' austere and uncompromising aesthetic is back on full display in The Son, a minutely observed, dramatically compelling study of the violent emotions seething below the drab surface of working-class lives. Not exactly an easy sell, in other words, which ...

  • News

    Patriotic fever hits Bollywood

    2002-05-30T04:05:00Z

    As the threat of war intensifies, Indian filmmakers are rushing to make patriotic movies, with five separate films about the famous Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, in various stages of production.Bhagat Singh was hanged on March 23, 1931 for his uprising against the British. There have already been three films ...

  • News

    Two blockbusters pass $100m international gross on same weekend

    2002-05-30T04:05:00Z

    The two first undisputed summer blockbusters, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones and Spider-Man, both crossed the $100m mark at the international box office over the weekend.Episode II also managed to do so in record time, passing $100m on May 24, after just nine days on release. ...