Small MPU – Page 614
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News
Senator shareholders agree restructuring plan
The restructuring plan for the insolvent SenatorEntertainment negotiated its first hurdle at an extraordinary AGM convened bythe court-appointed receiver Rolf Rattunde in Berlin on Thursday (June 17).At the meeting in Hotel Berlin, the shareholdersagreed to a capital reduction of 90% and a subsequent capital increase in orderto clear the way ...
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Tarantino arrives for opening of Moscow festival
Director QuentinTarantino has arrived in Moscow for the Russian premiere of his Kill BillVol 2, which opens the Moscow International Film Festival (June 18-27) today.His arrivalyesterday put an end to speculation on whether or not Tarantino would show up.He has been expected at the event several times in previous years, ...
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Fahrenheit gets NYC opening early on June 23
Fahrenheit9/11 will open in twoNew York City theatres on Jun 23, two days before Michael Moore's eagerlyanticipated Palme D'Or winner opens nationwide.Lincoln PlazaCinemas in the Upper West Side and Loews Cineplex Village in the East Villagewill screen the picture, which is being released in the US by Lions Gate, IFCFilms ...
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Damon talks of Monster selling points at AFMA production conference
The familiar themes ofchampioning passion projects and sourcing the varied international financingoptions available to independent film-makers dominated AFMA's sixth annualproduction conference in Los Angeles yesterday (17).Speaking on a panel entitledGetting It Done: Producing Against All The Odds, Media 8 Entertainment chairmanand chief executive officer Mark Damon stressed the importance of ...
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News
Warner signs massive free-TV deal with DMI in Middle East
Warner BrosInternational Television Distribution (WBITD) has signed a multi-year,exclusive deal with Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), marking the biggestdistribution deal the company has ever signed with a free-to-air MiddleEast-based broadcaster.The deal willbring Middle Eastern audiences of the newly launched Dubai TV around 90 ofWarner Bros' latest pictures, including the Matrix, Harry ...
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Sundance prize-winner Brother goes to Wolfe
Gay and lesbian USdistributor Wolfe has picked up North American theatrical and home video rightsto Rodney Evans' Sundance special jury prizewinner Brother To Brother.The story concerns a conflicted young black gay writer whoencounters a surviving poet from the Harlem Renaissance, and stars AnthonyMackie, Roger Robinson, Duane Boute, Larry Gilliard and ...
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Skoll launches Participant for socially relevant pictures
Philanthropistand former eBay president Jeff Skoll has launched Participant Productions, aLos Angeles-based company to focus on socially relevant features highlightingsocial injustice and related themes.Financing is inplace for the company to produce four to six pictures a year ranging from lessthan $5m to up to $40m. It marks SkollC;s second foray ...
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Tartan stirs up revolution over Nine Songs
British distributor TartanFilms announced yesterday that it intends to sue UK producer Revolution Films over Nine Songs, the sexually explicit relationship movie directed byMichael Winterbottom.Tartan said that it will suefor breach of contract and loss of profits amounting to some $3.6m (£2m) in theUK. Tartan said that it will also ...
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News
Sorkin to script real life Afghan tale for Playtone, Universal
The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is to adapt George Crile's real-lifeMujahideen tale Charlie Wilson's War for Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's Playtone and UniversalPictures.Charlie Wilson's War recounts the eponymous Texas Congressman's covert mission tofunnel arms to the Afghan rebels and help them fight the Soviet army in the1980s, a ...
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News
London Film Commission forced to downsize
The cash-strapped London Film Commission (LFC) is planning to slash back staffing levels from 14 to 4 members of staff in a bid to survive, a spokesperson confirmed this week.Unless a last-minute backer emerges, the LFC will continue as a dramatically scaled-down operation supported by £150,000 a year from the ...
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News
Toronto Film Studios wins giant new Toronto studio bid
After years of fits andstarts, Toronto is finally going to get the giant production facility itsindustry has been calling for. The Toronto Economic Development Corporation hassaid the Toronto Film Studios (TFS) is the winning applicant to develop andbuild the facility.The $118m (C$150m) projectcalls for a complex of up to 385,000 ...
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Reviews
Steamboy
Dir/scr: Katsuhiro Otomo.Jap. 2004. 126mins.In 1988, with his debut feature Akira,Katsuhiro Otomo introduced the world to the post-apocalyptic future,Japanese-style - and spurred a global boom for Japanese animation that has yetto subside. Sixteen years later, he is back with Steamboy, an animatedepic set in the London of 1866, when the ...
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Reviews
Around The World In 80 Days
Dir: Frank Coraci. US.2004. 119mins.Walden Media's costly self-financed family adventurefinally hits the screens with the Walt Disney Pictures stamp on it and provesworthy of the honour. Jules Verne purists and lovers of the three-hour 1956classic will do best to stay away, but family audiences will be guaranteed agood-natured summer entertainment ...
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News
Leigh named as Sarajevo jury president
UK director Mike Leigh is to serve as the president of theInternational Jury at this year's Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) (August 20-28).He will be joined in judging up to 10 films from eightcountries - ex-Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania and Bulgaria - in the RegionalProgramme by the Tribeca Film Festival's Peter Scarlet, ...
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Danish film-makers win multi-million backing
The Danish Film Institute has confirmed backing for sevennew Danish features, several of which are already in post-production.Among the films previously announced are Henrik Ruben Genzand Fine & Mellow's Chinaman, DagurKari and Nimbus Film's Grown Up People (Voksne Mennesker) and veteran Henning Carlsen's Fly BirdieFly (Springet), a co-production between Dagmar ...
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Reviews
Los Muertos
Dir/prod/scr/ed:Lisandro Alonso. Argentina. 2004. 78minsBewareof promising beginnings bearing false hopes. That would seem to be the lessonto be drawn from Los Muertos, the second feature from Argentiniandirector Lisandro Alonso. Alonso's debut feature was the memorably stultifying LaLibertad (2001), which lovingly covered the working life of a ruralwoodcutter. Los Muertos signals ...
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Roman Gutek awarded French cultural honour
Veteran Polish distributor Roman Gutek, creator and owner ofPolish arthouse distribution outfit Gutek Film, is to be awarded with France'sChevalier des Arts et Lettres, one of the country's highest cultural honoursfor promoting French culture in Poland.Gutek establishedthe Warsaw Film Festival in 1985 and directed it until 1992. He was alsoone ...
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Reviews
Ladies In Lavender
Dir/scr: Charles Dance.UK. 2004. 108minsCharles Dance's directorial debut is a stilted andold-fashioned romantic drama which would be heavy as suet were it not for thedeft and lively performances of its two Dames, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. Inrecreating 1930s Cornwall, Dance throws in all the elements associated withBritish heritage cinema ...
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More bad news for Samaha in Intertainment case
Today in the Santa Ana,Calfornia courtroom where Elie Samaha and his Franchise Pictures lost itsbattle with Intertainment AG earlier this week, the jury came back with thepunitive damages verdict, and it's more bad news for Samaha.The Jury awarded BarrieBaeres and Intertainment $29m in punitive damages in addition to the $77.1m ...
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Akin's Head-On dominates German Film Awards
Fatih Akin's Golden Bear-winning Head-On (Gegen DieWand) was the big victor at this year's German Film Awardsin Berlin on Friday evening (June 18).The film bagged five Golden Lolas in total - for bestfilm, best direction, best lead actress (Sibel Kekilli), best lead actor (BirolUenel) and best cinematography (Rainer Klausmann).Silver Lolas ...