All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 151

  • News

    Pathe seals deals on Frears' Cheri with Lumiere, Nordisk

    2009-02-06T08:10:00Z

    On the eve of EFM, Pathe International announced deals on two major territories for Stephen Frears' Cheri which screens in competition here on Feb 10. Lumiere has taken the film for Benelux and Nordisk for Scandinavia.The film, written by Christopher Hampton from Colette's novel stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Felicity ...

  • News

    Wide gives Hand to Strand for US

    2009-02-06T06:36:23Z

    French sales outfit Wide Management has announced a raft of new sales on its new slate including Give Me Your Hand and Ah! The Libido. Pascal Alex-Vincent's Give Me Your Hand has been taken by Strand Releasing for the US and by Peccadillo Pictures for the UK. Meanwhile, Michel Rosier'comedy ...

  • News

    Autlook takes world on Panorama doc War + Love

    2009-02-06T06:36:18Z

    Vienna-based sales outfit Autlook has swooped to take world rights on Berlinale Panorama entry War + Love in Kabul directed by Helga Reidemeister. 'This is an incredible Romeo and Juliet drama that feels like fiction, a very intimate love story in a country that only knows war...' Autlook's managing-director Peter ...

  • News

    Thai master Weerasethakul lines up Uncle Boonmee

    2009-02-06T06:36:01Z

    Thai master Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who has won multiple prizes for previous films like Syndromes And A Century, Blissfully Yours and Tropical Malady, is preparing Uncle Boonmee: A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which will be handled internationally by The Match Factory. It is being produced by London-based Illuminations ...

  • News

    Yes Men land at Rezo

    2009-02-06T06:35:38Z

    The Yes Men are back in town and they're promising to wreak mischief in Berlin. New film from the merry pranksters The Yes Men Fix The World, which screened at Sundance and is opening this year's Berlin Panorama, has been picked up for international sales by Rezo. Directed by Andy ...

  • News

    Dean Spanley goes to US with Miramax

    2009-02-06T06:35:21Z

    Miramax Films has taken US rights to Toa Fraser' much feted comedy-drama Dean Spanley starring Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole. The UK/New Zealand coproduction, which screened at the Toronto, London and Pusan festivals last year, was produced by Matthew Metcalfe and Alan Harris, with David Parfitt, Finola Dwyer, ...

  • News

    Loveridge launches Meridiana with first slate

    2009-02-06T06:35:03Z

    Industry veteran Helen Loveridge, who co-founded Fortissimo Film Sales, has announced details of her new, London-based sales outfit, Meridiana Films. 'This is my first active market,' Loveridge commented. 'I will be starting slowly, looking to build up as we did with Fortissimo.' The company will be handling both dramatic features ...

  • News

    Memento closes on Larrieu brothers' This Is The End

    2009-02-06T06:30:00Z

    Paris-based Memento Films International has taken on international sales to This Is The End, the new $13m (Euros 10m) end-of-the-world epic from Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu. Produced by veteran Bruno Pesery in association with Backup Films through their Coficup fund, the film stars Matthieu Amalric, Sergi Lopez, Catherine Frot and ...

  • News

    Sally Potter on the 'poor cinema' of Rage

    2009-02-06T00:00:00Z

    Sally Potter's new feature Rage, which had its world premiere in competition at Berlin this week, has a cast to make distributors sit up and take notice. Actors involved in the ensemble comedy-thriller include Judi Dench, Jude Law, Steve Buscemi, supermodel Lily Cole and comedian Eddie Izzard.The film, a murder ...

  • News

    In focus - Festival buzz - Bright outlook in Berlin

    2009-02-06T00:00:00Z

    French director Gaspar Noe will be in Berlin this week to explain to distributors the concept behind his film Enter The Void, which is being sold at the European Film Market (EFM) by Wild Bunch. The title of Noe's effects-driven new feature seems strangely apt given what many buyers and ...

  • News

    Baker Street to launch international sales division under Lansley

    2009-02-05T06:00:00Z

    UK production and media financing outfit Baker Street Media Finance has launched its own sales arm. Baker Street International - as the new division is called - will be attending the EFM informally before beginning selling in earnest in Cannes in May.The new outfit is head by former Lakeshore executive ...

  • News

    Memento closes pre-Berlin sales on Katalin Varga, Treeless Mountain

    2009-02-04T22:14:00Z

    Aggressive French sales outfit Memento has announced a raft of deals on films on its EFM slate.

  • News

    Rotterdam claims success despite slight drop in visitors

    2009-02-01T19:56:00Z

    The 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) ended this weekend on a more muted note than in previous years.For details of Rotterdam Tiger Awards click hereOn the final day,the KPN Audience Award went to Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle and co-director Loveleen Tandan.The festival's own official figures revealed that both ...

  • News

    Films from Turkey, Iran and Korea claim Rotterdam Tiger Awards

    2009-01-30T22:14:00Z

    Films from Turkey, Iran and South Korea took the Rotterdam VPRO Tiger Awards at the 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam.The winners were Iranian film-maker Ramtin Lavafipour's Be Calm And Count To Seven*, Yang Ik-June's Breathless from South Korea, and Turkey's Wrong Rosary.The $19,000 (Euros 15,000) prizes were handed out at ...

  • News

    International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009 update

    2009-01-28T18:56:00Z

    More than midway through the 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), there is a clear feeling of relief among industry delegates. Some had feared that thanks to the global economic downturn, even an event as well-established as IFFR's coproduction market CineMart might have fallen completely flat. However, despite a cautious ...

  • News

    Fassbender, West and Kurylenko to headline Neil Marshall's Centurion

    2009-01-28T12:30:00Z

    Pathe and Celador have confirmed casting on Neil Marshall's Roman era Centurion with Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Hunger), Dominic West (300) and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) to headline the film. Shooting begins next month on February 22. The script is written and will be directed by Marshall, whose The ...

  • News

    High Point Films picks up Dutch hit Winter In Wartime for EFM

    2009-01-26T18:11:00Z

    Winter In Wartime, the biggest Dutch box-office hit of recent months, has been picked up for international sales by London-based High Point Films. The first market screenings of the film are planned for Berlin next month. The film is proving a minor box-office phenomenon in the Netherlands and attracted over ...

  • News

    Holland and Italy threaten to withdraw from Eurimages fund

    2009-01-26T11:38:00Z

    A potentially serious rift is building at the heart of Eurimages, the Council of Europe fund for the co-production, distribution and exhibition of European cinematographic works. It has emerged that both Holland and Italy are threatening to withdraw from the fund, which currently has 33 members. 'They are unhappy with ...

  • News

    United Kingdom - Fresh blood

    2009-01-23T00:00:00Z

    Is Hammer really "rising from the dead" again' The UK company that made Dracula, Prince Of Darkness, the Quatermass movies and The Devil Rides Out has often seemed on the verge of resurrection. As 2009 begins, it is clear the long-predicted revamp is happening for real. And in its new ...

  • News

    United States - Atlantic crossing

    2009-01-23T00:00:00Z

    Overlook, as any self-respecting horror fan should know, is the name of the hotel in The Shining. It is also now the name of the sales outfit set up by Verane Frediani and Franck Ribiere.The company aims to have a presence on both sides of the Atlantic, and is an ...