Small MPU – Page 860
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News
NFB adds cash to Cannes short film Palme d'Or
The National Film Boardof Canada is pumping some prize money into the Cannes' Short Film Palmed'Or. The Canadian filmagency has created the Norman McLaren Prize, under the aegis of the Cannes FilmFestival, a Euros 3000 prize to be presented to director of the winning short. NFB chief JacquesBensimon and Cannes ...
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News
Studio Babelsberg shares start trading
Shares in Studio Babelsbergbegan trading on Frankfurt's 'Freiverkehr' exchange on Friday morningat Euros 1.65 after 10% of the company's 15m shares had been floated at anissue price of Euro 1 each. The free flotation of the1.5m shares was open to studio staff as well as friends and partners from thefilm ...
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News
UK industry spells out challenges at Film Council forum
Changes in tax financing andcashflowing pre-production topped the list of key issues facing the productionsector at support body the UK Film Council's first industry forum.Council chairman StewartTill, chief executive John Woodward and vice chair Andrew Eaton alsohighlighted deferred fees, producers' equity, or lack of it, and accessto capital as central ...
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News
Linklater to serve up Fast Food Nation for HanWay
It must be one of thehardest books to adapt into a feature film: a sprawling, non-fiction expose ofthe fast food industry, encompassing exploited immigrants, teenagers skippingschool to work in restaurants and the impact on agriculture and the global environment.But Eric Schlosser'sbestselling Fast Food Nation iscoming together as a Traffic-stylefilm to ...
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News
Scott's Gladiator slays US box office
The annual bloodbath known as the US summer box office has begun in earnest and already one film has emerged victorious: Ridley Scott's $103m Roman spectacle Gladiator which debuted with $32.7m and utterly slayed all its weekend competition.Starring Australian actor Russell Crowe as the hero who fights back in the ...
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News
Parasol Peccadillo moves into wider arthouse market
UK distributor ParasolPeccadillo has just picked up a string of new films scheduled for theatricalrelease within the next year. New releases scheduled for2005/2006 include Ismael Ferrouki's Le Grand Voyage, Swedish box office hit The Ketchup Effect, Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Cocklesand Muscles and MonAnge starring Vanessa Paradis and ...
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News
Black Sheep leaps into Icon's arms
NZ Film has pre-sold six territories including the UK to BlackSheep, a first film from New Zealand aboutkiller sheep, ensuring the film will go into production this year. Icon hasacquired UK, Australian and New Zealand rights to writer/director JonathanKing's debut comedy horror. Jiants has taken rights in Thailand,Singapore and Malaysia.The ...
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Reviews
Kingdom Of Heaven
Dir: Ridley Scott. US.2005. 143mins.After indulging in whatmust have almost seemed like guerilla film-making with 2003's character drama MatchstickMen, director Ridley Scott wades back into the epic breach with KingdomOf Heaven, a massive-scale historical drama sporting a reported $110mbudget. Though damaged irreparably by a sluggish first hour-plus, it remains alavish ...
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News
Quinta to release Chromophobia in France
Quinta Distribution will release Cannes closing film Chromophobia in France, Quinta president Tarak Ben Ammarconfirmed last week. The company also has world rights to the film directed byMartha Fiennes; Ammar is also producer on the film. The film stars Martha's brother Ralph Fiennes and his EnglishPatient co-star Kristin Scott-Thomas. Alsoon ...
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News
Fortissimo tunes into The Night Listener
FortissimoFilms is to handle worldwide sales outside of North America forTheNight Listener, the recently wrapped film adaptation of Armistead Maupin'sbestselling drama, directed by Patrick Stettner and starring Robin Williams andToni Collette.FortissimoFilm's co-chairmen, Michael J. Werner and Wouter Barendrecht who receiveco-producercredits,completed the deal with UTA, which represent theproducers Hart Sharp Entertainment, ...
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News
Pinewood, Ealing lead London Plus production drive
Pinewood Shepperton andEaling Studios head a group of UK studio facilities and post productioncompanies that have teamed to launch London Plus, a consortium that aims toboost production activity in London and south east England.The affiliated companies aim for producers to use London Plus asa single entry point for arranging to ...
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Reviews
xXx: State Of The Union
Dir: Lee Tamahori. US.2005. 99mins.Atrocious but notable in its own warped way, xXx: StateOf The Union (known as xXx: The Next Level internationally) says alot about what's wrong with some American studio film-making today, in that itsays absolutely nothing at all, doing so both loudly and with the phoney,purchased conviction ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...
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Reviews
Pale Eyes (Les Yeux Clairs)
Dir: Jerome Bonnell. Fr.2005. 87mins.At just under anhour-and-a-half, Pale Eyes is exactly the right length for its intimate,austere story. Though sometimes too deliberately paced, this modest filmimpresses as it tries to get inside the head of a lovely but anguished youngwoman, thereby arriving at a sort of minimalist grace. It ...
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Reviews
The Extra
Dir:Kevin Carlin. Aust. 2004. 90minsIrish stand-up comedian Jimeoin made waves in his adoptedAustralia during the 1990s, writing and starring in his own self-titledtelevision series. Sweet-natured, with a thick Irish accent and a nice line inbemused wonderment at modern life, his decade was crowned when his small-budgetdebut feature The Craic, though ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...
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News
D'Amico, Damon team up on birth of Israel saga
Beyond Friendship,which focuses on the Arab-Jewish conflict surrounding the birth of Israelimmediately after World War Two, is to be jointly handled for worldwide salesby Myriad Pictures' Kirk D'Amico and Foresight Unlimited's Mark Damon. Their respective Santa Monica and Los-Angeles-basedfinancing and production companies will bring the title to the Cannes marketand ...
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News
D'Amico, Damon team up on birth of Israel saga
Beyond Friendship,which focuses on the Arab-Jewish conflict surrounding the birth of Israelimmediately after World War Two, is to be jointly handled for worldwide salesby Myriad Pictures' Kirk D'Amico and Foresight Unlimited's Mark Damon Their respective Santa Monica and Los-Angeles-basedfinancing and production companies will bring the title to the Cannes marketand ...
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News
Love rules at Italy's Donatellos
Second-time director PaoloSorrentino's mafia tale The Consequences of Love has won five David di Donatellos, Italy's Oscars,including best film, best director, best screenplay and best actor, beating outmulti-nominated contenders Sacred Heart and Manuale D'Amore.The Consequences of Love tells the story of a 50-year-old Italianbusiness man who lives on his own ...
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News
Malaga savours Spanish Tapas
Ensemble comedy-drama Tapas was the surprise winner of the best film, best actress and thepublic's prizes at the eighth annual Spanish Film Festival of Malaga(April 22-30), with other top awards split among higher-profile contenders 20Centimeters, Heroine and Ants InThe Mouth.Tapas was also the biggest hit at Malaga's three-dayMarket Screenings, attended ...