All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 158

  • News

    Delphis lands first big deal for Fighter, to R Films for Turkey

    2008-02-09T06:00:00Z

    Montreal-based Delphis Films has closed a deal with R Films for Turkish rights to Fighter (screening in Berlinale's Generation14Plus programme.)This is the first major international deal on Natasha Arthy's film, which was made through Danish production outfit Nimbus Films.'It is a film that Turkish audiences can relate to - it ...

  • News

    Adriana Chiesa adds three including Sorry If I Love You

    2008-02-09T06:00:00Z

    Rome-based sales outfit Adriana Chiesa has picked up three new titles. The films, all added to Chiesa's slate in the last week, include Italian box-office hit Sorry If I Love You (Scusa Me Ti Chiamo Amore), which racked up $15m within the first fortnight of its Italian release. A romantic ...

  • News

    Valhalla finally rises for Nicolas Winding Refn

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Valhalla is finally rising. Nicolas Winding Refn's long-in-the-works Viking yarn Valhalla Rising, starring Mads Mikkelsen as One-Eye, is now fully financed and will begin shooting in Glasgow and on the Isle Of Skye in the summer.'We closed the gap this week and we're headed to start shooting in June,'producer Johnny ...

  • News

    Wide Management picks up Victoire Terminus, Summer Book

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Loic Magneron's Paris-based Wide Management has picked up world sales rights on Berlinale Forum title, Victoire Terminus, directed by Renaud Barrett and Florent De La Tullaye. All territories are available on the African boxing drama.Also new on Wide's EFM slate is another Forum title, Summer Book from Turkish director Seyfi ...

  • News

    Primer Piano buys Wood's La Buena Vida for Argentina

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Madrid-based sales outfit Latido has confirmed a number of new pre-sales on La Buena Vida, the new film from fast-rising Latin-American auteur AndresWood (Machuca.) Just prior to Berlin, deals were concluded for the film with Argentina (Primer Piano), ex-Yugoslavia (MCF) and Greece (AMA). A number of other territories are pending ...

  • News

    Tarak Ben Ammar spells out vision for European distribution network

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Quinta Communications boss Tarak Ben Ammar has spelled out his bold newvision for a pan-European distribution network supported by his partners at bankers Goldman Sachs. Speaking by videolink at yesterday's Screen International's European Film Financing summit in Berlin, the Franco-Tunisian mogul outlined ambitious plans which inevitably reminded many in the ...

  • News

    Kragh-Jacobsen readies costume drama about Chopin

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Fresh from his political thriller What No One Knows, which is screening in Berlin'sPanorama, Danish auteur of Soren Kragh-Jacobsen is looking to make a costume drama about the composer Chopin. The film, which has the working title Incognito C, will be produced by Lars Bredo Rahbek at Nimbus Film. It ...

  • News

    6 Sales launches sales of 20% Fiction to star Val Kilmer

    2008-02-08T06:00:00Z

    Madrid-based 6 Sales Entertainment Group has announced that Val Kilmer will star in 20% Fiction, the Barry Primus film to be executive produced by Robert De Niro along with Deco Entertainment. The film tells the story of an acting coach to the stars (Kilmer) who learns a few tricks about ...

  • Features

    Argentina - Out of the past

    2008-02-08T00:00:00Z

    "I am 100% French...and I am 100% Argentinian," says the Buenos Aires-born writer-director Lucia Cedron. Her family story played an important part in her debut feature Lamb Of God, the opening film at this year's Rotterdam International Film Festival. Cedron is the daughter of film-maker and political activist Jorge 'The ...

  • News

    European dreams: review of Rotterdam 2008

    2008-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam ended last weekend on a more upbeat note than many would have predicted when the festival began a fortnight ago. There had been mutterings among staff about cutbacks to its budget. Some outsiders had questioned the coherence of the programming and what appeared to be ...

  • News

    Nordic giant Nordisk buys 50% stake in Zentropa

    2008-02-07T12:45:00Z

    At 9.45am today [Feb 7], in a deal likely to have far-reaching implications for Scandinavian cinema, Nordisk Film bought a 50% share in Danish outfit Zentropa. The alliance is expected to provide extra resources for Zentropa, which was founded in 1992 by Peter Aalbaek Jensen (pictured above) and Lars Von ...

  • News

    Trust closes first deal on Rotterdam hit Jamil for Greece

    2008-02-07T06:00:00Z

    Fresh from picking up a Tiger award in Rotterdam last week, Trust FilmSales' Go With Peace Jamil has clinched its first international sale. The bloody thriller, set in Copenhagen's close-knit Arab community, has gone to Seven Films for Greece.The deal comes as Trust arrives in Berlin for its first market ...

  • News

    Celluloid Dreams takes on Sundance audience favourite The Wackness

    2008-02-07T06:00:00Z

    As the Berlin EFM gets under way, Celluloid Dreams has announced it is to handle international sales of the Sundance Dramatic Audience Award Winner The Wackness. Click here to see review.Written and directed by Jonathan Levine, The Wackness stars Ben Kingsley,Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Mary Kate Olsen, Olivia Thirlby and ...

  • News

    Gaumont scores key sales on Auteuil thriller MR73

    2008-02-07T06:00:00Z

    As the EFM opens, Gaumont has confirmed a host of deals on Marseilles-setthriller MR73 directed by Olivier Marchal and starring Daniel Auteil.The film, being shown privately to buyers in Berlin, has gone to Italy (Medusa), Eastern Europe (Monolith/Best Hollywood), Central Partmnership (CIS), Brazil (California Filmes), South Korea (Sponge) Canada (Chrystal) ...

  • News

    Stassen, nWave launch sales of 3-D movie Fly Me To The Moon

    2008-02-07T06:00:00Z

    Ben Stassen's Fly Me To The Moon will be making history as the first 3D Imax film to screen in EFM and is hoping to ride a wave with buyers after the sensational US opening of Disney's 3D concert film Hannah Montana.Fly Me To The Moon, which is being released ...

  • News

    Roissy takes on new films from Amos Gitai, Agnes Varda

    2008-02-05T17:28:00Z

    On the eve of the European Film Market, Paris-based sales outfit Roissy Films has announced two new acquisitions, both of features from long-established auteurs.Roissy is to represent Amos Gitai's One Day You'll Understand (Plus tard tucomprendras), based on the book by Jerôme Clement. The film, starring French acting legend Jeanne ...

  • Reviews

    Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience

    2008-02-05T17:22:00Z

    Dir: Richard Robbins, USA, 2007, 81mins

  • News

    European Film Market preview

    2008-02-01T00:00:00Z

    For Berlin world premieres click hereFor this year's buzz titles click hereFor the critic's choice click hereFlash back to last year's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin, and 2007 was the year the EFM came of age.Significant deals were made as Berlin moved beyond its image as the market for ...

  • 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

    Rotterdam opens with Lamb of God, speculation about future head

    2008-01-24T12:53:00Z

    The 37th IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam) opened last night with the world premiere of Argentinian director Lucia Cedron's Lamb Of God. At a packed screening in concert hall, the Doelen, the festival's new director Rutger Wolfson spoke of his vision for the festival.Click here for Screen's full Rotterdam preview'Perhaps ...