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All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 155
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News
Hammer resurrection as production of The Wake Wood begins
The long-awaited resurrection of British horror label Hammer Films has finally happened. Production has just begun on The Wake Wood. This is Hammer's first horror movie since To the Devil a Daughter starring Christopher Lee in 1976 and its first feature of any sort since The Lady Vanishes in 1979.The ...
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Profile: Uberto Pasolini
Uberto Pasolini produced one of the biggest hits in recent UK history, 1997's The Full Monty, but he struggled to find UK finance for his feature directorial debut Machan, and took the project to Italy's Rai Cinema instead.'In Italy, I am known as the guy lucky enough to have made ...
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Features
Belgium - Saying it like she means it
Fien Troch's new feature Unspoken, starring French actors Emmanuelle Devos and Bruno Todeschini, screened at Toronto and is now heading to San Sebastian. This may provide a logistical challenge for the young Belgian writer-director who - like Lars von Trier - has a fear of flying.Unspoken, which is being sold ...
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Russia's Central Partnership partners with Paramount
In a groundbreaking deal that highlights the increasing lure of Russia for the US majors, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) is to partner with Russian major, Central Partnership.The exclusive agreement, which comes into force on January 1st 2009, will see Central Partnership releasing Paramount titles theatrically in the former USSR, excluding ...
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Festival review: Venice leaves best to last
The best was saved for last at the 65th Venice film festival. Darren Aronofsky's Golden Lion-winner The Wrestler was the final film to screen while artistic director Marco Mueller snagged the headlines with the revelation he intends to push back the start of future Venices - to potentially overlap with ...
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London boasts 14 world premieres, plus Bond, W and Frost/Nixon
With 14 world premieres and screenings for the new Bond, Oliver Stone's W and opening film Frost/Nixon, artistic director Sandra Hebron says The Times/BFI London Film Festival has become an international launch pad for major films.'Film-makers and film companies are starting to see that London as a festival offers a ...
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Interview: British Film Institute chairman Greg Dyke
When Greg Dyke was appointed chairman of the British Film Institute (BFI) earlier this year, he was asked why he wanted the job. Why would the former director-general of the BBC and one of the most powerful figures of the UK media industry want to throw in his lot with ...
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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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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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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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News
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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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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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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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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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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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 ...