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Small MPU – Page 3217
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News
Fortissimo makes donation to Scorsese's WCF
Fortissimo Films will be presenting Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation (WCF) with a $50,000 cheque at a special reception at the Berlin International Film Festival tonight (Feb 8). Both Scorsese and executive director of the WCF, Alberto Luna, will be in attendance, along with other distinguished guests.Scorsese's WCF is a ...
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Screen opinion - Rightsize Matters
When the inventors of business jargon find themselves in hell (or post-mortem heating and rehabilitation solutions), the devil will have put aside a particularly ghastly punishment for the deviser of the term 'rightsizing'.In tougher economic times, it was the euphemism of choice for laying off staff. You're not getting the ...
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European dreams: review of Rotterdam 2008
The International Film Festival Rotterdam ended last weekend on a more upbeat note than many would have predicted when the festival began a fortnight ago. There had been mutterings among staff about cutbacks to its budget. Some outsiders had questioned the coherence of the programming and what appeared to be ...
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United States - Building an icon
Diversity and synergy are two themes that get a lot of airplay in Hollywood - and more often than not the words are bandied about in an off-hand way that robs them of their currency. Yet they are at the core of what Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey's Icon group ...
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Features
United States - Star man
For Rigel Entertainment, getting into the feature film business was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" proposition, says founder, president and CEO John Laing.After 15 years as a backer, producer and worldwide distributor of TV programming, including the Robocop and Pacific Blue series, Laing felt Rigel could ...
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Features
Australia-UK - See-saw on the rise
When London-based acquisitions executive Iain Canning and Sydney producer Emile Sherman vie for the best projects under their new See-Saw production banner, the ace up their sleeve will be a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures International (PPI) to invest equity.They also hope their pooled skills and experience will be a ...
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Features
Argentina - Out of the past
"I am 100% French...and I am 100% Argentinian," says the Buenos Aires-born writer-director Lucia Cedron. Her family story played an important part in her debut feature Lamb Of God, the opening film at this year's Rotterdam International Film Festival. Cedron is the daughter of film-maker and political activist Jorge 'The ...
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United Kingdom - Scaling new heights
If gamblers are ready to start handicapping next year's Bafta race, Julian Jarrold's Brideshead Revisited would be a safe bet.The producers at Ecosse Films, of course, would cringe at such early awards talk - Ecosse is one of those production companies that likes to let its work speak for itself. ...
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Civilian in talks to up stake in The Sales Co
Civilian Content, owner of UK National Lottery studio franchise The Film Consortium, is continuing talks about raising its stake in international sales outfit The Sales Co, despite last week's resignation of highly-regarded Sales Co chief executive Alison Thompson.While Thompson's departure to join Pathe's London arm will no doubt lower the ...
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Cutting edge
Director John Maybury is on a high having just locked The Edge Of Love, his Wales-shot drama about Dylan Thomas and the women who loved him. 'It's the best thing I've done,' the director says. The BBC Films project, sold and financed by Capitol with backing from the Wales Creative ...
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Foreign language Oscar contenders
BEAUFORT (Israel)(Metro Communications, Movie Plus)A last-minute replacement for the popular The Band's Visit, which had too much English dialogue for Academy regulations, Beaufort has proved as worthy a contender and is the first Israeli film since 1984's Beyond The Walls to score a best foreign-language Oscar nod.Based on the novel ...
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FeaturesAwards Countdown - Johnny Depp
Nominated for his third best actor Oscar in five years, Johnny Depp tells Mike Goodridge why he worried he wouldn’t be up to playing Sweeney Todd
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Features
New Talent - European Stars of Tomorrow
Ambra Angiolini, ItalyAngiolini had already made her name in the 1990s as a TV starlet and presenter before returning to performing in theatre some years later, reinventing herself as a serious actress. She made her film debut last year in Ferzan Ozpetek's Saturno Contro, gaining overnight credibility and winning a ...
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Features
Ireland - The Irish Revival
Irish producers have their work cut out right now. With an 18% budget increase to $34.3m (EUR23.2m) for the Irish Film Board (IFB) there is more money available for low-budget, locally developed projects than ever before. Yet there are also fewer international film projects shooting in Ireland. Previously, projects such ...
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Features
International - Asterix the champion
France's Asterix At The Olympic Games won first place in the international arena by a long run this weekend as the family film enjoyed a mammoth $38.3m take and accounted for 20.8% of the top 40 revenue.The latest instalment of the comic book adaptation played across 3,002 screens in 19 ...
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Features
Local exposure
Czech cinemas enjoyed their highest-grossing year ever in 2007, with box office receipts reaching a total of $66.9m (ckr1.2bn). This represents a 20% increase on 2006, although ticket prices also increased 3% in 2007. Admissions were 12.8 million, up 11% from 2006.Much of the success has been down to strong ...
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Soros acquires 3% stake in India's Reliance Entertainment
Billionaire venture capitalist George Soros has bought a 3% stake in India's Reliance Entertainment for $100m. The move values the company, owned by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, at $3bn and highlights increasing investor interest in Indian entertainment firms. In 2006, Walt Disney took a minority stake in Mumbai-based UTV ...
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Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata sold to Japan, France
Japan's Entertainment Farm - Fortissimo Films' producing partner on Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata - has secured Japanese distribution for the film via PiX Inc, a subsidiary of Avex Entertainment founded in December last year. In addition, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners has come on board as a Japanese partner and Fortissimo ...
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ReviewsBlack Ice (Musta Jaa)
Dir: Petri Kotwica. Finland/Germany. 2008. 100 mins.Petri Kotwica’s darkly inventive second film,Black Ice, tries to be at one and the same time a Hitchcockian thriller, a horror version of a Feydeau farce, and an intense marriage drama of love, betrayal and jealousy in the tradition of ...
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The Weinstein Company, Showbox hot for Chocolate
Thai actioner Chocolate - which opened at the top of the Thai box office this week - has been gobbled up by several international distributors including The Weinstein Company which has taken North American rights. Produced and sold by Sahamongkolfilm International, the picture has also been sold to Showbox Media ...