Small MPU – Page 3635

  • News

    Italy's Scimeca lines up Spanish period drama

    2000-09-08T15:15:00Z

    Sicilian director Pasquale Scimeca, whose Placido Rizzotto premiered this week in the Venice film festival's Filmmakers of Today sidebar, has finished writing his next project which will be set in 15th Century Spain.The film will recount the period when a royal edict forced thousands of persecuted Jews to leave Spain. ...

  • News

    Midnight Clear lands at Cinemavault for AFM

    2007-10-28T23:30:00Z

    Toronto-based Cinemavault Releasing International has acquired overseas rights to Midnight Clear and Wind Man heading into the AFM.Midnight Clear will be released through Lionsgate in the US in December and stars Stephen Baldwin and Kirk B R Woller in a story about five strangers whose lives are changed by random ...

  • News

    Saw IV enjoys $32.1m domestic carve-up

    2007-10-29T00:58:00Z

    Lionsgate's Saw IV maintained the horror franchise's grip on the Halloween season as it stormed to the top of the North American charts with a resounding $32.1m estimated launch.It still wasn't enough to stop the overall box office from slipping for the sixth consecutive weekend against the same period last ...

  • News

    Band's Visit scoops top honours at Turkey'sEurasia fest

    2007-10-29T05:09:00Z

    Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit, about an Egyptian police band which visits Israel for a performance, made a cross-cultural foray in the other direction when the Israeli production won best film at Turkey 's 3rd International Eurasia Film Festival on Sunday night. The film had also picked up the Tokyo ...

  • News

    Fortissimo acquires Black White + Gray

    2007-10-29T14:59:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights toJames Crump's documentary feature Black White + Gray: A Portrait Of Sam Wagstaff & Robert Mapplethorpe.The film, which premieredat Tribeca and opened theatrically in New York to critical acclaim,chronicles the unlikely friendship between art collector and curator Wagstaff and controversial photographer Mapplethorpe.Their story brings ...

  • News

    Zvyagintsev wins second Zagreb honour

    2007-10-29T15:12:00Z

    Andrei Zvyagintsev's Cannes entry The Banishment (Izgnanie) has taken the best feature film award at the fifth Zagreb Film Festival.The competitionincluded11 first or second films.Zvyagintsev had won the award at the inaugural edition of the festival in 2003 with Return (Vozvrascenie). The jury comprised of Slovenian director Jan Cvitkovic, Croatian ...

  • Reviews

    Saw IV

    2007-10-29T15:31:00Z

    Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman. US. 2007. 93mins.Cinematic trends come and go, but the resilience of the Saw franchise continues unabated. Grimly efficient in a manner consistent with previous installments, Saw IV demonstrates that this well-oiled horror machine is showing noticeable wear and tear, but nevertheless enough of the moving parts ...

  • Reviews

    Noise

    2007-10-29T15:43:00Z

    Dir/scr: Henry Bean. US. 2007. 91 mins .Noise has an intriguing idea at its core: it centres on a New York resident who begins a one-man guerilla campaign against urban noise pollution. But having hooked us with the tagline, director Henry Bean never seems to be sure quite where to ...

  • News

    Danish Film Institute supports $7.2mviking epic

    2007-10-30T06:32:21Z

    Nicolas Winding Refn is getting ready to shoot Valhalla Rising with support from the Danish Film Institute. The national institute is guaranteeing $1.1m (Euros 0.8m) of its $7.2m (Euros 5.1m)budget. National star Mads Mikkelsen plays amute Viking who whileescaping from imprisonment in Scotland accidentally discovers America. The shoot is expected ...

  • News

    Courtney named EVP, physical production at Film Dept

    2007-10-29T19:48:00Z

    Kathleen Courtney has been named executive vice president of physical production for Mark Gill and Neil Sacker's The Film Department.Dave Gare has been named vice president of post-production and Ian Watermeier has been named director of production and finance.Courtney will be based in the West Hollywood offices, reporting to production ...

