Small MPU – Page 86
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News
Iranian cinema: Staying power
Iran's film industry is unusual internationally and unique in the Middle East. Production levels - 80 features plus 36 feature documentaries and children's films in 2006 - are the highest in the region. Around 60% of films are released theatrically, and homegrown product makes up 94% of local box office. ...
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Features
Iran - Growth market
Cease Fire, a Mr & Mrs Smith-style domestic drama by Tahmineh Milani, became the highest-grossing Iranian film of all time last year, taking around $2m at the local box office.The 2006 top 10 included a mix of melodramas, war films and romantic comedies, including Hassan Fathi's My Big Fat Greek ...
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Features
Iran - International development
Iranian auteurs have been collaborating with French producers since the 1990s: Abbas Kiarostami with CiBy 2000 on 1994's Through The Olive Trees, for example, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf with MK2 on Gabbeh in 1996.Amir Esfandiari, head of international affairs for Farabi, notes that there has been a rise in co-productions over ...
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Features
Iran - Fajr film festival at 25
Iran supports a plethora of film festivals, culminating in the Fajr International Film Festival, which is now in its 25th year and described by Farabi managing director Alireza Rezadad as "the most important cultural event in Iran". Local audiences pack screenings of international and local films included in a range ...
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Features
Iran - Need to know - Names in the frame
Business playersAmir Esfandiari, market directorEsfandiari began his government career as head of Farabi's co-production department and by the mid-1990s was head of international affairs, setting up the Fajr International Film Festival market in 1997. The key government figure charged with taking Iranian cinema abroad.Contact: Farabi, fcf1@dpi.net.irMohammad Attebai, producer, distributorAttebai, who ...
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News
Asian locations: sets appeal
Asia has been attracting international productions for decades, but in recent years it has become a prime destination for footloose international producers in search of the cheapest and most exotic locations.In addition to low-cost labour, equipment and transport, the region offers stunning landscapes and architecture - but there are many ...
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News
Vivendi, Seagram file merger for EC approval
Vivendi, Canal Plus and Seagram have filed their planned merger for European Commission (EC) approval, an EC spokesperson confirmed today.The EC has until August 21 to clear the deal or launch an in-depth four-month investigation. The EC previously insisted that it has exclusive powers to review the merger, in response ...
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News
Asian locations: Thailand
The December 2004 tsunami may have swept away many shooting locations in Thailand, but the territory's film sector has made a swift recovery.In 2006, 23 international feature films were shot in Thailand, contributing a combined $25m (bht874m) to the Thai economy. This marks an increase of 40.5% from 2005, the ...
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Asian locations: Hong Kong
Despite being one of the world's most expensive cities, Hong Kong has attracted several international film-makers. With its VAT-free tax system, highly professional crews, world-class infrastructure and unique cityscape, the territory has bagged several large-scale shoots including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life, Rush Hour 2 and Spy ...
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Asian locations: China
China is not the easiest country to shoot in - the language barrier and script approval are just two obstacles that foreign producers face - but many filmmakers are finding the upside is worth it.A vast country with a wide range of studios and natural locations, China has proved its ...
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Features
Staying home
There has always been a realm of movies where there is a tacit understanding that its inhabitants will not cross borders. Last weekend, local productions topped box-office charts in Italy, South Korea, France, China, Thailand, Denmark and Poland. The likelihood of any of these crossing oceans and finding welcoming cineastes ...
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Features
Analysis: International box-office - Weekend January 19-21 - Crowds still flocking to Museum
Night At The Museum continues to dominate the international box office raking in $14.8m at the weekend across 4,391 screens, bringing its total to $173.8m. The family film could not be uprooted from the top spot despite a 26% decline after opening in an additional six territories. Sony's The Pursuit ...
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Features
Market focus - Numbers back up 007's story
China this week becomes the last major territory to screen Casino Royale, closing a run that has already left all 007 predecessors in its wake. What has been forgotten in a record-breaking run is the inauspicious initial response to the plans for the 21st Bond film.Few were predicting a major ...
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Features
Selling Spanish main attraction
The 2.2% year-on-year drop in Spanish box office for 2006 has split opinion about cinema's health. Admissions were down to 124 million, from 126 million, while ticket sales rose slightly to $839m (EUR648m) thanks to higher prices.According to Nielsen EDI, which compiled the figures, it was a reasonably strong year. ...
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News
Screen Index down 17% this week but Italy is booming
Collective global box-office takings of nine major territories fell 17% this week compared to the same week last year, largely due to drops in North America, France and South Korea, according to the Screen International Screen Index. This week, North America saw a 19.3% dip in its top 30 films ...
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News
Swiss launch fund to boost film exports
Switzerland's Federal Office of Culture (BAK) has launched a $200,000 (Swiss Francs 250,000) fund to boost the distribution of Swiss films abroad. Speaking at the Solothurn Film Days at the weekend, BAK director Jean-Frederic Jauslin and his film division chief Nicolas Bideau announced that foreign distributors of Swiss films would ...
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Reviews
Four Sheets To The Wind
Dir/scr: Sterlin Harjo. US. 2007. 85mins.In Sterlin Harjo's debut feature, Four Sheets To The Wind, detailing the emotional and interior journey of a young, somewhat confused Native coming to terms with the death of his father, the young film-maker has carved out a limited though intoxicating piece of American regional ...
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News
DV8 plans multi-platform release for cell-phone feature
Jeremy Nathan and Joel Phiri's Johannesburg-based DV8 is planning a global, Bubble-style, multi-platform release for its new feature, SMS Sugar Man. 'We are busy putting in place all the distribution pipelines,' Nathan said of the plans to make Sugar Man available worldwide simultaneously on internet, mobile phones and DVD. 'We've ...
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Reviews
Epic Movie
Dir: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer. US. 2007. 86mins. A painful regurgitation of memorable moments from recent Hollywood blockbusters, the spoof film Epic Movie is almost entirely devoid of laughs. No matter your opinion of hits such as Pirates Of The Caribbean or The Chronicles Of Narnia, most will agree that ...
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Reviews
Blood And Chocolate
Dir: Katja Von Garnier. UK-Ger-Rom-US. 2007. 98mins. Blood And Chocolate is a werewolf love story with no bite and not much romance. Based on the popular American teen novel by British-born author Annette Curtis Klause, the Lakeshore Entertainment production may find an initial audience in the younger female demographic that ...