Small MPU – Page 3874
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News
Italian producers engage with market forces
Italy's production sector is facing one of its worst everproduction crises:State funding for local films has halted for over six monthsand the government is now threatening to cut over 20% out of its entertainmentfund, leaving the cinema industry with a paltry $19m per year.A number of local, auteur-driven productions which ...
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News
Everything Is Illuminated wraps in Prague
Principal photography haswrapped on Everything Is Illuminatedin Prague this week. Directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood, thefilm is produced by Warner Independent Pictures in association withproducer/financier Marc Turtletaub and producer Peter Saraf.Turtletaub told Screendaily.com the film was made for amodest $7m, although “it looks like a $40m movie” ...
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Locarno director responds to criticism
Locarno Film Festivalartistic director Irene Bignardi has declared herself "very happy" with herfourth event and has defended herself against criticism from former Locarnodirector Moritz de Hadeln."The final result of thisyear's programme saw us able to paint a picture consistent through all thesections showing that we had chosen the right moment ...
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Vietnam appreciates Long Legged Girls
Nhung Co Gai Chan Dai (Long Legged Girls), Vietnam's first privately funded feature filmsince the government ended its state monopoly on film making in 2002, hasbecome a huge local hit, earning an estimated$320,000 (VND5 bn) since its opening on June 17.The Vietnamese tale aboutfashion models was made by first-time director ...
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News
Greece faces up to Olympic competition
Greece's distribution sector has already decided on onewinner of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games - the event itself.Having witnessed a slump in cinema admissions due to theunexpected success of the national soccer team In the European Football Cup,distributors and exhibitors have collectively decided not to open any new filmsduring the ...
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News
Australian producers mull alternative distribution models
Amending traditional distribution deals so that producersget more control and a greater share of returns was the dominant theme at Australia's annual conference ofproducers. Splitting rights was proposed, for example, as was adoptingwebsite-based sales systems, forfeiting high sales prices in exchange for boxoffice bonuses and under-reporting sales figures to avoid ...
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News
CLT-Ufa reports turnaround in earnings
European broadcast giant CLT-Ufa reported an impressive turnaround in earnings for the 1999 financial year, delivering a euros415m profit compared with a loss of euros14m in 1998. Revenue for the period was up 5% to euros3.21bnCLT-Ufa attributed the improvement to increased profit from its traditional broadcast operations, which include Germany's ...
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INTERNATIONAL 12 August
The top eight positions may have remained unchanged fromlast week but there was still plenty going on in the international market. I, Robot cemented its lead with a hostof massive openings led by the UK, Germany and Russia that saw its weekendearnings nearly three times its nearest rival.South Korean horror ...
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News
Swedish cinema sale sees one exhibitor control 75% of the sector
Sweden's second biggest exhibitor, Sandrew Metronome, has sold its cinema chain to rival SF Bio. The deal means that SF Bio, owned by Swedish media major Bonnier Group, will control 75% of the Swedish exhibition sector.Sandrew Metronome currently manages 22 cinemas with 90 in 15 cities throughout Sweden. Last year, ...
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News
San Sebastian selects seven Films In Progress
The San Sebastian and Toulouse film festivals' joint fundinginitiative, Films in Progress, has announced the seven Latin American titlesinvited to participate in this year's sixth edition, including first-timeentries from Brazil and Uruguay.The projects seek assistance to complete post-production.Various privately sponsored awards provide additional incentive to chosenfilms. The screenings will take ...
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NORWAY 13 August
WillSmith easily snatched the Norwegian box-office crown from King Arthur this weekend as I,Robot raced into the top with a solid NOK 38,389 screen average on 63prints.New localrelease Clorox, Ammonia And Coffeefrom Mona J. Hoel (Cabin Fever) hadmixed reviews calling it both unusual and highly watch able, it was also ...
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Reviews
My Stepbrother Frankenstein
Dir. ValeryTodorovsky. Russia. 2004. 120mins.Mary Shelley'sgothic tale is back, this time comfortably adjusted to fit into modern life inMoscow. But no scientific mumbo-jumbo, expressionistic lighting nor extensivemake-up were needed to create this man-made monster; instead he comes not froma lab but from a dark past. If he has been created ...
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News
First Sweet HD film festival to open in Edinburgh
The UK Sweet HighDefinition Festival opens its first edition in Edinburgh on August 25. Thefestival, which will screen 23 films in competition, including shorts, featuresand documentaries, runs August 26-30 at two venues: the Radisson hotel and theRoyal Museums of Scotland.The event, founded topromote and demystify the new technology of high ...
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Australia has mixed feelings about digital cinema
Hoyts executive chair Paul Johnson believes all Australiancinemas will be delivering pictures digitally within five years but UIP'smanaging director in Australia, Mike Selwyn, will be surprised if more thanhalf have converted to digital within a decade."I can't help feeling this is a product seeking anapplication," said Selwyn, during a robust ...
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News
Kadokawa stages comeback with WWII epic
Disgraced Japanese mega-producer Haruki Kadokawa is makinghis come-back in typical splashy fashion, with the announcement of a major newproduction commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.Titled Otokotachi NoYamato (Yamato), the film will be based on a non-fiction book by Jun Henmiabout the sinking of the Yamato, ...
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News
Argentina gets its own Motion Picture Academy
More than 400 Argentine actors, actresses, directors,producers and technicians have joined to create an Academy of Motion PicturesArts and Sciences (Academia de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas - AACC).The AACC will decide which Argentine films will compete inother Academy awards, such as the Oscars and the Spanish Goyas. Until lastyear, Argentina's ...
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San Sebastian unveils New Directors competition line-up
A selection of eighteen films from seventeen differentcountries will compete for the New Directors award at next month's 52nd annualedition of Spain's San Sebastian International Film Festival (Sept 17-25).The selection furthers the geographic diversity of thefestival's official competition line-up, unveiled last week. The Altadis-NewDirectors prize comes with a purse of ...
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GERMANY: Financial Briefs
Constantin turnover up 23%Distributor Constantin Film achieved a 23% increase in turnover last year as 1999 revenues climbed from $50m (DM102m) to $61.7m (DM126m). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) - although negative at a loss of $4.6m (DM9.4m) - were $1.01m (DM2.2m) better than forecast at the time of ...
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News
Blackwell's Palm funds epic music documentary
Ondi Timoner (pictured), director of Sundance Jury GrandPrix documentary winner Dig!, is todirect a "History Of Jamaican Music" for Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures. Theepic documentary, which will encompass dub, ska and reggae, will be given atheatrical release.As the founder of Island Records, Jamaican-based Blackwellowns the rights to Bob Marley's music ...
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News
Bermuda Film Festival named as Oscar qualifier for shorts
The Bermuda InternationalFilm Festival (BIFF) has been selected as a qualifying festival for the ShortFilm Oscar category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The decision means thatshort films that win the Bermuda Shorts Award at BIFF 2005 and thereafter willautomatically qualify for Oscar consideration, provided they meet the ...