Small MPU – Page 649
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News
Sydney festival poised for major overhaul
The SydneyFilm Festival (SFF) is to hold a major review of its activities, including areassessment of it dates and venues.The movefollows news that both president Cathy Robinson and general manager JenniferNaughton have stepped down. "The festival has to finditself a position of prominence in the hectic international film festivalcalendar, and ...
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News
here! plots multi-platform release for Assassin
Thesimultaneous multi-platform releasing bug is catching on with news that gay andlesbian premium television network here! will launch Margaret Cho's liveconcert film Assassinday-and-date in US theatres, on satellite television and video-on-demand.The pattern echoes that announced back in April by 2929 Entertainmentprincipals Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, who plan successive launches ...
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News
InterCom in $25m boost
Andy Vajna's distribution and exhibition concern InterCom has received a $25m cash injection that will help finance expansion beyond its roots in Hungary and Romania.The equity expansion sees the arrival of GE Capital, Raiffeisen Private Equity and ABN Amro as shareholders. Vajna will remain the majority shareholder. The cash will ...
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News
Picturehouse unveils senior marketing team
Bob Berney's fledgling NewYork-based distribution company Picturehouse has consolidated its marketingteam by fusing former staff members from both Newmarket Films and Fine Line Features.As previously announced, Marian Koltai-Levine and Dennis O'Connor will head upthe department as executive vice presidents of marketing, while Nina Baron joins as seniorvice president of national ...
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News
TLA acquires Beverly Kills for North America, UK
TLAReleasing has acquired theatrical, home entertainment and broadcast rights inNorth America and the UK to Damion Dietz' comedy Beverly Kills.Alimited theatrical run is planned for mid-2006 on the project, in which anembittered and ageing drag queen swears vengeance on the entire city of LosAngeles after he is rejected for a ...
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News
Laemmle/Zeller bulks up with Down To The Bone, Cautiva
GregLaemmle and Steven Zeller's "virtual" distributor Laemmle/ZellerFilms has picked up Debra Granik's Down To The Bone and Gaston Biraben's Argentinean thriller Cautiva.The company, which launched earlier this year with the aim ofchampioning titles that might typically fall through the distribution net, willopen Down To The Bonein early October and Cautiva ...
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News
IndieWIRE, Emerging Pictures team up on Undiscovered Gems
New York-based indieWIRE and distributorEmerging Pictures have partnered up to take undistributed filmsto cities across the United States.The Undiscovered Gems venture will bring six to 10 titles from indieWIRE'sannual list of the best undistributed films to at least 12 cities nationwide.The official selection of films chosen for syndication will be ...
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News
Montreal unveils full competition line-up
Iranian filmmaker MohsenMakhmalbaf's Sex And Philosophy andveteran Canadian director Claude Gagnon's Kamatakiare among 22 titles selected for the 29th Montreal World Film Festival's Competition. Other world premieres includeSwiss filmmaker Simon Aeby's six-territory coproductionThe Headsman;Bosnia-Herzegovina-Croatia title Go Westfrom Ahmed Imamovic; Jocelyne Saab's Duniaand UK hostage drama Red Mercury,directed by Roy Battersby, ...
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Reviews
Stoned
Dir: Stephen Woolley. UK.2005. 102mins.Veteran UK producerStephen Woolley makes an accomplished directorial debut with Stoned, anabsorbing portrait of Brian Jones, the founding member of The Rolling Stones,and the events surrounding his death on July 2, 1969. Rich in period atmosphereand music, the film possesses the same knowing style and historical ...
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News
Czech relief as Omen 666 books into Prague
20th Century Fox's The Omen 666 is set to shoot in Praguein the Czech Republic from late October.Prague-based productionoutfit Etic Films will work with Fox on the new instalment in the Omenfranchise, which is directed by John Moore, Etic's head of production VeronikaFinkova told ScreenDaily.com.The Omen 666 joins YoungHannibal: Behind ...
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News
Mimmo Rotella to head Venice's Orizzonti jury
Italian artist Mimmo Rotellawill head the jury of Venice's Orizzonti competition, the Biennale hasannounced.Milan-based Rotella, who isone of Italy's leading contemporary artists, will be joined on the jury bySpanish writer-director Isabel Coixet, whose latest film, The Secret Life OfWords, with Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley, opens Orizzonti out-of-competition. Italian actor ...
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News
Goal! 2 signs House Of Wax director
Jaume Collet Serra, the Spanish director of Warner Bros' HouseOf Wax, has signed to direct Goal! 2, the second film in MilkshakeFilms' football trilogy. Shooting starts in October in Spain and London. Thetrilogy follows a Mexican boy from Los Angeles to play football in the UK,before transferring to a Spanish ...
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News
Switzerland to rejoin Media Programme
Swiss filmmakers will be able to participate fully in the EuropeanUnion's MEDIA Programme from January 1, 2006 after being excluded for the lastthirteen years. Swiss media professionals had been barred from MEDIA after the Swisspopulation voted in December 1992 against membership of the European EconomicArea (EEA). Subsequently, in an effort ...
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News
Arsenal set to exit Kinowelt
Germany's Kinowelt is set to offload one element of its rapidly-expanding empire - specialist distributor Arsenal Filmverleih - which is expected to seek an independent existence. The company, which handles modern arthouse staples such as The War Zone, Flores Del Otro Mundo, La Balia and Ghengis Blues, became part of ...
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News
North African countries launch Maghreb promotional body
Filmmakers from Tunisia, Algeria and Moroccohave joined forces to launch Maghreb Cinemas, an international promotional bodyfor the three countries' film industries.The initiative was unveiled during this year's Open Doorsworkshop in Locarno where 25 filmmakers from the Maghreb region presented newfeature projects to potential production partners from Western Europe.Maghreb Cinemas will ...
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News
Flying Scotsman takes off in Glasgow
Shooting has begun onlocation in Glasgow on The Flying Scotsman, the feature debut of TVveteran Douglas Mackinnon.Thierry Wase-Bailey's newsales outfit Celsius has taken on international sales for the film, which starsJohnny Lee Miller (Melinda and Melinda), with Billy Boyd (The Lord ofthe Rings trilogy), Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) and ...
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News
UK training levy to become mandatory for producers
TheSkills Investment Fund (SIF), the UK film training levy, is to become amandatory payment for producers from next year. SIF is currentlyvoluntary and is collected by training body Skillset. It sees productions shooting in the UKcontribute 0.5% of their budgets up to a maximum of £39,500 into a fund tosupport ...
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News
Newsday's Seymour to chair NY Critics Circle
New York Newsday critic Gene Seymour will take over as chairman ofthe New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) this year as the group prepares tounveil its award winners on Dec 12.Over the years the group has demonstrated a hit-and-missrecord as an Oscar bellweather, and members' sensibilities are less commercialand more ...
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News
THINKFilm picks up Emmett Louis Till civil rights doc
THINKFilm has picked up North American rights to KeithBeauchamp's civil rights documentary The Untold Story Of Emmett Louis Till.The picture will launch on Aug 17 in New York at a private UNscreening and at Film Forum, followed by a nationwide rollout coinciding withthe 50th anniversary of Till's murder.Beauchamp's picture investigates ...
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News
Maire to replace Bignardi as Locarno artistic director
Frederic Maire is to succeed Irene Bignardi as artistic director for the Locarno FilmFestival from the 2006 edition.Originally, the festival hadintended to announce the successful candidate on August 14, a day after thisyear's event wraps. But an apparent leak has led to news of the appointmentbeing widely reported on Swiss ...