Small MPU – Page 249
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News
Ster Century re-finances and avoids sale
Having failed to find a buyer since it was put up for sale last year, pan-European exhibition circuit Ster Century Europe has secured an $80m re-financing package and has now been taken off the market.Corporate restructuring will see Ster Century housed within a new consolidated film entity being proposed by ...
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HFPA donates $484,000 to film groups and charities
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) presented $485,000 in donations to various US charities and institutions at its annual installation luncheon yesterday, bringing the total amount of donations granted by the HFPA in the last seven years to $2.485m.The HFPA, the group of foreign journalists which presents the Golden Globe ...
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Marc Butan joins Lions Gate as production evp
Lions Gate Productions, a division of Lions Gate Entertainment, has hired Marc Butan, the former president of Ignite Entertainment, as executive vice president of production. Reporting to Michael Paseornek, president of production at Lions Gate, Butan will oversee production of the company's film projects and run its development activities.Butan will ...
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News
Myriad buys 20% of LA broadcast, services facility
Myriad Pictures has purchased a 20% stake in Broadcast Standard Inc (BSI), the LA-based broadcast and video servicing, standards conversion and digital editing facility.BSI was founded in 1987 and acquired late last year with funds from Independent International Television, an LA-based TV distribution company controlled by Argentina's Ledafilms, Ledafilms' main ...
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Reviews
Cabin Fever
Dir: Mona J Hoel. Norwegian. 2001. 95mins.A family whose skeletons come out of the closet when they get together for the holidays is not exactly a new idea, but Mona J Hoel's Cabin Fever explores this well-worn theme within the framework of the Dogma manifesto to create a Chekhovian drama ...
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Angel Exit
Dir: Vladimir Michalek. Czech Republic. 2000. 100mins.A 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 the popular novel of ...
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Reviews
Hi Teresa
Dir: Robert Glinski Poland 2001. 86mins.After making an impressive acting debut as a young criminal in the leading role of Robert Glinski's Hi, Teresa, 15-year- old Aleksandra Gieter had to return to the reform school that she had been plucked from to play the part. Ironically she ...
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Reviews
Luna's Game
Dir. Monica Laguna. Spain 2001. 102 mins. A disappointing attempt to deal with two different types of addiction, Monica Laguna's second feature takes far too many short cuts and avoids too many pertinent questions to deal with the many tasks it sets for itself. Ana Torrent, in the lead role ...
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Reviews
Firefly Dreams
Dir. John Williams, Japan 2001, 104 min.Although this fully Japanese-financed production looks and feels thoroughly authentic in every respect, it is written, directed and edited by a Cambridge-educated Englishman, John Williams, who has been living in Japan since 1988. For his debut feature Williams adopts the slow, deliberate pace ...
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News
De Laurentiis hopes Scott will direct Alexander
Contrary to earlier reports, producer Dino De Laurentiis has yet to secure the services of director Ridley Scott for the film he is lining up about Alexander The Great. De Laurentiis said that he hoped the film would be directed by Gladiator's Scott, but as yet no deal has been ...
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Kei Kumai to direct Kurosawa script
A film based on one of the last scripts to have been written by Akira Kurosawa, Umi Wa Miteita (I Saw The Sea), is to be made by Kei Kumai and premiered at the 2002 Venice Film Festival on the anniversary of Kurosawa's death: September 6, 1998.The script is based ...
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News
Global Motion Pictures Fund launched
Frankfurt-based IN-motion Group has launched a new private media fund to follow the five World Media Funds it has already initiated since 1998, and which have raised a total to date of $128.8m (Euro 148m) for film and television financing.The latest fund - The First Global Motion Pictures Fonds (GMP) ...
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Brisbane fest launches feature competition
The Brisbane International Film Festival's tenth anniversay edition is mounting a retrospective on the work of Roman Polanski and a spotlight on the new UK directors such as Jonathan Glazer. Australian film La Spagnola, starring Spanish actor Lola Marceli, opens the event, which runs July 26-August 4. Glazer's Sexy Beast ...
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News
Shooting Gallery heads for bankruptcy
New York-based production and distribution house The Shooting Gallery will likely file for bankruptcy relief, according to a brief statement from its owner, Canadian internet incubator itemus inc. Toronto-based itemus announced that efforts to raise extra capital have been unsuccessful to date and that unless it can sell of some ...
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News
New Anica president appointed
Gianni Massaro, the Italian entertainment lawyer who heads the European production fund Eurimages, has been appointed president of Anica, Italy's national film body, replacing film producer Fulvio Lucisano."My top priority will be to bring into Anica the other associations of the audiovisual sector, who, while they operate within a friendly ...
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News
InFilm in trio of development deals
InFilm Productions, the UK outfit which most recently co-produced Rose Troche's The Safety Of Objects, has struck development deals for three of its gestating projects.Artists Independent Network, Luc Roeg and Charles Finch's London-based production and management company, has boarded The Duchess Of Malfi to develop and co-produce. Billed as a ...
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News
Montreal fest to fete Jackie Chan
Martial arts star Jackie Chan will be presented with a Special Grand Prix of the Americas at the 25th Montreal World Film Festival, Aug. 23 to Sept. 3. The festival is presenting similar tributes to Sophia Loren and producer Dino De Laurentiis. Chan will be present September 1 for a ...
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News
Universal Pictures picks up Women
Universal Pictures has picked up all UK rights to Women Talking Dirty, the first picture from Elton John and David Furnish's Rocket Pictures.The co-production with Jean Doumanian Productions is expected to get a platform release though UIP, Universal's international theatrical distribution outlet. Helena Bonham Carter and Gina McKee star in ...
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News
Jolie raids France and Germany with Original Sin
Just as her starring turn in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider sees Angelina Jolie swinging to the top of most international territories, another film featuring the Oscar winning actress starts its roll-out in Germany and France. Original Sin, co-starring Antonio Banderas, took sixth position in Germany, with a three-day take ...
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Jurassic III takes giant $19m on US opening day
Universal's sequel Jurassic Park III opened with a roar on Wednesday, grossing a phenomenal $19m in its first day - and indicating that the dinosaur thrill-ride could have the biggest opening of the year and one of the biggest of all time. To indicate its total domination of the market, ...