All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 153
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News
Erik Van Looy signs deal with Woestijnvis
Erik Van Looy, the Belgian TV personality and director of hit TheAlzheimer Case (also knownasThe Memory Of A Killer), has signed an exclusive seven-year deal with production outfit Woestijnvis.This is the company behind both his new feature Loft (being sold internationally by London-based The Works) and his highly successful TV ...
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News
Norwegian government affirms commitment to film
Speaking in Venice this weekend, Norwegian Minister of Culture Trond Giske has outlined the country's long-term plans to boost film production and to attract foreign movies.At a time when other Western European Governments are feeling the financial squeeze, Norway is continuing to strike a bullish note about its film policy. ...
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News
Wild Bunch Holland plans take shape
Former-A Film boss Pim Hermeling has revealed details of the distribution operation he is setting up in the Netherlands with Wild Bunch.Speaking in Venice, he said the new venture marked the latest step in Wild Bunch's long march toward setting up a pan-European distribution network and follows on from alliances ...
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News
Pasolini's Redwave plans films with Taylor, Donnellan & Ormerod
Uberto Pasolini, who unveiled Machan, his first film as director, in Venice earlier this week, has revealed further details of projects he is developing through his company Redwave Films.The Full Monty producer is riding ahead with director Alan Taylor, withwhom he worked on Palookaville and The Emperor's New Clothes, on ...
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US Che sale expected alongside Venice deals for upbeat Wild Bunch
During a torpid start to this year's Mostra, some industry figures have been questioning the expense and inconvenience of Venice, but French powerhouse Wild Bunch has given the festival a ringing endorsement. The company is in the process of closing a deal with Italian distributor Lucky Red for its new ...
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Features
Germany - Partner in climb
German writer-director Philipp Stolzl is famous for music videos for such talents as Madonna, Mick Jagger and German metal band Rammstein, and he directed the video for James Bond theme song The World Is Not Enough.Yes, he acknowledges, he has worked with difficult and temperamental performers but none was as ...
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3D film-maker warns of difficulty in cracking US market
Producer-director Ben Stassen has warned that the US remains a tough market to crack for independent 3D films.'It's a David and Goliath battle,' Stassen commented in the wake of thebelow par US performance of his film, kids' animated tale Fly Me To The Moon. Click here for review.The 3D film ...
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Interview: Barbet Schroeder
Now in his mid-60s, film-maker and self-proclaimed iconoclast Barbet Schroeder is busier than ever. His new feature, Inju, The Beast In The Shadow, will be in competition at Venice and will screen in Toronto, just a year after his documentary Terror's Advocate, about controversial lawyer Jacques Verges, screened in Cannes. ...
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News
The Works takes on Belgian titles Unspoken and Loft
Ahead of this year's Toronto film festival, London-based The Works International has picked up the world sales rights to a brace of Belgian films: Unspoken, written and directed by Fien Troch, and Erik Van Looy's Loft.Unspoken will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is scheduled ...
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News
Focus Features takes on world sales for Lance Daly's Kisses
Focus Features International has come on board to handle world sales on Lance Daly's festival crowdpleaser Kisses. The film, which won the Best Irish Film Award at the Galway Film Fleadh, screened earlier this month in competition in Locarno and will also show in Toronto.'The film had freshness and honesty. ...
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News
Locarno's Buzz Films
North Face (Nordwand) (Ger)Piazza GrandeDir: Philipp StolzlThe story: An all-star German cast of Benno Furmann, Florian Lukas and Ulrich Tukur play climbers attempting to scale the Eiger in the 1930s. The plot touches on love, political conflict during the Nazi era and the mountaineers' obsession.The buzz: Such an epic narrative ...
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News
Alex Cox on Repo Chick
Alex Cox clearly relishes his reputation as UK cinema's 'oldest enfant terrible'. The now Oregon-based film-maker is plotting a sequel to his 1980s cult hit Repo Man. He has already completed the screenplay for Repo Chick, which comes billed as 'a 21st century look at the issues of Repo Man'. ...
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News
Grande ambitions: Locarno preview
On the eve of this year's 61st Locarno International Film Festival (August 6-16), the organisers are in bullish mood. Festival director Frederic Maire is clearly delighted to secure Julian Jarrold's Evelyn Waugh adaptation Brideshead Revisited as the festival's opening film.'It's a very strong film, which looks really classical but is ...
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Features
Italy/United Kingdom - It takes three to fandango
New Italy-UK sales outfit Fandango Portobello Sales made a splash in Cannes this year with Matteo Garrone's Naples-set Mafia drama Gomorrah. The title won the Grand Prix, was one of the most coveted films in the Marche, and one of the few Italian films in recent years to sell worldwide.Overseeing ...
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News
Intramovies takes on Bondi's Locarno premiere Black Sea
A day after the official announcement of this year's Locarno Festival programme, Italian sales outfit Intramovies has swooped on competition title Black Sea (Mar Nero) from new director Federico Bondi.A world premiere in Locarno,Black Seawas produced by Film Kairos.'It's an arthouse film, a quality picture with a social theme,' Intramovies' ...
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News
In focus - No middle ground for UK indies'
When Tartan Films Distribution went into administration in late June, the rest of the UK independent distribution sector shuddered. International sales agents also winced, especially those handling Asian fare.Tartan's ground-breaking Asia Extreme label brought Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong movies by directors such as Takashi Miike, Hideo Nakata and ...
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Profile: ambitious Eon look beyond Bond
British screenwriters need to become more ambitious. That is the message behind the Eon Screenwriters' Workshop (ESW), an initiative set up last year by the James Bond franchise's famed production company Eon Productions.'As a (film-making) culture in the UK, we are predominantly low-budget and we are very heavily television focused,' ...
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Halcyon takes on UK for Critics Week title Moscow, Belgium
As it ramps up its UK distribution activities, Chris Coen's Halcyon Pictures has added another title to its fast growing release slate. The new acquisition is Christophe Van Rompaey's Moscow, Belgium (sold by Bavaria Film International).The film premiered in the Critics' Week in Cannes.'I loved it. I thought it was ...
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News
Tilda Swinton launches unusual film festival in Scotland
Actress Tilda Swinton has unveiled plans for the newest, most unusual film festival in the UK. The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams, as the event is currently called, will take place over 8 1/2 days in a Ballroom in Nairn, in the north-east of Scotland, next month (Aug 15-23).The festival ...
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News
Alex Cox plans Repo Man sequel Repo Chick
Maverick British writer-director Alex Cox (Sid & Nancy, Walker) is plotting a follow-up to his 1984 cult hit, Repo Man.Cox has already completed the screenplay for the project, Repo Chick, and is looking for studio backing. The original Repo Man was distributed domestically by Universal.The new film comes billed as ...