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Small MPU – Page 3237
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Features
In Focus - Cannes film festival - Palme Reading
Official selection berths seem set for Ari Folman's animated documentary Waltz With Bashir from Israel; Wong Kar Wai's revision of his 1994 martial arts classic Ashes Of Time - Redux; and Courtney Hunt's Sundance prizewinner Frozen River.Also tipped from Sundance are Barry Levinson's What Just Happened' featuring Robert De Niro, ...
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Features
In Focus - Postcard from Berlin
Breakout filmsHappy-Go-LuckyAudiences were enchanted by Mike Leigh's story of a young schoolteacher navigating modern life (with memorable flamenco classes and driving instruction). Sally Hawkins was the source of the buzz, stepping up from minor roles in previous Leigh films to win the Silver Bear for best actress (review, p21).Hey Hey ...
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After Bruges'Profile of Martin McDonagh
In Bruges, which opened the Sundance Film Festival last month and opened in the US earlier this month, marks a longed-for arrival in the world of feature-length cinema for the celebrated London-based Irish playwright Martin McDonagh.'I loved movies from a very early age, about 13 or 14 onwards, so in ...
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Mercuri rising: Profile ofNu Image/Millennium's Christian Mercuri
It took Christian Mercuri a while to find his niche when he joined Nu Image/Millennium Films six years ago.But after working with company co-founder Avi Lerner on the Los Angeles independent's production side, 'I moved over and started doing sales with Danny (Dimbort, partner to Lerner and third company principal ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Love is all around
Mike Leigh has not named his new film Happy-Go-Lucky ironically. He readily says the Berlinale Competition title is "lighter" than 2004's devastating 1950s abortionist drama Vera Drake. "It's upbeat and funny and life affirming," the director says. Still, he says the project "does have some weight to it".Actress Sally Hawkins, ...
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Sweden - Taking the crown
Jens Jonsson was on the other side of the world for his breakthrough moment. As his film The King Of Ping Pong was winning the Sundance 2008 World Cinema Jury Prize (as well as the World Cinema cinematography prize), he had already left Park City to show the film closer ...
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News
Video-on-demand - Right here, right now
In an increasingly on-demand world, video-on-demand (VoD) represents a growing opportunity for film distributors and producers. But grasping that opportunity will mean forging relationships with a new generation of rights buyers and structuring deals that produce significant new revenue without eroding income from established ancillary outlets, especially the vital DVD ...
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Features
Video-on-demand - Europe - Patchwork picture is a brake on growth
Europe's position in the VoD market is characterised by a distinctive set of issues that differentiate it from much of the rest of the world.One is the role of the telecoms companies, such as British Telecom, France Telecom, Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom. These were often the state monopolies that once ...
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Disease picks up top prize at Gdynia
The grand prize at the Gdynia Festival of Polish Features Films went to Krzysztof Zanussi for Life As A Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease. The film - which took the main award at this year's Moscow film festival - also won the best male actor award for its star Zbigniew Zapasiewicz.The ...
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Features
Video-on-demand - Territory snapshot: Eastern Europe - Doc Air fest makes waves
The Czech Republic's Doc Air is the only online distributor in Central and Eastern Europe specialising in documentary features. Users can stream the video or download either DivX or DVD files to their computers. The service currently offers 150 titles and has 30-50 downloads a day at roughly $1.46 (EUR1) ...
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Features
Video-on-demand - Territory snapshot: Spain - Independent producers search for VoD play
With the leading VoD portals in Spain such as Imagenio and Orange TV striking deals with the US studios to show all their major projects, the smaller Spanish indie films are being squeezed out. But now local producers and distributors are fighting back with their own internet VoD portals.One of ...
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Features
Video-on-demand - Territory snapshot: The UK - Indies fight to be seen in a new light
UK film companies are waking up to the possibilities of releasing independent films through VoD services (both online and TV).Dogwoof Digital, a film distribution company dealing with independently produced feature films, has announced it will launch the UK's first digital platform from its own website, bypassing the service provider, in ...
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Features
International - Jumper hops to top
With Doug Liman's Jumper in at number one, India's Jodhaa Akbar was the highest non-US entry in this weekend's international top 40, generating $8.1m from 15 territories. The 16th-century love story, starring Aishwarya Rai, catapulted to number four in the chart and played on 1,105 screens for a $7,305 screen ...
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Features
The International View - Summer's thirst for firsts
I don't think we're ever going to see a summer like last year that was so reliant on sequels and remakes," suggests Fox distribution executive Chris Aronson. "And that's a good thing."It's not that the US film industry or those of France, Japan or India have slammed the door on ...
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News
VOD Canada - Commercial concerns
In Canada, the future of the format is ad-supported VoD. Denis Seguin looks at how this could work.There are an estimated 2 million video-on-demand households in Canada, representing a penetration rate of 43.5%. Accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast a market of 4 million by 2010, at a penetration rate of approximately 55%.'The ...
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North America - VoD vision becomes real
Telecom giants, games companies and video retailers are re-energising the North American VoD market. John Hazelton reportsVoD programming has been available for close to a decade in the US. Until recently, however, the Hollywood studios, eager to protect the DVD market, have offered relatively few major movies to cable operators' ...
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Jumper remains internationalnumber one with $21.9m tally
The sci-fi adventure Jumper maintained its number one status overseas thanks to a $21.9m estimated gross through Fox International from 4,040 screens in 40 markets that raised the tally to $61.2m.The film opened top in France on an excellent $5.1m from 586, second in Thailand on $1.3m from 170 and ...
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Vantage Point shoots down US box office with $24m opening
Sony's presidential assassination thriller Vantage Point featuring an ensemble headed by Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox led the board at the weekend as it launched on a $24m estimated gross.Fox's adventure Jumper slipped to second place on a distant $12.7m for $56.2m while Paramount's family saga The Spiderwick Chronicles ranked ...
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Oscars winners 2008 in full
Academy Awards 2008. Winners in bold (Click to see review)Best motion picture of the yearAtonement - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, producersJuno - Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, producersMichael Clayton - Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, producersNo Country For Old Men - Scott Rudin, ...
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Titus to open Flanders festival
Julie Taymor's Titus will open the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent (October 11-22) where it is screening out of competition. Terence Davies' The House Of Mirth, starring Gillian Anderson, will open the competitive section. Morgan Freeman will be guest of honour at the festival, which is dedicated to exploring ...