All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 174
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Reviews
The History Boys
Dir: Nicholas Hytner. UK.2006. 112mins.It is hard to begrudge a film as wellwritten and acted as The History Boys.Nicholas Hytner's screen adaptation of Alan Bennett'sacclaimed play is buoyed by some tremendous performances, one or two of whichlook very likely to be nominated for major awards. The writing is superb. Nonetheless,in ...
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News
Initial Entertainment plans Queen Victoria film
In the wake of The Queen, another film about theBritish Royal Family is in the pipeline. In London this week with MartinScorsese's $120m The Departed (whichhe produced for Warner Bros), Initial Entertainment Group producer Graham Kinghas revealed that he is planning a new feature about the early years of QueenVictoria."Julian ...
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News
Pyramide strikes deals for Darratt and Seven Years
French sales outfits appearto have been enjoying brisk business in Venice this year. Paris-based Pyramidehas announced a raft of new deals on its Venice slate.One title that has clearlycaught buyers' imaginations is African auteur MahamatSaleh Haroun's Darratt. Madeunder the umbrella of New Crowned Hope (the Vienna festival celebratingMozart), the film ...
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Mueller says Venice needs bigger theatres and more buyers
Venice Festival directorMarco Mueller has again repeated his calls for the festival to "solve itsinfrastructural problems" and ramp up its industry facilities. "We need biggertheatres," Mueller told ScreenDaily.com as this year's festival heads into itsclosing weekend. "We need the capacity of those theatres to be bigger. We needthe autonomous sidebar ...
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Artificial Eye gets UK rights to latest from Alain Resnais
UK distributor Artificial Eye has picked up UK rights to Alain Resnais' Private Fears In Public Places, which premiered in competition in Venice and will also play in Toronto.The French-Italian co-production stars Lambert Wilson, Sabine Azema, Andre Dussollier, Laura Morante, Pierre Arditi and Isabelle Carre. Bruno Pesery produced the production ...
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News
Venice deals emerge for The Island and Falling
As theVenice Festival ends the final stretch, there has been a small flurry ofdeal-making on the Lido. Russiansales agent Intercinema has soldits competition title The Island by Pavel Longouine to Metropole Pathe for Switzerland and hasdeals pending with distributors in Mexico, Turkey, the UK and Greece for thetitle. Intercinema's Raisa ...
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News
Bobby's Estevez grateful for Weinstein support
It was hats off to Harvey time at yesterday's Venice press conference for Bobby as director Emilio Estevez and star Lindsay Lohan both paidtribute to Harvey Weinstein, the head of The Weinstein Company (which will bereleasing Bobby in the US.) "Bobby Kennedy stood for thelittle guy and the underdog. Perhaps ...
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Beirut Film Festival makes plans for October event
Despite last month's war in Lebanon, the organisers of the seventh Beirut InternationalFilm Festival have confirmed that their event will be going ahead from Oct 4-11.A range of international titles have already been invited including Mark Dornford-May's Son OfMan, Jafar Panahi's Offside, Cannes hit Paris Je T'Aime,and Pedro Almodovar's Volver.The ...
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Smith hopes to bring Universal's Wanted to UK
UK producer Iain Smith (in Venice with two competitionfilms, The Fountain and Children Of Men)is in advanced negotiations to bring Wanted,a big-budget studio feature, to the UK. The project is beingfinanced by Universal. Adapted from a comic book, it is set in a contemporary US city. The director willbe from ...
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News
Sellars hopes to bring New Crowned Hope idea to other cities
Globe-trottingopera director Peter Sellars is in talks with twocities about the possibility of overseeing further events along the lines ofthe New Crowned Hope Festival, which has already yielded a handful of films competingin Venice and Toronto."Theseare the first steps," Sellars commented. "My hope isthat we can repeat this type of ...
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News
A-Film looking for Dirk De Lille's replacement
DirkDe Lille has left leading independent Benelux distributor A-Film for"personal reasons." His departure was confirmed yesterday in Venice by A-Film CEO Pim Hermeling.Itis yet to be announced who will replace De Lille. "Sofar, I haven't decided," Hermeling said. He addedthat he was not looking for a new director but for ...
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Reviews
The Queen
Dir: Stephen Frears. UK2006. 97mins.The British have been making films about their RoyalFamily almost since cinema began. What is so distinctive about Stephen Frears' brilliant new feature The Queen is that it is unfolds only a few years ago - in 1997 atthe time of Princess Diana's death - and ...
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News
Frears' Queen is royally received
Regal mania gripped the Lido following this weekend's world premiere of Stephen Frears' The Queen in competition at the Venice Festival. Frears, Helen Mirren and the film's producers received a standing ovation at their press conference.There was a whiff of republicanism as Frears met the British press in the gardens ...
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News
Consultant questions Venice's industry credentials
With 300 buyers in attendance and 80 market screenings, this year's Venice Festival would appear to be catering to industry demands as thoroughly as it can, given the Lido's awkward infrastructure. But Edith Grant, consultant to Venice's industry office, has questioned how deep the Biennale's commitment to staging a meaningful ...
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News
San Fu Maltha ready to fly with De Bernieres bestseller
BlackBookproducer San Fu Maltha has optioned bestseller BirdsWithout Wings from Louis De Bernieres, whose Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed in 2001 by WorkingTitle. Thestory is set in 19th Century Turkey, just as the Ottoman empire is beginning tocrumble. Dealingwith life in a small village split by religious and political tension, ...
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Granada steps up film commitment after Queen success
Following its success with The Queen, UK TV company Granada is to step up its commitment to feature film.Granada's controller of Drama and Comedy Andy Harries, speaking in Venice, has given details of a slate of new projects the company is developing. These include films with talent ranging from Paul ...
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News
Oliver Stone and Spike Lee get political in Venice
It was a day of fiery pressconferences in Venicewith Oliver Stone, Paul Verhoeven and Spike Lee allpresenting new films. A belligerent and upbeat Stone, on the Lido with World Trade Center, surprised onlookersby attacking the "cultural problem" of violence in US movies,chastising films such as Black Hawk Down and Pearl ...
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Nordisk to handle sales for Boe's Offscreen
Nordisk Film is to handle international sales on Camera D'or WinnerChristoffer Boe's latestfilm Offscreen,it has just been announced in Venice.Offscreen received its internationalpremiere in Venice Days earlier this week. The story of a man obsessed withputting his life on camera, the film was produced by AlphaVillePictures Copenhagen with support from ...
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Gil Rossellini plans two romantic comedies
Italian film-maker GilRossellini, whose latest film Kill GilII premiered in Venicethis week, is hatching two new feature projects. RaiCinema has already committed to boarding romantic comedy Once Upon A Time In Parma, set in the communitywhere parmesan cheese is produced. Rossellini is co-writing and will alsoproduce. It is yet to ...
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Seung-wan Ryoo stages Korean protest in Venice
Another festival, another Korean protest. Following in thefootsteps of Park Chan-Wook, who mounted a one-mandemonstration against the new screen quota laws in Korea during the BerlinFestival, fellow director Seung-wan Ryoo is taking to the streets in Venice.Today(Friday) at 4pm Ryoo will holdplacards denouncing the quota plans and mount a silent ...