All Africa articles – Page 88

  • News

    Russia's Very Best Film dominates international chart

    2008-01-30T14:31:00Z

    Russian comedy The Very Best Film (Samiy Luchshiy Film) claimed the international crown this weekend with a mammoth $17.8m opening weekend in two territories, accounting for 9% of the international top 40 revenue. For the full international chart, compiled by Len Klady, go to Global Box Office.The parody, distributed through ...

  • News

    Swedish box office flat but local films increase market share

    2008-01-30T12:00:00Z

    Swedish cinema attendance fell by 1% to 15.2 million admissions in 2007, although local productions managed to increase market share. Local films pulled in 3.2 million spectators last year, for a market share of 21.1%, compared to admissions of 2.9 million for a 18.8% market share in 2006. However, the ...

  • News

    Very Best Film scores very best opening in Russia

    2008-01-29T18:22:00Z

    Russian comedy The Very Best Film (Samiy Luchshiy Film) smashed box office records in its home territory with a whopping $16.5m opening weekend - the biggest ever opening for a film in the country. The film, distributed through Caroprokat, played across 702 screens in Russia for a massive $23,482 screen ...

  • News

    Cristi Puiu's suburban series leads buzz at 25th Rotterdam CineMart

    2008-01-29T17:07:00Z

    With just two days left to go at Rotterdam's CineMart, a number of key projects are emerging as hot titles in the co-production market. They include Cristi Puiu's Aurora & Home Sweet Home, his new in a series of suburban stories; Koen Mortier's 22nd Of May about a dull man ...

  • News

    Berlin-based M-Appeal launches with Rotterdam trio

    2008-01-29T16:22:00Z

    A new Berlin-based sales company M-Appeal launched this week with a slate comprising threefilms in the Rotterdam line-up and another five titles to be presented at the forthcoming European Film Market (EFM). The company has been established by Maren Kroymann, formerly head of acquisitions at the German sales agent mdc ...

  • Reviews

    Rail Road Crossing (Pas a nivell)

    2008-01-29T15:37:00Z

    Dir: Pere Vilà. Spain. 2007. 103 mins.For many viewers, Catalan drama Rail Road Crossing will seem like the watching-paint-dry film par excellence. At first sight, Pere Vilà's debut feature exemplifies the three-act structure of art cinema: nothing happens, nothing happens and still nothing happens. But for viewers prepared to go ...

  • News

    Berlinale unveils sevenothermembers of competition jury

    2008-01-29T13:57:00Z

    The Berlinale has unveiled the seven members of the International Jury who will join jury president Costa-Gavras in deliberating on the prizes for this year's competition. They are: Susanne Bier, director/screenwriter (Denmark)Sandrine Bonnaire, actress/director (France)Uli Hanisch, production designer (Germany)Diane Kruger, actress (Germany)Walter Murch, editor (US)Shu Qi, actress (Taiwan)Alexander Rodniansky, producer ...

  • Reviews

    57000 km Between Us (57000 KM entre nous)

    2008-01-29T12:55:00Z

    Dir: Delphine Kreuter. France. 2007. 82 mins.Hell is other people - especially family, and especially when they have a camcorder in hand. That's the message of Delphine Kreuter's debut 57 000 KM Between Us, a caustic exercise that uses its rough-edged DV medium to revealing effect, re-tuning French bourgeois comedy ...

  • News

    Sony Pictures Television extends deal with ProSieben

    2008-01-29T11:12:00Z

    Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has extended its relationship with Germany's ProSiebenSat 1 Group through a multi-year volume deal. The deal includes current and library feature films and TV programmes for the ProSieben's free-to-air channels.The line-up of feature films includes such blockbusters as Spider-Man 3, The Pursuit Of Happyness and ...

  • News

    Rotterdam short Tigers go to Rivers, Ho, Liotta

    2008-01-29T10:24:00Z

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has handed out the awards in its short film programme.The three Tiger Awards for Short Film went to Ah, Liberty! by Ben Rivers (UK), As I Lay Dying by Ho Yuhang (Malaysia) and Observando el cielo by Jeanne Liotta (US). Each comes with a ...