  • News

    Netflix hires Nishimura-Seese for new indie buying role

    2007-10-29T19:52:00Z

    Lisa Nishimura-Seese has joined Netflix in the new role of vice president of independent content acquisition.Nishimura-Seese most recently served as general manager of New York-based Palm Pictures and will be charged with acquiring independent and small studio films for the subscriber base, which according to the company has reached seven ...

  • News

    Santa Barbara singles out Javier Bardem

    2007-10-29T19:57:00Z

    Javier Bardem will receive the 23rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival's (SBIFF) Montecito Award on Jan 28, 2008.Bardem, who stars in the Coen Brothers' upcoming thriller No Country For Old Men and Mike Newell's upcoming epic romance Love In The Time Of Cholera, is being recognised for 'a series of ...

  • News

    US talk show host Letterman initiates election documentary

    2007-10-29T20:59:00Z

    US talk show host David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants Inc will commence filming in five US states on its first documentary this weekend with Lawrence Bender serving as producer.Balance Vector Productions will also produce the untitled film about five American teenagers who are running for a variety of elected ...

  • News

    South Of Pico wins big at Annual American Black Film Festival

    2007-10-29T21:04:00Z

    AFI graduate Ernst Gossner's feature directorial debut South Of Pico has won the 11th Annual American Black Film Festival's (ABFF) grand jury prize for best picture.ABFF sponsor Heineken also presented Gossner with its Red Star Award recognising 'originality, innovation and vision in film', while South Of Pico star Henry Simmons, ...

  • News

    Iranian films get VOD foothold in North America

    2007-10-29T21:19:00Z

    Video-on-demand service Eurocinema has signed an exclusive deal with Iranian Film Society representative Nima Entertainment to provide Farsi-language Iranian films for Eurocinema's North American audiences.The initial titles are Tahmineh Milani's 2000 drama Two Women, Hassan Hedayat's 2002 mystery Twilight, Cyrus Alvand's 2004 comedy Corrupted Hands, and Mehdi Fakhim-Zadeh's 2003 romantic ...

  • News

    Gone with the Woman to open Nordic Film Days

    2007-10-29T21:47:00Z

    Norwegian Oscar entry Gone with the Woman (Tatt av kvinnen) will open the competition tomorrow (Oct 31) at the Nordic Film Days.The event in Lubeck, Northern Germany is the largest showcase of Nordic cinema outside Scandinavia.Gone with the Woman director Petter Næss' and lead actors, Trond Fausa Aurvag and Marian ...

  • News

    Favelle launches Sydney-based sales agency

    2007-10-29T22:34:00Z

    Former Arclight Films executive Michael Favelle has been quietly establishing his own sales agency, Odin's Eye Entertainment (OEE), based at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. Favelle said his intention is to handle six to eight projects per year with a focus on independent, genre-driven features in the $1m to $15m ...

  • News

    Crows: Episode 0 flies to top of Japanese box office

    2007-10-29T22:41:00Z

    Takashi Miike's Crows: Episode 0 grabbed the top spot at the weekend box office in Japan, knocking Fuji TV's Hero down to second place after seven weeks in the number one position. Produced by Fuji rival TBS and released on October 27, Crows grossed $3.49m (Y400m) in its first two ...

  • News

    Lionsgate cranks up the action with Lakeshore double

    2007-10-29T23:57:00Z

    Lionsgate has acquired North American rights from Lakeshore Entertainment to the upcoming action thrillers Game, starring Gerard Butler, and Crank 2: High Voltage with Jason Statham (pictured) reprising his original role in the $25m sequel.Lakeshore holds international rights to both titles and is anticipating strong buyer interest at this week's ...

  • News

    Lumina to sell Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee

    2007-10-30T00:20:00Z

    Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore and Winona Ryder will star in Rebecca Miller's adaptation of her own novel The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee.Elevation Filmworks and Plan B Entertainment are producing the comedy-drama, which London-based Lumina will introduce to international buyers at AFM this week. CAA represents North American rights.Filming ...