Small MPU – Page 248
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News
Antonia Bird swoops on Run adaptation
Antonia Bird is to direct an adaptation of crime novel Run for recently-formed UK production outfit Hanthum Films and the director's own company, 4Way Pictures.Written by Douglas E Winter, the book revolves around the character of Burdon Lane, a gunrunner-businessman on a so-called milk run which goes wrong. Winter is ...
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White Noise takes top Babelsberg prize
Max Ophuels Prize winner Hans Weingartner and Oscar nominee Marc-Andreas Bochert were among the recipients of the 2001 Babelsberg Media Awards presented last weekend. Weingartner, received the $15,303 (DM35,000) Best Graduation Feature Film Award for his das weisse rauschen (The White Noise), while Bochert was presented with the $21,861 (DM50,000) ...
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News
UK's lukewarm development culture heats up
Last week, the UK Film Council announced its first round of long-term slate funding deals with six production outfits. The $7m (£5m) annual development fund is designed to give promising companies long-term support in beefing up their development capabilities, both in terms of property acquisition and personnel. Fragile Films, Archer ...
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Quebec grants $9.1m to Lions Gate partner
CineGroupe, the animation partner of Lions Gate Entertainment, is set to receive a cash injection of $9.1m from Societe generale de financement du Quebec, the state investment agency of the Canadian province. Lions Gate spokesman Gordon Keep told Screendaily the investment will allow CineGroupe to grow its future business and ...
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Godard's Eloge De L'Amour to screen at LFF
Jean-Luc Godard's Eloge De L'Amour will screen as the French Gala film at November's London Film Festival.The Cannes competition title, being released in the UK by Will Clarke's Optimum Releasing, is billed as a study of memory and history told through the four stages of love - meeting, physical passion, ...
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News
PrimaCom signs ppv deal with Universal
Private German cable network PrimaCom and Universal Studios International have signed a non-exclusive pay-per-view (ppv) output deal for a wide range of current and library titles from Universal, including Oscar-winner Gladiator and The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas. Commenting on the agreement, Hans Wolfert, chief corporate development officer at PrimaCom ...
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Controversial rape drama wins at Zanzibar
Bawandar (Sandstorm), an Indian film depicting the true story of Bhanwari Devi, a low-caste woman gang-raped for criticising child marriages, has won the award for best feature film at the Zanzibar Festival of Dhow Countries, held in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.The controversial film, directed by Jag Mohan, follows the rural ...
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News
BAFTA LA will honour HBO Original Programming
BAFTA-LA, the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts' Los Angeles branch, has elected to honour HBO Original Programming with the Britannia Award for excellence in television at the 11th annual Britannia Awards on Nov 10.Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, will accept the award at the ceremony which ...
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De Laurentiis says Scott to direct Alexander epic
Confirming Italy's current enthusiasm for multi-million dollar sword-and-sandal epics, legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis has announced that he is lining up a picture about Alexander The Great that will be directed by Gladiator director Ridley Scott and is expected to feature UK actor Anthony Hopkins in a key role. De ...
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Reviews
Jurassic Park III
Dir: Joe Johnston. US.2001. 90 min.Continuing to expand theboundaries of tech- nology, rather than exciting entertainment, Jurassic ParkIII, the franchise's thirdinstallment, builds on Spielberg's dual hits, Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), which jointly have grossed over $1.5billion worldwide. Much darker than the previous films, Jurassic ...
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Reviews
The Iron Ladies
Dir: Yongyooth Thongkonthun. Thailand. 2000Cool Runnings meets The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert in this raucous, cheer-the-underdog charmer inspired by true events at the 1996 Thailand national volleyball championships. A shameless crowd-pleaser, played for broad comic effect, it embraces every cliche of the sporting no-hopers genre but still ...
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Reviews
Karlovy Vary Reviews
ANGEL EXITDir: Vladimir Michalek. Czech Republic. 2000. 100mins.Reviewed by Anna FranklinA drug induced fantasy that mixes horror and comedy without being either, Vladimir Michalek's Angel Exit is a film that makes its impact with a mosaic of images, sights and sounds that appeal to all five senses. Based on ...
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News
Locarno reveals competition line-up
While Final Fantasy - The Spirit Within and Moulin Rouge will open and close the Piazza Grande programme respectively, this year's official competition of 19 films from 13 different countries includes ten first features and 15 world premieres.Debut projects include Meng Ong's Miss Wonton (US), Riccardo Signorell's Sheherazade (Switzerland) and ...
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News
UK Film Council reveals first single-project slate
Erick Zonca, the French writer-director of The Dreamlife Of Angels, is to make his English-language debut with National Lottery backing from UK film support body the Film Council's first round of single-project development funding.Zonca secured $106,244 (£75,000), the largest single award the council has made from its development fund, for ...
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News
Pleskow sells Pleswin stake to partner de Winter
Veteran producer Eric Pleskow has announced that he has sold his interest in Pleswin Entertainment Group BV to its other principal shareholder Leon de Winter.The company was launched in August 1999 by the former United Artists boss and Orion Pictures founder with Dutch novelist and screenwriter de Winter to create ...
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AFC increases producers' development fund
The Australian Film Commission (AFC) has put aside $596,000 (A$1.16m) in public money for this financial year for producers -- and writer/directors in exceptional circumstances - to develop a slate of projects. This is nearly double last year's allocation although the cap on individual awards remains $35,975 (A$70,000). The extra ...
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News
Tycoon heads $790m Malaysian studio revamp
A reclusive tycoon with a penchant for Bollywood extravaganzas is to head the $790m development of Malaysia's new Hollywood-style film studios, according to Reuters.Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, already in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's good books for winning away Danish shipping giant Maersk Sealand from neighbour and rival Singapore, is ...
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Media Salles reveals new executive committee
Media Salles, an initiative within the EU media programme to foster theatrical distribution of European audiovisual products, has announced its new executive committee line-up. More of a reshuffle, with no change of personnel, the presidency has gone to Jens Rykaer, previous treasurer of the association and director of the European ...
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Reviews
Sagittarius
Dir: Vicente Molina Foix. Spain. 1hr 52mins.Character-driven and dialogue-heavy, Sagittarius (Sagitario) is not a film for all audiences. Its greatest appeal will likely lie with urban arthouse audiences interested in adult-oriented European fare. In Spain, where distributor Lauren Films put this assumption to test, average per-copy ticket sales have been ...
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Reviews
A Place On Earth
Dir: Artur Aristakisjan. 2001. Russia 126minsPart documentary, part feature film, compelling and deeply disturbing, Artur Aristakisjan's A Place On Earth, is a portrait of a Moscow commune in which squatters, beggars, cripples and the insane become actors in a metaphysical examination of the human need for love and spiritual ...