Small MPU – Page 646
-
News
Italian cinema admissions crash
Cinemaattendances plummeted in Italy by 18.05% in the first half of 2005 with a17.84% slump in box office, according to figures released by monitoring body,Cinetel. A grim-lookinggroup of Italian operators met in the centre of Rome to reflect on the firsthalf of the business year and promote their films for ...
-
News
Korea braced for Puchon punch up
South Korea's festival sceneis set to witness a major confrontation in mid-July, when the 9th PuchonInternational Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) faces off against a smaller rivalevent staged by PiFan's former organisers.On Tuesday the so-calledReal Fantastic Film Festival, to take place in Seoul over the same period asPiFan (July 14-23), unveiled ...
-
News
Overseas satellite operations still on HBO horizon
The decision to close HBO Films London should be taken as a signof greater global ambition rather than retrenchment, claims HBO president ofinternational distribution, Charles Schreger.And that may include creating satellite branches of the business acrossthe world in the future.Schreger says HBO is serious about growing both the domestic and ...
-
News
Toronto festival unveils Cannes, Berlinale bounty
Films from the Dardennes brothers, Lars von Trier, MichaelHaneke, Alexander Sokurov and Hou Hsiao Hsien were among sixteen North Americanpremieres unveiled today by the Toronto International Film Festival, as thecontinent's leading festival launched the first salvo in its annual PRoffensive. In all, twenty titles were announced, one week before theopening ...
-
News
Puttnam chairs BFI development board
David Puttnam is to chair the development board of UK cultural body the British Film Institute (bfi), overseeing a newly-launched department with the brief of securing donors for the bfi Film Centre.The department is to find corporate, trust and individual donors for the centre, which is due to start construction ...
-
News
AMC and Loews Cineplex set to merge
US and international exhibitors AMC Entertainment and LoewsCineplex have agreed to merge, creating a cinema chain with 5,900 screens inthe US and 13 other territories, including the UK, France, Spain, Japan, SouthKorea and Mexico. The merged entity, to be known as AMC Entertainment, willown, manage or have an interest in ...
-
News
Warner Bros picks up Almodovar's Volver for Italy
Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) has acquired PedroAlmodovar's upcoming Volver fordistribution in Italy. The film stars Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenasand Chus Lampreave. Volver becomes thethird Almodovar project to which WBPI has acquired select distribution rights.The company previously distributed the Spanish director's Hable conElla (Talk to Her) and La ...
-
Reviews
Factotum
Dir: Bent Hamer.Nor-US-Ger. 2005. 93mins.Following the modest butreal arthouse success of Kitchen Stories (which premiered, in 2003, inDirector's Fortnight at Cannes), Norwegian auteur Bent Hamer is back with Factotum,a small but droll and, in its own way, quietly powerful film based on a novelby America's poete maudit, Charles Bukowski.To this ...
-
Reviews
La Petite Jerusalem
Dir/scr: Karin Albou. Fr.2005. 96mins.Karin Albou's LaPetite Jerusalem purports to deal with the femininity of its two youngParisian sister protagonists, Laura (Valette) and Mathilde (Zylberstein), eachattempting to make peace between her respective beliefs and desires.But in truth this debutfeature amounts to little more than another impossible romance where true loveis ...
-
Reviews
Orlando Vargas
Dir/scr:Juan Pittaluga. Uru-Fr. 2005. 80mins.JuanPittaluga was associate producer and sound man on Jonathan Nossiter's fortunatewine documentary Mondovino, and Nossiter has returned the favour byassociate producing the Uruguayan director's first feature, Orlando Vargas.But although it is has moments of visual poetry and a certain atmosphericforce, this wilfully obscure film, which screened ...
-
News
Garner to star in Japanese drama remake
Jennifer Garner has committed tostar in a remake of the 2004 Japanese hit drama Be With You, with WarnerBros agreeing to distribute, according to Kei Haruna, one of the film'sproducers. He says Garner attended aprivate screening of a subtitled print in Los Angeles in January. Moved by the film's story ...
-
News
Tan heads first Singapore-Japan co-production
Singapore writer/director Royston Tan's script 0430 has been chosen byJapanese broadcaster NHK as one of the four projects for its 6th AsianFilm Festival, making it the first Singapore-Japan co-production.NHK executive producer Makoto Ueda who is inSingapore for the filming of 0430says, 'I have been hoping to co-produce a film with ...
-
News
Wenders and Kiarostami to be honoured at Locarno
Inan 'exceptional step' this year the Locarno Film Festival (August3-13) has decided to award two Leopards of Honour to filmmakers Wim Wenders andAbbas Kiarostami. Theyare hailed as 'illustrious representatives of diverse but nonethelesscomplementary ways of making films, both ambassadors of their cultures indifferent contexts around the globe.'WhileWenders - who ...
-
News
Wenders and Kiarostami to be honoured at Locarno
Inan "exceptional step" this year the Locarno Film Festival (August3-13) has decided to award two Leopards of Honour to filmmakers Wim Wenders andAbbas Kiarostami.Theyare hailed as "illustrious representatives of diverse but nonethelesscomplementary ways of making films, both ambassadors of their cultures indifferent contexts around the globe."WhileWenders - who will turn ...
-
News
New venture aims to break US digital cinema deadlock
Yet another new business venture has been formed with the promise of breaking the digital cinema fundingdeadlock in the US.Access Integrated Technologies and projection equipment supplier ChristieDigital Systems have created a subsidiary offering to help pay for installationcosts of 2K resolution projectors in exchange for long-term support and equipment ...
-
News
Chen Kaige plots Killing with Graham
Chen Kaige, the legendary "Fifth Generation" Chinese film-maker, will finally make his English-language film debut directing US starlet Heather Graham in a London-set erotic thriller called Killing Me Softly. The movie is being produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman's Montecito Film Co.Kirk D'Amico's Myriad Pictures is representing international rights ...
-
News
Recall signs sountrack deal with EuropaCorp
RecallMusic For Films is to handle soundtracks for films produced by Luc Besson andPierre-Ange Le Pogam's French mini-major EuropaCorp.Thecompany is a joint-venture between composer Eric Serra and France'sRecall music label. It will have an international licence to distribute musicfrom films produced by EuropaCorp. Thedeal kicks off with the release ...
-
News
Curzon offers school for shorts
London's Curzon Soho cinema is hosting a four-day short filmfestival, starting on July 6.The Short Film Summer School (SFSS) will screen some of thebest work from new and established directors.The Screen International-supported event also includes workshops,advice sessions and a chance to pitch ideas with the UK Film Council. One of ...
-
Reviews
The Magician
Dir/scr: Scott Ryan. Aust.2005. 88minsThis year's Sydney Film Festival was noticeably shorton new Australian movies. The UK feature My Summer Of Love played theopening night, usually reserved for a local premiere, and three Aussiemicro-budget independents seemed tucked away at the smallest festival venue.Surprisingly, The Magician, a gangster mockumentary chilling andhilarious ...
-
Reviews
The Magician
Dir/scr: Scott Ryan. Aust.2005. 88minsThis year's Sydney Film Festival was noticeably shorton new Australian movies. The UK feature My Summer Of Love played theopening night, usually reserved for a local premiere, and three Aussiemicro-budget independents seemed tucked away at the smallest festival venue.Surprisingly, The Magician, a gangster mockumentary chilling andhilarious ...