Small MPU – Page 278
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News
Germany's NRW supports 14 new features
New features by Lars von Trier (Dogville), Ken Loach (Sweet Sixteen) and Alexander Sokurov (Vater Und Sohn) are among 14 film projects backed with over $3.8m (DM 8m) by the regional German public fund Filmstiftung NRW in its latest round of production funding.Among the other projects supported are Icelandic filmmaker ...
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News
Spain's Sitges film festival reveals final line-up
The International Film Festival of Catalonia, better known as Sitges, has unveiled the final program for its forthcoming edition (Oct 4-13).More than 20 films will compete for 11 top awards, including the newly created make-up and production design prizes, in the event's longest-standing Fantastic section. Parallel section Gran Angular will ...
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News
Chadha plans English-language Bollywood film
UK director Gurinder Chadha, whose credits include Bhaji On The Beach and the US-set What's Cooking', is to direct an English-language Bollywood-style film set in the UK.Chadha is aiming for the all-singing, all-dancing film to cross UK and Indian cultural barriers, doing for the Bollywood musical what Crouching Tiger, Hidden ...
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News
Leipzig fest premieres Syrian documentaries
Leipzig's Festival for Documentary and Animation Film (October 16-21)is to host the first ever international showcase of documentaries from Syria.Since Syrian filmmakers have to battle with restrictions and censorship, many of the films being screened in this regional focus from past and present works will also be world premieres.Meanwhile, retrospectives ...
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News
German Mediability fund extends portfolio
Munich-based private media fund Mediability has added Hahn Film's Wildlife 2 to its portfolio of animation projects.The Euro 56m fund will put up 50% of the Euro 6.65m budget for the animation series with Hahn Film contributing the remaining 50%.Wildlife 2 picks up on the successful first Wildlife series which ...
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News
Neue Sentimental acquires Compass Films
Frankfurt-based German production group Neue Sentimental Film (NSF) has acquired the remaining 49% interest in New York's Compass Films to add to the initial 51% stake it had obtained in February as part of a restructuring of its US-based business. Compass, which like NSF concentrates on producing for the corporate ...
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News
London film festival announces programme
Walt Disney Co-Pixar animation title Monsters Inc (pictured), Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater World War II picture Windtalkers, Steve Martin comedy Novocaine and Sandra Goldbacher's Venice title Me Without You are amongst the gala screenings at November's London Film Festival.Fred Schepisi's Last Orders, which has an ensemble UK cast of ...
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Reviews
How Harry Became A Tree
Dir: Goran Paskaljevic. Ireland/ Italy/ UK/ France. 2001. 100 mins. The main trouble with Harry is its peculiar cocktail of ingredients. Based on a Chinese short story, scripted in first Serbian, then French and eventually English, directed by a Serb, Goran Paskaljevic, produced by an Irish-Italian-French-British team and set in ...
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Reviews
Asoka
Dir: Santosh Sivan. India. 2001. 150 mins.Could this be the Indian Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' Probably not; but Santosh Sivan's loose historical biopic of Mauryan emperor Asoka is a hugely enjoyable swords-and-saris romp which should have no trouble crossing over from speciality Asian circuits to general release. Juhi Chawla ...
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News
RTL results herald European media market woe
As the largest and most international broadcast group in Europe, RTL's results and market view had been eagerly awaited by financial analysts as indicators of the outlook for the European media sector. What they got was not pretty.Unveiled on Wednesday September 19, first half results showed a 27% drop in ...
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News
Pusan Promotion Plan features Imamura pitch
Confirming the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) as one of the world's leading co-production workshops, two-time Cannes Palme d'Or winner Imamura Shohei is to submit his latest project for scrutiny and international funding at the forthcoming event (Nov 12-14).Imamura's Shinjuku Cherry Blossom Fantasy is joined by scripts from The Isle director ...
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News
Italy's Mifed cancels Gala, boosts security
In a sign of solidarity to the US for last week's terrorist attacks, Mifed has announced the cancellation of a gala evening which had been arranged to showcase Italian cinema during the market. Instead, organisers said the (undisclosed) budget which had been allocated for the event will be given to ...
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News
Mannheim Meetings introduces Nyman's film debut
Michael Nyman's directorial debut, and film version of his own opera Facing Goya and Icelandic filmmaker Hilmar Oddson's Cold Ice are among the film projects from Latin America, West and Eastern Europe and Canada already confirmed for this year's Mannheim Meetings co-production market (October 11-14) at the 50th International Mannheim-Heidelberg ...
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News
Canada's Remstar signs Prophecy output deal
Montreal-based Remstar Distribution and Prophecy Entertainment have signed an output deal that gives Remstar a first-look option at the next four projects in development at the Vancouver-based production and sales house. The deal follows Remstar's acquisition of two Prophecy titles, Ripper: Letter From Hell and The Barber for distribution in ...
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News
BCE, Cogeco acquire Quebec TV network
Canadian telecommunications and media conglomerate BCE has teamed with Cogeco, the nation's fourth-largest cable company, to purchase majority control of Quebec-based television network TQS. The US$47m deal was part of the regulatory divestiture by publishing and media giant Quebecor in the wake of its US$3.4bn takeover of Groupe Videotron last ...
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News
Davies controversially named chairman of BBC
Gavyn Davies has been named chairman of the BBC, the government said in a statement.The appointment of the Goldman Sachs economist, who has close links to Labour, was met with protests from opposition parties. Davies, already vice-chairman of the BBC, succeeds Christopher Bland, who is to take the chair at ...
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News
Chicago selects Heist to open 37th edition
The 37th Chicago International Film Festival has announced that David Mamet's Heist will open the 37th Chicago International Film Festival on October 4, 2001. The event is sponsored by Marshall Field's Project Imagine, community-giving initiative that designates 5% of federally taxable income to arts and cultural organisations.Heist replaces the previously-scheduled ...
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News
Sweden's STV gets Happy Life for three years
Sweden's national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) has signed an agreement with local media major Svensk Filmindustri (SF) and it's subsidy Happy Life, which will span three years and more than 80 hours of entertainment for kids. Kicking off from spring 2002, the deal will include alread- established characters like Karlsson ...
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News
UK's FilmFour signs first look deal with Tubedale
FilmFour has struck a first look deal with Tubedale Films the production company of UK actor David Morrissey, former PolyGram Film International executive Carl Clifton and Morrissey's brother, Paul.The writer Esther Freud is also a partner in the company along with businessman Stuart Hatwell. David Morrissey, whose acting credits include ...
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News
Danish producer duo return to Early Bird
Passing the reins of Zentropa Internationale to Kaare Schmidt, the producer duo Ole Sondberg and Lars Sund Duus have left Zentropa to set up projects via their own outfit Early Bird. Zentropa Internationale is the international arm of Denmark's progressive production outfit and was set up one and a half ...