All Africa articles – Page 123

  • News

    Alexander McCall Smith adaptation marks Botswana first

    2007-07-02T21:44:00Z

    The Weinstein Company (TWC) and Mirage Productions will begin filming on July 9 in Botswana on The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency based on Alexander McCall Smith's bestseller. This marks the first time a major film will be shot entirely in Botswana. The project, which is being made for television ...

  • News

    Lemhagen's gay adoption story among Swedish-backed projects

    2007-07-02T17:00:00Z

    Swedish director Ella Lemhagen, who had her international break with the award-winning Tsatsiki, Mum and the Policeman (1999), is readying her new project, Patrik 1,5, with $1m (Euros 800,000) production support from the Swedish Film Institute.Scripted by Lemhagen from Swedish dramatist Michael Druker's play, Patrik 1,5 is the story of ...

  • News

    Arts Alliance signs content deal with HP's Video Merchant arm

    2007-07-02T12:24:00Z

    Arts Alliance Media (AAM) has signed a deal to become the international content provider for HP's new Video Merchant Services business. HP will now offer AAM's film content to distribution partners around the world, including North America. HP Video Merchant Services powers online video web stores and provides content fulfilment ...

  • News

    Bavaria Film International picks up The Anarchist's Wives

    2007-06-29T12:54:00Z

    Bavaria Film International has picked up international distribution rights to Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr's new feature The Anarchist's Wives which begins its German shoot at the MMC Studios in Cologne today (Friday). The German-Spanish-French co-production between Noelle and Sehr's P'Artisan Filmproduktion, ZIP Films (Barcelona), KV Entertainment/Ibarretxe & Co. (Bilbao), ...

  • News

    Screenwriting: odds even.

    2007-06-29T00:00:00Z

    Initiated at Sundance, screenwriters' group 1.3.9 hopes to work directly with actors and directors on film projects. So how will the arrangement work' John Hazelton reportsChristopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Erik Jendresen (TV series Band Of Brothers) hatched the idea for 1.3.9, their recently launched writers' co-operative, after stints ...

  • News

    European screenwriters' manifesto: world in motion

    2007-06-29T00:00:00Z

    Signatories from the US and Europe have backed a manifesto to give more rights to writers. John Hazelton reportsLaunched at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, the European Screenwriters' Manifesto had around 2,000 signatories as of late May.Most of them were writers, but the document has also been endorsed by ...

  • News

    Writers' co-op: singular vision

    2007-06-29T00:00:00Z

    John Wells' Writers' Co-Op draws together a stable of veteran writers to generate scripts and share in a project's upside. Unveiled three months ago, John Wells' Writers' Co-Op has been in the works for several years.For Wells (writer of ER and producer of movies including White Oleander and Doom) and ...

  • News

    Abu Dhabi to establish branch of New York Film Academy

    2007-06-28T17:57:00Z

    The Abu Dhabi government has signed a deal to establish a branch of the New York Film Academy (NYFA), the first film and acting school in the Gulf. Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, the director-general of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), Jerry Sherlock, Director, President and Founder ...

  • News

    International projects take the lead with new German fund

    2007-06-28T15:33:00Z

    International co-productions shooting in Germany have received more than half of the $28m (Euros 20.9m) allocated by the new German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) in its first six months of operation. Speaking at a review of the DFFF's first six months at this week's Munich Film Festival, project manager Christine ...

  • News

    Serbia to host first national film festival with two competitions

    2007-06-28T14:46:00Z

    Film Center Serbia and State of Exit, the company responsible for creating huge European music festival Exit, are organising the first Film Festival of Serbia, to be held July 3-8 in Novi Sad. The organisers wanted to promote national cinema. In former Yugoslavia, the national competition festival was Pula, which ...

  • News

    European Producers Club elects new board of directors

    2007-06-28T12:43:00Z

    The European Producers Club (EPC) has announced the election of a new board of directors. In their posts for the next two years are: Jean Cazes (Initial Productions, France), Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre (MACT, France), Patrick Quniet (Artemis Productions, Belgium), Antonio Saura (Zebra Producciones, Spain) and Ruth Waldburger (Vega Film, Switzerland). ...

  • News

    France's Fete du Cinema ticket sales hold steady at 2.8m

    2007-06-28T12:37:00Z

    The 23rd Fete du Cinema wrapped Tuesday night in France to tie last year's results with 2.8m tickets sold. The reduced-price ticket scheme, organized by the National Cinema Federation (FNCF), offers free entry to all films over three days after a one-time $2.70 (Euros 2) ticket purchase. Tuesday's figures jumped ...

  • News

    Lichtmeer moves into production with Angelopoulos project

    2007-06-28T12:33:00Z

    Munich-based distributor Lichtmeer Filmverleih has relaunched itself as the Cologne/Berlin production company Lichtmeer Film, which will have Theo Angelopoulos's next feature Dust Of Time as its first project. The co-production with Italy's Classic and Albachiara and the director's own company Angelopoulos Film, will star Harvey Keitel, Bruno Ganz, Willem Dafoe ...

  • News

    Thessaloniki competitors to include Jonas Cuaron's Year Of The Nail

    2007-06-28T11:54:00Z

    Thessaloniki Film Festival director Despina Mouzaki has announced the first films selected for the 14-film competition section of 46th edition of the event (Nov 16-25). The competition is reserved to first and second features and the films already earmarked have a strong Spanish-language flavour, coming from Mexico, Colombia and Spain. ...

  • News

    Local production: riding Romania's wave

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Following the Cannes triumph of Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, Romanian film-making is on a high. Theodore Schwinke reportsDespite the international festival success of such films as The Death Of Mr Lazarescu, 12:08 East Of Bucharest, California Dreamin' and 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, ...

  • News

    On location: Hero Wanted

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Small-town America has been recreated in detail on a Bulgarian backlot. Theodore Schwinke visits the set of Hero Wanted. The traffic lights are always green and the theatre posters promote only Nu Image pictures. Otherwise Nu Boyana's Ilientzi set, on the ourtskirts of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, is a convincing replica ...

  • News

    On location: Good

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Fluctuations in the exchange rate caused problems for a UK production looking for savings in Hungary. Louise Tutt reports. The $16m UK production of Good headed to Hungary in search of savings but almost lost out as a result of exchange rate fluctuations.Lured to Budapest by the 20% tax allowance ...

  • News

    Romania: youth and experience

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Romania's potential as a location gained momentum with the arrival of Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth last year, but can the territory keep pace with its neighbours' Theodore Schwinke reportsRomania is in a unique position in Eastern Europe in being better known for its homegrown cinema than as a ...

  • News

    The East European picture

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Eastern Europe is well-established as a cheaper alternative to shooting in the US or the UK. But how do international producers choose between the packages on offer' Theodore Schwinke reportsBudapest airport on a Friday night is like the canteen at Pinewood,' says Chris Symes, executive producer of Universal's Hellboy 2: ...

  • News

    Czech Republic: 'More expensive than Budapest'

    2007-06-27T00:00:00Z

    Can the Czech Republic retain its competitive edge when it comes to production' Theodore Schwinke reportsOn paper, the Czech Republic's production service sector is looking healthy. Andrew Adamson is shooting Walden Media's The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian at Barrandov's new 4,000 square metre stage, which also hosted Eli Roth's ...