Small MPU – Page 4208

  • News

    Terzian takes over as French Academy president

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    Producer Alain Terzian has been appointed president of France's Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema - the local equivalent of AMPAS.Terzian, also president of the Union of Film Producers, replaces the late Daniel Toscan du Plantier as head of the Academy.His producing credits include films by Pierre Granier-Deferre, Andre ...

  • News

    Smile takes The Return for Scandinavia

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    Copenhagen based Smile Entertainment has acquired the Scandinavian rights to Andrei Zvyagintsev's multiple-award winning debut feature, The Return.The film, which began its successful festival run in Venice by securing the Golden Lion, will screen at both Sweden's biggest festival in Gothenburg as well as at the Norwegian Tromsoe International Film ...

  • News

    Canary Islands offers tax incentives to lure media outfits

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    Beginning this month, Spain's Canary Islands will offer fiscal incentives for international media companies which set up headquarters or subsidiaries on the islands.Companies which register within the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) will benefit from significant tax reductions, such as a 5% VAT versus 16% in the rest of Spain, ...

  • News

    Uncertainty prolonged over Venice directorship

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    It may be the start of 2004 but in aserious case of deja vu, a question mark is still hanging in the air over whowill direct the next Venice Film Festival in seven months' time.Yesterday (Jan 7), in what can only beinterpreted as a half-hearted compromise, the Venice Biennale's outgoing ...

  • News

    IFP/New York to administer, expand Radziwill documentary fund

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    For the first time in its25-year history, IFP/New York will begin funding documentaries through theAnthony Radziwill Documentary Fund.Beginning in June 2004, thefund will award six-to-10 development grants of $10,000 on an annual basis,splitting the allocation between two cycles in June and January.The new structure could wellserve as a timely leg-up ...

  • News

    US Women In Film launch completion fund

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    The US Women InFilm Foundation has launched a completion fund for documentary, dramatic,educational, animated and experimental works by film and video makers.The organisationis offering unrestricted grants of up to $5,000 for qualifying projects as wellas in-kind awards in the form of on-line editing, sound editing and otherpost-production services in select ...

  • News

    Boll fund raises $47m towards two films of video games

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    German producer-director UweBoll said his 2003 investment fund Boll KG4 raised $47m (Euros38m) last yeartowards financing a two-film deal centering on video game adaptations.Majesco's BloodRayne and Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege were both acquired last year and were previouslylisted as Boll fund acquisitions for production, however other projects arealso being ...

  • News

    In America gets 2004 Stanley Kramer Award from PGA

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    In America producers Jim Sheridan and Arthur Lappin willreceive the 2004 Stanley Kramer Award at the 15th Producers Guild Of America(PGA) Awards on Jan 17 in Los Angeles.The PGA established theaward in 2002 to honour any film, television programme, studio, network,producer, executive or other individual or entity whose achievement highlightsprovocative ...

  • News

    American Splendor voted best picture by LA critics

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor has been voted best picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), with Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation named as the runner up.Peter Jackson was voted best director for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the ...

  • Reviews

    The First Letter (Abjad)

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    Dir. Abolfazl Jalili. Iran-France-Italy, 2003. 110mins.Far too long, excessively self-indulgent and often repetitive, this autobiographical reconstruction of director Jalili's own adolescence in pre-revolutionary Iran should be a surefire hit on the festival circuit and in specialised arthouses, for its blunt, in-your-face indictment of Islamic fundamentalism, which ruled over his young ...

  • News

    Six US exhibitors team up in internet ticketing co

    2000-03-10T11:32:00Z

    A start-up North Amercian internet ticketing company founded by six major exhibitors was unveiled at ShoWest yesterday. With an initial investment of $30m, the landmark venture is expected to be the leading internet portal for remote ticketing as well as providing comprehensive movie information, reviews and trailers.The alliance between Loews ...

  • News

    Depp set for Libertine UK shoot

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    The Johnny Depp starring The Libertine is to start shooting in the UK in late February.Co-starring John Malkovich and Samantha Morton, The Libertine is the real life story of the Earl of Rochester, the notoriously debauched 17th century poet who died at 33 a physical wreck.The $16m project was unveiled ...

  • Reviews

    The Corporation

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    Dirs: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott. Canada. 2003. 145mins.This compelling, hugely ambitious documentary will be required viewing for every left-of-centre intellectual and a bore for the other 95% of the movie-going world. Although its marketing attempts to draw parallels with such populist fare as Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine, this film ...

  • News

    French film production hits record high in 2003

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    Film production hit a record high in France in 2003, up by more than 5% compared to 2002.According to end of year figures confirmed by the National Cinema Centre (CNC) a record 212 features were given the green light with 183 of those majority French productions.The numbers surpass 2001's record ...

  • News

    Spanish exhibitor strikes Imax deal to convert screens

    2004-01-08T00:00:00Z

    Spanish exhibitor Yelmo Cineplex is set to become the first commercial exhibitor in Spain to operate IMAX theatres out of its multiplexes, thanks to a new deal signed with the IMAX Corporation.The first two of three 35mm multiplex auditoriums to be retrofitted into IMAX theatres will be installed in 2004. ...

  • News

    South Korean blockbuster smashes local records

    2004-01-09T04:00:00Z

    South Korean blockbuster Silmido has set a new box-office record by passing four million admissions only 15 days after its December 24 release.The speed past that mark beats by a day the performance of The Return Of The King - which itself has passed five million admissions - and significantly ...

  • News

    Last Samurai looks to cut international swathe

    2004-01-09T04:00:00Z

    Buoyed by a superb $60m-plus ongoing run in Japan, Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) will have high hopes when it unleashes The Last Samurai in a raft of major markets this upcoming weekend.Japan is an idiosyncratic market and a strong performance there does not necessarily guarantee impressive results elsewhere. However ...

  • News

    Inheritance leads Danish Oscar nominations

    2004-01-09T04:00:00Z

    Last year's most popular film with Danish audiences and most critics - Per Fly's drama The Inheritance -has bagged nine nominations for the Danish Film Academy's ROBERT awards, which will be handed out in Copenhagen on Feb 1.They include best film, best director, best script and best actor as well ...

  • News

    Besson's Paris studio complex gets greenlight

    2004-01-09T04:00:00Z

    Luc Besson's proposed "cinema city" was given its first public green light today by the deputy mayor of Parisian suburb St Denis.The long-gestating project has been rumoured for some time - although Besson has rarely addressed the subject. However, deputy mayor Patrick Braouezec announced the launch of the project on ...

  • News

    Daybreak leads Sweden's Guldbagge race

    2004-01-09T04:00:00Z

    Daybreak (Om Jag Vänder Mig Om) by Björn Runge scooped eight Guldbagge nominations, Sweden's equivalent of the Oscars, yesterdayThe drama was nominated for: best film, best director, best actor (Jacob Eklund) and best actress (Ann Petren). Daybreak also got received two supporting actress nominations, as well as for supporting actor ...