Small MPU – Page 1625
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News
Berlusconi benefits as Italy passes controversial media law
The Italian Parliament has finally passed the government's controversial Gasparri media law, which critics say will pump an extra Euros 163m into Silvio Berlusconi's companies.The law, which paves the way for digital TV transmission, will save Berlusconi's Rete 4 from shifting to satellite Tv, and will allow state channel ...
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Kinowelt revives broadcasting ambitions
Germany's Kinowelt has revived its ambitions to become a player in the German broadcasting arena with plans for a free-TV niche film channel for nationwide distribution.Kinowelt Television has been granted a broadcasting licence by the Kassel-based media watchdog LPR Hessen subject to a final green light from the assembly of ...
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Belleville wins best film prize at France's Lumieres.
Belleville Rendez-Vous (Les Triplettes De Belleville) received the Lumiere Award for best film of 2003 on Tuesday night in Paris.The film is nominated for three Cesars later this month as well as two Oscars in the best animated film and best original song categories.The Lumieres are France's equivalent to the ...
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NonStop Entertainment acquires Berlin five
Stockholm-based distributor NonStop Entertainment acquired five new titles at this month's Berlin Film Festival.It bought Stacy Peralta's surfing doc Riding Giants from StudioCanal, and will distribute the film in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.City Of Men, from Buena Onda Films, is a spin-off TV series of Fernando Mereilles' City ...
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Mercier re-appointed as Directors' Fortnight scout
Chris Mercier has been appointed as the scout for English-language territories for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight sidebar (Quinzaine Des Realisateurs) for the second year.The announcement was made by Olivier Pere, the Fortnight's new artistic director, who said: "we are dedicated to discovering new talents and to supporting an eclectic range of ...
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Reviews
Marshal
Dir: Vinko Bresan. Croatia. 1999. 97 mins.Prod cos: Interfilm, HRT. Int'l sales: Interfilm (+385 1 4667 290). Prods: Ljubo Sikic, Ivan Maloca. Prod representative: Ernest Kalamar. Scr: Ivo and Vinko Bresan. DoP: Zivko Zalar. Main cast: Drazen Kuhn, Lidija Bregonja, Ivo Gregurevic, Ilija Ivezic.Vinko Bresan's witty insights into post-Civil War ...
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UK launches post-production trade body
Industry veteran Mike Luckwell has been appointed chairman of the new association charged with representing the UK's post-production sector at home and internationally.The new post-production trade body will initially be jointly financed by the DTI, UK Film Council and companies from the post-production community.An open meeting will be held with ...
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Russian exhibitor wins Euro backing for five multiplexes
Russian exhibitor, Rising Star Media, a joint venture between exhibition giant National Amusements and Soquel Ventures headed by American Paul Heth, has secured a $27.5m loan to build five new multiplexes in Russia.The seven year loan was provided by The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Raiffenfeisenbank Zentralbank Osterreich. ...
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Warner Germany ties up X for a further 20 films
Warner BrosPictures Germany has extended its partnership with Germany's X-Filme andits distribution arm X-Verleih in a long-term, multi-faceted distribution agreementcovering up to 20 films.The relationshipbegan in 2001 with the release of Connie Walter's romance Wie Feuer UndFlamme and has continued through to the recent successful theatrical, DVD andVHS distribution of ...
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News
Showcase takes on Puerto Vallarta Squeeze for AFM
ShowcaseEntertainment will be representing the thriller Puerto Vallarta Squeeze starring Scott Glenn and Harvey Keitelat the upcoming AFM, which kicks off in Santa Monica on Feb 25 and runs untilMar 3.Based on thenovel by Robert Waller (The Bridges Of Madison County) with a screenplay by the award-winningtelevision writer Richard Alfieri, ...
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News
HBO Films starts shooting Rwanda drama in Rwanda
Production isunderway in Rwanda on HBO Films' ...Sometimes In April, which stars Debra Winger as a USofficial during the Rwandan genocide of the mid-1990s.The US-Frenchco-production between HBO Films and Cinefacto is being directed by Raoul Peck (Lumumba), who also wrote the screenplay andserves as co-executive producer along with Joel Stillerman. ...
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Countdown to $1bn: King is now number two
The Lord OfThe Rings: The Return Of The King has overtaken Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone to become the second highest worldwidegrossing picture of all time behind Titanic.Figuresyesterday (Wednesday) from New Line International (NLI) put Peter Jackson'strilogy finale on $981.9m. This comprises $624.2m in international and $357.7min domestic ticket ...
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Mountain set for four major openings including Germany, Mexico
Milestones will be reached this weekend in the internationalmarkets as The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King will pass $1bn in worldwide ticketsales, while The Last Samurai is expected to slice through $300m in international and Something'sGotta Give should racepast $50m.New Line International's The Return Of The ...
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News
ROMANIA
New Hollywood comedies, the Farrelly brothers' Stuck On You and David Zucker's My Boss's Daughter were no match at the Romanian box office for The Last Samurai which, released on an impressive fifteen copies, still managed nearly 12,000 admissions in its second week.Local film production and distribution company, Media Pro ...
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BELGIUM
A slew of new openers bombarded the Belgian box office this week but neither diverse US fare including Brother Bear, 21 Grams and Jeepers Creepers 2 nor big-budget French western actionner Blueberry could match the might of Belga's Podium.Yann Moix's French comedy, which stars Benoit Poelvoorde and features Gerard Depardieu's ...
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Reviews
Your Next Life (La Vida Que Tu Espera)
Dir: Manuel Guttierez Aragon. Spain. 2004. 110 mins.It's doubtful that audiences can recall seeing so many cows in a single film since O Brother, Where Art Thou' The ruminants in veteran director Gutierrez Aragon's 15th feature don't get machine-gunned like their cousins in the Coen brothers' Odyssey-caper, though one does ...
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FRANCE
A smash in its first week out, Podium cracked the one million admissions mark to earn over $8m on 554 screens. The film, which stars Benoit Poelvoorde, handily beat out the Jan Kounen directed Blueberry which opened in fourth place.The comic book adaptation from producer Thomas Langmann was a disappointment ...
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SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
The Last Samurai continues to dominate the Serbian-Montegrin box office, having sold another 10,576 tickets in its third weekend and has now grossed a total of $241,643.Tuck also released Gothika which attracted 6,265 tickets and total gross of $22,480. The Halle Berry vehicle pushed Love Actually down a position and ...
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Reviews
The Passion Of The Christ
Dir: Mel Gibson. US. 2004. 127 mins.It has become difficult to think about The Passion Of The Christ without being influenced by the storm of passion it has stirred up over the last six months, and some of the questions raised. Is it an act of hubris on the part ...