Small MPU – Page 671
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
News
Toronto names documentary world premieres
The Toronto International Film Festival hasadded thirteen documentary world premieres to its line-up, including SydneyPollack's Sketches Of Frank Gehry.Alex Hinton's Pick Up The Mic, a lookat gay rappers, and Lian Lunson's profile of Canadian troubadour Leonard Cohen,Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man,featuring performances by Cohen, Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright and U2. ...
-
Reviews
The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes
Dirs: The Brothers Quay.UK-Ger-Fr. 2005. 99mins.A decade after theirdebut feature Institute Benjamenta (1994), Stephen and Timothy Quay havemade their second full-length film. As one might expect from film-makers widelyacknowledged as masters of stop-motion and miniaturisation, this is a richlydetailed affair. It is crammed full of literary, cinematic and fine artreferences. ...
-
News
BSkyB in talks to acquire UK cinemas
UK satellite giant BSkyB isreportedly in talks to buy six UGC multiplex theatres from US private equityfirm The Blackstone Group.Sky chief operating officerRichard Freudenstein is said to be spearheading the talks, with a bid rumouredto be around £30m, according to Broadcast magazine.Sky reportedly plans to usethe cinemas as part of ...
-
News
Nolan named as Screen South chief executive
Jo Nolan has been appointedchief executive of Screen South, the regional screen agency for the South ofEngland. She replaces from Gina Fegan.Nolan has been deputy chiefexecutive and head of regional development and production at Screen South sinceNovember 2004. Prior to this she was head of regional development and skillsfor the ...
-
News
Aurum plans thriller for English first
Spanish distributor-producer Aurum Producciones is developing its first English-language feature film, an untitled thriller from The Man With Rain In His Shoes director Maria Ripoll.According to Aurum head Francisco Ramos the company is close to securing US and European co-producers on the project. The script came from a "US studio," ...
-
News
Malkovich lines up Zemeckis project
JohnMalkovich has revealed details of several new projects he is slated to work onduring the next year. The actor producer-director discussed the projects whilegiving a masterclass at the Locarno film festival this week. Chiefamongst these was the revelation that he may be joining the cast of RobertZemeckis' highly anticipated project ...
-
News
Strings director wins backing for dark satire
Danish director Anders Ronnow-Klarlund has won backingfor his follow-up to festival title Strings,called John, Bodil, China and Melanie.The Danish Film Institute (DFI) has invested Euros500,000 in the project which will be produced by Zentropa Entertainment.Ronnow-Klarlund's fourth film is a satire set in a nottoo distant future. A quarter of the ...
-
News
Imax signs eighth US cinema deal of 2005
IMAX Corp. and SaltLake City-based LHM Group have signed an agreement to install one of itsgiant-screen cinema systems at the Jordan Commons Megaplex in the city.The 17-screen complexis the highest-grossing in Utah. The deal will see an existing 70mm auditoriumretrofitted as an IMAX facility; it should be operational by Autumn ...
-
News
NatGeo festival includes South African world premiere
The work of indigenous and under-representedminority-culture filmmakers will be celebrated at National Geographic's secondannual All Roads Film Festival commencing in Los Angeles next month.The four-day multimedia event includes the world premiere of EmmaKaye and Eric Oldrin's South African title Beyond Freedom, as well as the US premiere of the Maoridocumentary ...
-
News
Island floats to UK, Mexico in foreign rescue mission
Warner Bros Pictures International stable-mates The Island and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory will be the ones to beat this weekendwith a slew of major market debuts.Michael Bay's sci-fi action famously flopped when it launched inNorth America through DreamWorks, but its international prospects look adifferent story.Currently standing at more than ...
-
Reviews
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Dir: Mike Bigelow. US.2005. 83mins.The comic novelty ofshort, dark and not so handsome Rob Schneider playing a likeably inept'man-whore' helped turn 1999 gross-out comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolointo a surprise hit - but it's wearing pretty thin in this belated sequel.Schneider and co attempt to make up the difference by ...
-
News
San Sebastian adds 13 titles to competition line-up
The Donostia-San SebastianInternational Film Festival (Sept 15-24), now in its 53rd edition, has unveiled13 more predominantly European and Asian features selected to complete thisyear's official competition.Among the high-profiledirectors throwing in their hat are Terry Gilliam, with his Texas-set tale of ayoung girl's fantasy world in Tideland, and Michael Winterbottom's period ...