  • News

    Bavaria Film to unveil four market premieres at EFM

    2008-01-28T18:08:00Z

    Bavaria Film International (BFI) will have four market premieres at the forthcoming European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin next week. These titles are in addition to the three films that the company has in Official Competition - Cherry Blossoms - Hanami, Restless and Black Ice.The four new titles showing at ...

  • News

    Hauer joins van Houten in cast of Smoke And Ochre

    2008-01-28T18:01:00Z

    Rutger Hauer and German actor Sebastian Koch have joined the cast of biopic Smoke And Ochre, to be directed by Dutch filmmaker Paula van der Oest. Dutch actress Carice van Houten plays the lead role of revolutionary South African writer Ingrid Jonker. Hauer will play her father while Koch will ...

  • News

    Invicta Entertainment sets up shop Berlin

    2008-01-28T17:49:00Z

    Production and financing outfit Invicta Entertainment has set up its headquarters in Berlin to produce films in the $1m-$10m range for the international market. With an in-house development team and access to private equity for development and production, Invicta will have the ability to acquire, develop and produce projects at ...

  • News

    EastWest takes on sales for Rotterdam title Worldrevolution

    2008-01-28T17:18:00Z

    Sales company EastWest Filmdistribution has acquired worldwide rights to Worldrevolution According To Drahdiwaberl.Klaus Hundsbichler's film looks at the life of Vienna-based punk musician Stefan Weber and his revolutionary band Drahdiwaberl, which has been together for almost 40 years.Hundsbichler worked on the film for more than eight years. 'My most important ...

  • Reviews

    Go with Peace, Jamil

    2008-01-28T17:14:00Z

    Dir: Omar Shargawi, Denmark 2008, 90 minutesHigh on testosterone and sweaty machismo, Omar Shargawi's debut feature is let down by a lack of subtlety and some shallow characterisation. This is a revenge thriller set in the immigrant Arab community in Copenhagen. Sunnis are pitted against Shias. Shargawi shows plenty of ...

  • News

    EU report says legal framework for VoD not solidly defined

    2008-01-28T15:37:00Z

    The new legal framework for video-on-demand (VoD) services in Europe created under the European Commission's Audio Visual Media Services Directive may not be as solidly defined as expected. That is the conclusion of a report published today by the European Audiovisual Observatory. If true, it could open up a legal ...

  • News

    Wild Bunch's EFM offerings include James Gray's Two Lovers

    2008-01-25T14:36:00Z

    Wild Bunch has addednew films from James Gray, Darren Aronofsky, Marco Tullio Giordana and Rintaro, among others, to its slate ahead of Berlin's European Film Market.Gray's Two Lovers reunites the director with Joaquin Phoenix and also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Vanessa Shaw and Isabella Rossellini. The romantic drama is produced by ...

  • News

    Jameson Dublin International Film Festival confirm In Bruges as opener

    2008-01-25T13:24:00Z

    The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival has announced that In Bruges the feature film debut from award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh will open the 2008 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on February 15.In Bruges is a blackly comic drama of Irish hit men (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) told to lie ...

  • News

    Grbavica director on Berlinale Best First Feature Jury

    2008-01-25T12:47:00Z

    Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic, whose feature debut Grbavica won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2006, is one of the three members of this year's international jury for the Best First Feature Award.The other two members are veteran US producer-distributor Ben Barenholtz and French director Dominique Cabrera whose A ...

  • News

    As Goteborg kicks off, 200 people expected at Nordic Film Market

    2008-01-25T10:48:00Z

    More than 200 international film professionals - producers, buyers, sellers and festival programmers - have registered for the Nordic Film Market, running between Jan 31-Feb 3 during Sweden's 31st Goteborg International Film Festival, which starts today.This year's programme includes 20 recent Nordic features and 12 works-in-progress, such as Danish director ...