Small MPU – Page 1497
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News
Israel sets date for TV franchise race
The tender round for Israel's proposed third free-to-air television channel will start no later than July according to Israeli communications minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer.Ben Eliezer, who is pushing legislation through the Israeli parliament in order to meet the deadline, has hinted that he'd prefer to award the franchise to a ...
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Reviews
Possession
Dir: Neil LaBute. US. 2002. 103 mins. An extraordinary choice of director lies at the heart of Possession, a story of rapturous Victorian romance told by a film-maker, Neil LaBute, best known for his razor-tongued and cynical comedies about contemporary American sexual mores. Critical response will depend on whether his ...
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Reviews
The Guru
Dir: Daisy von Scherler Mayer. UK-US. 2002. 94minsFeatherweight, feel good escapism, The Guru grafts a modish Bollywood sensibility on to a tried and tested fish-out-of-water comedy scenario. The end result is technically polished candy floss that tries desperately hard to please, with a cartoonish approach and casual disregard for basic ...
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Edinburgh: Irreversible director Noe lays down challenge to UK censors
Aware that the UK has the most restrictive regulations in Europe on the screening of sexual violence, Gaspar Noe director of scandal film Irreversible challenged the UK censors to ban the film or leave it well alone."I don't think it will be released if it needs to be cut. I ...
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Roadshow triumphs at annual Australian box office awards
Australian distributor Roadshow trounced the opposition at the annual Australian box office awards taking the gold prize for Lord Of The Rings, which attracted A$47m in ticket sales, as well as the honours for the most number of films to gross over A$10m. Roadshow's seven films, out of a total ...
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UK box office: best July for 31 years
UK box office admissions in July were the highest for 31 years, according to the latest figures released by the Cinema Advertising Association.July admission totalled 15 million - an average of 3.38 million a week - and 8% up on the same period last year.Unsurprisingly, in the month that marks ...
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Spanish film industry cautious on TV merger
The planned merger of Spain's two leading pay-TV platforms, Telefonica-owned Via Digital and Sogecable-backed Canal Satelite Digital (CSD), took one step further towards reality after Friday's decision by the European Commission to send the case back to the Spanish government for consideration.Local analysts agree that the move signals the ...
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vfrea
Edinburgh: Irreversible director Noe lays down challenge to UK censorsSpeaking at the film's UK premiere, director Gaspar Noe urges censors to ban the film outright rather than cut its more disturbing scenesAware that the UK has the most restrictive regulations in Europe on the screening of sexual violence, Gaspar Noe ...
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News
Edinburgh: Cinema Extreme winners named
Young film-makers Dwayne Hopkins and Jens Jonsson were named as the first recipients of funding from the UK's Cinema Extreme scheme, it was announced at the Edinburgh festival.Hopkins and Jonsson will each receive up to $75,000 (£50,000) to take their short projects, respectively, Love Me Or Leave Me Alone and ...
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News
Diageo finances African feature
Brewing giant Diageo is attempting to cash-in on the widespread popularity of Michael Powell, a fictional journalist and star of its recent pan-African TV campaign for Guinness, by financing a $3m (£2m) feature film based around the character.The action thriller, which has just started principal photography on the outskirts of ...
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Enlightenment shines at Bavarian Film Awards
The producers of Doris Doerrie comedy Enlightenment Guaranteed and Peter Schamoni's documentary Majestat Brauchen Sonne shared the DM500,000 ($260,000) producer prize at the Bavarian Film Awards (Jan 17).Rolf Schuebel's Gloomy Sunday came away with honours for best direction and best cinematography while Romuald Karmakar and Bodo Kirchoff received the best ...
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XXX, Signs stay atop while Blue Crush debuts big at three
On the day thatColumbia Pictures announced that 2002 was its all-time biggest year at the boxoffice, the studio's latest blockbuster-elect, the Vin Diesel actionvehicle XXX, heldonto top spot at the North American box office with an estimated $23m haul. TheRevolution Studios-produced picture averaged $6,788 from 3,388 theatres in itssecond week. ...
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Palm Springs Short Film Fest announces winners
US student live action shortThe Wormhole directed by JessicaSharzer won the Best Of Festival Award worth $2,000 at the eighth annual PalmSprings International Festival Of Short Films which ended last weekend (Aug11). Over 290 films from 25 countries played during the six-day event whichlasted Aug 6-12.The $15,000 Future FilmmakerAward went ...
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Clifford joins staff of AFI Conservatory
Australiandirector and editor Graeme Clifford has been appointed senior lecturer in thedirecting discipline at the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory.Clifford, whose editing credits include The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Postman Always Rings Twice and whose directing credits includeFrances, will train the 50 first and second year directing fellows ...
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Priest scandal picture shatters Mexican box office records
Carlos Carrera's controversial The Crime Of Father Amaro (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)has become a phenomenon at the Mexican box office. Released on an unprecedented 356 prints by Columbia TriStar last Friday, the $1.8m drama grossed 31m pesos ($3.1m) in its opening weekend.That would nearly triple the current record opening ...
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Reviews
The Eye (Oko)
Directors: Oxide and Danny Pang. Hong Kong-Thailand. 2002. 98minsAn atmospheric blend of psychological thriller and eerie ghost story, The Eye sees director brothers Danny and Oxide Pang follow the highly stylised, hitman thriller Bangkok Dangerous (which won the FIPRESCI prize at Toronto two years ago) with a successful foray into ...
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Powerhouse, Steeple pact on The Sailmaker
PowerHouse Studios has signed a deal with Steeple Distributions to co-produce two feature films in association with Arama/Zegna Pictures. Steeple will provide funding for the two projects via a $132m letter of credit issued by the Bank of New York.The first co-production will be Shimon Arama's The Sailmaker. To be ...
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European box office continues upward trajectory
The European box office saw more than 1 billion admissions in 2001, generating upwards of Euros5.6bn, according to new research from global cinema analysts Dodona Research.Dodona's Cinemagoing Europe report forecasts that the value of European box office will continue its current upward swing to hit Euros7.4bn by 2006, despite a ...
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Berlin confirms Forum titles
Films confirmed for the International Forum of Young Cinema at this year's Berlin Film Festival (Feb 9-20) include James Benning's Californian-set El Valley Centro, Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann's Ein Fluechtiger Zug Nach Dem Orient, Yuji Nakae's Nabbe No Koi (Nabbie's Love), German documentary filmmaker Ebbo Demant's journey through deserts on ...
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SPE smashes annual box office record
Sony Pictures Entertainment has broken its own industry record for North American ticket sales by one studio in a single calendar year, registering $1.29bn and passing 1997's previous best mark of $1.27bn with more than four months to spare.With a 2002 slate that includes such tentpole successes as Spider-Man and ...