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All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 172
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Features
European animation - Drawn to Europe
It may boast an abundance of talent, but European animation has always been little more than a cottage industry. And in a global market dominated by the likes of Disney and DreamWorks Animation, Europe's lack of marketing clout, branding and distribution is painfully obvious.But there are signs that European feature ...
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Features
European animation - Case Study: Arthur and the Invisibles - 'We had no clue how tough it was going to be'
In making Arthur And The Invisibles, Luc Besson (pictured) refused to accept the conventional wisdom that European animation was a cottage industry. It looks as if his gamble has paid off, with the film already scoring more than 6.2 million admissions in France. The aim now is to shoot the ...
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Features
European - Selling European animation - Drawing the battle lines
Television looms large over European animation. "The biggest problem in selling animation in Europe is that the market is primarily for (TV) series - 30-minute episodes," says Czech-based producer and sales agent John Riley, who has sold the work of Czech master Jan Svankmajer.With bigger-budget Euro-animated features, sales agents need ...
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Features
European - Aardman animations - 'We feel liberated in a delightful way'
Peter Lord, a founder of Aardman Animations, is in optimistic mood following the company's recent divorce from DreamWorks."We just feel liberated in an incredibly delightful way," says Lord. "Many other people are interested in doing business with us, both within Europe and in the US. What it means creatively is ...
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News
The European name game
Even the most cursory list of Europe's best-known actors reveals a continent stocked with starry talent: Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren from the UK; Eva Green, Isabelle Huppert, Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche from France; Monica Bellucci and Roberto Benigni from Italy; Franka Potente ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Filmworks' ethic
When broadcaster Sky and UK exhibitor Odeon joined forces in a 50-50 venture to create new distribution company, Odeon and Sky Filmworks, some eyebrows were raised. Why, observers asked, did the two companies want to venture into an overcrowded and overly competitive field such as theatrical distribution'Six months after its ...
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News
The casting cash
Stars can be important elements when it comes to packaging elaborate European co-productions. Obviously, casting a German lead may help sell the film in German-speaking territories or raise funding in those territories. The Weinstein Company's Colin Vaines acknowledges that with lower-budget European films, directors are often what sell the work ...
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News
Delpy's latest sparks sales boom for Rezo
The Works UK Distribution has taken UK rights on Julie Delpy's Two Days In Paris, one of the buzz titles in this year's Berlinale. The film, which screened as a Panorama special, stars Delpy, Adam Goldberg and Daniel Bruhl. It's about a New York-based couple on holiday in Europe, trying ...
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News
Wolfe takes Shelter for US from Wide
Loic Magneron's Wide Manaagement has closed a slew of deals as the EFMwinds down, including a US deal on Marco Simon Puccioni's Italian Panorama entry, Shelter.The film, about two young Italian women who find a Moroccan immigrant hiding in their car, has sold to Wolfe Releasing. The film stars Portuguese ...
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News
Norwegian Culture Minister pledges extra funds for local films
In Berlin this week, Norwegian culture minister Trond Giske has promised increased Government support of the local film industry.Since coming to power in late 2005, Norway's left-centre alliance has pumped an extra 6.2 million Euros into the Norwegian Film Fund, taking the overall spending to 32 million Euros per annum. ...
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Reviews
Hot Fuzz
Dir: Edgar Wright. UK/USAt its best, Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's follow-up to Shaun Of The Dead, is wildly funny and very inventive. The film-makers take the conventions of the British cop drama and subvert them entirely. They relish combining gentle whimsy with hellzapopping violence. Their frame of ...
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News
Starfield, Maybe team on Lebanon drama
Paul Raphael's London-based Starfield Productions is working on After The Summer Rain, a new drama that was partly shot in Lebanon during the war last year. The project, which is already in post-production and will be vying for a slot in Cannes, is directed by Philippe Aractingi, whose Bosta was ...
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News
Englund to direct The Vij in Hungary for ReDark
Freddy Kreuger is back - but this time he is behind the camera. At the EFM this week, ReDark's Loris Curici has announced two new projects including one that will be directed by Robert Englund, the star of the legendary Nightmare On Elm Street films.Production is due to begin in ...
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News
Intercinema lands deal for The Island
Aki Kaurismaki is Russia-bound. The Finnish director's work is rarely seen in the country, but thanks to Raisa Fomina' sales and distribution outfits Intercinema, Russian audiences will soon be able to lap up almost every movie Kaurismaki has ever made.First, Intercinema released A Man Without A Past and Lights In ...
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News
Cavalier lined up for Visions Du Reel
Visions Du Reel, the Swiss documentary festival running this year in Nyon from 20-26 April, has confirmed its first competition title - the latest feature from Alain Cavalier. This is a documentary with a difference - it's about toilets. It comes billed as a 'meditation in pictures and words on ...
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News
Wild Bunch seals deals with Picturehouse, Magnolia, Goldwyn
Wild Bunch may have broken off official relations with the Berlinale and set up shop in a jerry-built cabin, but the French sales powerhouse has had its best EFM ever, including three US deals.Morgan Spurlock's untitled documentary has been an especially hot seller. UK rights have now gone to Optimum, ...
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News
Schafer's gay and lesbian film doc finds buyers
Andre Schafer's Here's Looking At You, Boy is tickling the fancy of buyers worldwide. Schafer's documentary, telling the story of the coming-out of gay and lesbian cinema, has sold worldwide in advance of its premiere in Panorama later this week.Amsterdam-based sales agent Sydney Neter of SND Films has closed deals ...
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News
Faroutfilms teams with Talabani on Iraqi love story
Rome-based production outfit Faroutfilms is partnering with Iraqi politician and producer Hero Talabani, the wife of Iraq's President Jala Talabani, on Italian/Iraqi co-production, Kirkuk. The film is a love story set in Iraq during the late 1980s during the 1986-87 Anfal campaign - when chemical attacks were ordered by Saddam ...
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News
Mundrunczo recasts, to restart Delta in spring
Hungarian auteur Kornel Mundrunczo, the award-winning director of Pleasant Days (Szep Napok) and Johanna, is set to re-start shooting his new feature Delta in the late spring. The film is being produced by Viktoria Petranyi through Proton Cinema, the company sheco-founded with Mundrucz.. The film is a revenge drama set ...
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News
London and Rome Film Festivals face off over dates clash
The London and Rome Film Festivals are on collision course. Both events have now confirmed their slots - and they overlap almost exactly. Rome's second edition runs from Oct 18 to 27 October. London, meanwhile, runs from Oct 17 to Nov 1. What's more, the clash in dates comes as ...