Small MPU – Page 1633

  • News

    Italy to introduce tougher anti-piracy laws

    2003-01-20T04:05:00Z

    The Italian Parliament has approved a new anti-piracy law that will put behind bars those who use counterfeit smart cards to access pay-TV channels.While anti-piracy legislation already exists in Italy, prison terms had until now been excluded. But now, as legislators attempt to curb the rampant piracy which has caused ...

  • News

    Istituto Luce names Andrea Piersanti as new president

    2003-01-20T04:05:00Z

    Andrea Piersanti has been named the new president of Istituto Luce, the Rome-based state distributor which is also involved in production and exhibition.Piersanti, 44, is currently the president of the catholic entertainment organisation, Ente dello Spettacolo. He replaces Antonio More, who was temporarily appointed after industry veteran Angelo Guglielmi stepped ...

  • Reviews

    A Guy Thing

    2003-01-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Chris Koch. US. 2002. 101mins. Having got his big break as the writer of $300m worldwide hit Meet The Parents, Greg Glienna now mines a similar vein of material for A Guy Thing, a sweet-natured, though sometimes familiar-feeling romantic comedy made on a modest budget for MGM. Replicating the ...

  • Reviews

    9

    2003-01-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Umit Unal. Turkey. 2002. 94mins.Preceded by a quote from Franz Kafka's In The Penal Colony about the invisible workings of the system, 9 presents a grim portrait of the way in which religious bigotry and social malaise have a direct and poisonous impact on people's everyday behaviour. Chosen, surprisingly, ...

  • News

    BERLIN: COMPETITION AND JURY LINE-UP

    2000-02-17T13:04:00Z

    Below is a list of titles confirmed for the various sections of the 50th International Film Festival Berlin (February 9-20). OPENING NIGHT FILM (also in competition):The Million Dollar Hotel - Wim Wenders (Germany-US)COMPETITION:Any Given Sunday - Oliver Stone (US)The Beach - Danny Boyle (US)Boys' Choir (Dokuritsu Shonen Gasshoudan) - Akira ...

  • News

    Sony Pictures signs up Garnett to production deal

    2003-01-20T04:00:00Z

    Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has entered into a first-look production deal in the UK with Tony Garnett and John Heyman's London-based World Productions, a further move in its expansion into non-US film production. Garnett and Heyman co-founded World in 1990 and have focused principally on TV series with a ...

  • News

    Miracle debut wins Max Ophuels Prize

    2003-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Writer-director Anne Wild's feature debut My First Miracle (Mein Erstes Wunder) (pictured) has won this year's $38,500 (Euros 36,000) Max Ophuels Prize The prize, for up-and-coming German language cinema, was awarded at the Max Ophuels Prize Film Festival (January 13-19) in Saarbruecken, Germany.The story about a friendship between an eleven ...

  • News

    Italy mulls new film censorship law to protect children

    2003-01-20T04:05:00Z

    Italy plans to establish a new film censorship law, ensuring that no film can be banned from release, and imposing tighter restrictions for children.Currently, a local censorship commission can ban a film from being released altogether at the cinema, and can also restrict viewing to audiences over the age of ...

  • News

    Sundance Channel launches US theatrical initiative

    2003-01-20T04:00:00Z

    TheSundance brand will make its theatrical debut in the US, as The SundanceChannel announced yesterday that it will launch a film series that will seefour features released in at least ten major US markets from August throughNovember 2003. Similar in spirit to the film series launched by now-defunct TheShooting Gallery ...

  • News

    Chicago, The Hours strike Gold at the Globes

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    Miramax Films' Chicago was the big winner at the 60th annual Golden Globe, picking up three statuettes at last night's ceremony that was held amid tight security and wildly divergent Oscar predictions at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The musical, which grossed a stunning $8m over the weekend, ...

  • News

    Sundance teen drama Thirteen baits Fox Searchlight

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    Fox Searchlight Pictures isin final negotiations to take all worldwide distribution rights outside the UKto Thirteen, one of only a smallhandful of dramatic competition films to have excited buyers during the firstfew days of this year's Sundance Film Festival.Although no distributiondeals had been formally announced by the end of the ...

  • News

    Sundance teen drama Thirteen baits Fox Searchlight

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    Fox Searchlight Pictures isin final negotiations to take all worldwide distribution rights outside the UKto Thirteen, one of only a smallhandful of dramatic competition films to have excited buyers during the firstfew days of this year's Sundance Film Festival.Although no distributiondeals had been formally announced by the end of the ...

  • News

    Kangaroo Jack hops to the top for Disney and Bruckheimer

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    With so many class acts in contention for the Golden Globes today(Jan 19) it was little surprise that audiences craved some throatier laughsover the weekend, propelling Warner Bros' Kangaroo Jack and Columbia's National Security into first and second places on$17.7m and $15.7m respectively. The two openers shunted last week's topper, ...

  • News

    Kangaroo Jack hops to the top for Warner, Bruckheimer

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    With so many class acts in contention for the Golden Globes today(Jan 19) it was little surprise that audiences craved some throatier laughsover the weekend, propelling Warner Bros' Kangaroo Jack and Columbia's National Security into first and second places on $17.7mand $15.7m respectively. The two openers shunted last week's topper, ...

  • News

    Sundance: Women Make Movies acquires domestic rights to Love & Diane

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    30 year-old film non-profitorganization Women Make Movies (WMM) has acquired North American distributionrights to the documentary Love & Diane which world premiered at the Locarno Film Festival last year, winningthe Golden Leopard, and played at the New York Film Festival before itsAmerican Spectrum screenings at this week's Sundance Film Festival.Directed ...

  • News

    Entera appoints int'l production & acquisitions team

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    New international production-distribution company Entera has appointed three executives to form its cross-Atlantic production and acquisitions team. Los Angeles-based Keith Resnick will act as head of production for the US; Christopher Brough, head of production in Canada; and Madrid-based Margaret Nicoll, director of international production. Entera was formed by US ...

  • News

    Soft Money - Australia

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    AustraliaAustralia's new 12.5% tax offset is designed to encourage footloose productions to spend more of their budgets in Australia. Sandy George reportsIt was an e-mail that was never meant to be made public. It described a Los Angeles telephone call, now 18 months ago, from angry Warner Bros executive Bob ...

  • Reviews

    Levity

    2003-01-20T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Ed Solomon. US. 2003. 100mins.From its portentous title to its lofty themes, Levity reeks of a self-importance which is rarely justified. The ambitious directorial debut of Ed Solomon, the screenwriter of Men In Black and the two Bill And Ted films, was the opening night film of the Sundance ...

  • News

    Fortissimo picks up Jackie Chan And His Lost Family

    2003-01-21T04:05:00Z

    Fortissimo Film Sales, the Hong Kong and Amsterdam based sales outfit, has picked up Traces Of A Dragon: Jackie Chan And His Lost Family (pictured), which opens the "Dokumente" documentary section of the Berlin festival's Panorama sidebar.The film directed by Mabel Cheung and Alex Law is described as "moving portrayal ...