All articles by Melanie Rodier – Page 11
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2004: Italy racked by Venice, Mifed and funding troubles
2004 began with a serious case of deja vu, as a questionmark once again hung in the air over who would head up the Venice filmfestival.In April, the Italian government ousted Venice artisticdirector Moritz de Hadeln, and picked the popular Marco Mueller. But despite arich selection and a glitzier line-up ...
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Italian admissions soar in 2004
Admissionsin Italy are up 8.5% to 98 million according to new figures from research bodyCinetel.The admissions relate to the period Dec 1 2003 and Nov 302004 and led to an Italian box office take of Euros 577m.Cinetel data only measures admissions and takings from 75% ofItalian screens, but is the ...
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Italian industry commits to 12-month box-office season
Italy has finally fullycommitted to a 12-month box office season, and next summer's releases will beon a par with other European territories, an industry conference heard onTuesday (Dec 14).As a sign of theircommitment, national exhibitors' association ANEC and distributors union UNIDIMhave published a catalogue detailing the names and approximate release ...
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Italian industry rails against funding crisis
Italianentertainment body AGIS is once again urging the Italian government toimmediately address the financial problems that have been crippling the localfilm industry for the last 12 months.It is the second time in the last year that the Italianfilm sector has protested against massive cuts to state funds, endless delaysin handing ...
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ITALY 7 December
Last weekend saw WarnerBros' The Polar Express open at number two at the Italian box office,but BVI's The Incredibles stayed firmly on top.As the local box office hotsup in the run-up to Christmas, The Polar Express earned $1,467,954 - butthis paled in comparison to the huge $10,795,560 which The Incredibleshas ...
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ITALY 1 December
BVI's The Incrediblesstormed into the Italian box office at number one last weekend, taking amassive $4,962,920 from 524 screens for an excellent average of $9,471 perscreen.Eagle Pictures's thriller Twistedcame in second, grossing $1,305,865 from 253 screens. However, hot on its heelswas 2001's Donnie Darko, which was released for the first ...
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Tokyo Filmex programmes Italian B Movies
The VeniceFilm Festival's recent Italian Kings of the B Movies retrospective willbe featured in the upcoming Tokyo Filmex Festival (Nov 26-30), which isorganised by Takeshi Kitano's production and distribution outfit, OfficeKitano.The Venicesidebar features 20-25 restored Italian genre movies, and is part of a wider4-year film restoration project which is being ...
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ITALY 24 November
On a weekend which saw a huge seven films unleashed on theItalian market and a box office completely devoid of any homegrown films in thetop 20, Twentieth Century Fox's Alien VsPredator landed at number one, grossing $1,627,686.Starring local screen idol Raoul Bova, AvP was released on 284 screens and earned ...
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Los Muertos takes Turin top prize
Argentinian directorLisandro Alonso walked away with the Turin Film Festival's Euros 20,500 topprize for his drama Los Muertos.The powerful film, whichwas written, directed and edited by Alonso, tells the story of a man who hasjust been released from prison after serving a lengthy sentence, and undertakesa long voyage across the ...
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ITALY 18 November
Eagle Pictures' Exorcist:The Beginning opened at the top of the Italian box office lastweekend, grossing $3,632,361. Thehorror flick, which was entirely filmed at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, wasreleased on 402 screens and registered a massive $9,035 per screen.01 Distribution's ShallWe Dance' slipped into second place, although the Jennifer Lopez picturehas already ...
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01 Distribution roars for Benigni's Tiger
RaiCinema label 01 Distribution has taken Italian distribution rights to Tuscancomic Roberto Benigni's upcoming film, The Tiger And The Snow. As aresult it can be expected to see asignificant jump in its 2005revenues.Theannouncement yesterday by Benigni's production outfit Melampo Cinematograficaand Rai Cinema marks the end of a protracted battle among ...
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Italian prosecutor calls for Berlusconi jail sentence
Drawing an end to a four-year corruption trial, an Italianprosecutor has asked a court to sentence Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi toeight years in jail for bribing judges.Ilda Boccassini said that Berlusconi had made regularpayments to judges in Rome to help his holding company Fininvest in a corporatetakeover battle of the ...
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Biennale chief tells Mueller to respect festival rules
The storms and high water that have flooded Venice's St.Marks square this week appear to also be sweeping across to the Lido.In aninterview with Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera, Biennale presidentDavide Croff responded to Marco Mueller's recent complaints about theBiennale's organisation by declaring that although he 'very happy'with the ...
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Lakeshore racks up House Keys sales
LakeshoreInternational has racked up sales on Gianni Amelio's The House Keys (LeChiavi di Casa), Italy's foreign language Oscar, and says it has now closeddeals in 31 territories, including the UK.ArtificialEye has picked up the film for the UK, and the drama has also been sold toSpain, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Russia, ...
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Eagle takes Italian rights to The Saint
EaglePictures has picked up Italian distribution rights to The Saint, a Euros10m English-language picture starring Bad Boys II's Jordi Molla.The historic action movie, which is written and directedby Italy's Antonello Bellucco, tells the story of Saint Antonio of Padua, apriest who was born in Lisbon and died in 1231 at ...
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Turin unveils competition line-up
David Gordon Green's Undertowis among the films that will compete at the upcoming Turin Film Festival (Nov12-20), Italy's leading festival for emerging and cutting-edge talent.The festival will kick off with John Sayle's Silver City and will close with theinternational premiere of Hong Kong director Benny Chan's New Police Story.The Asian-heavy ...
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Salvatores begins shoot on psychological film noir
Oscar winnerGabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo)has started shooting his latest film, a psychological film noir entitled Quo Vadis, Baby'Produced byMaurizio Totti's Colorado Film, the Euros 3m picture is adapted from theeponymous novel by Grazia Verasani. Its title is inspired by Marlon Brando'sfamous line in Last Tango In Paris.Quo Vadis, which Salvatores is ...
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ITALY 3 November
The November 1st holiday weekend in Italy saw Buena VistaInternational's The Village open at number one, as it registered a 3-daygross of $3,293,899 for a massive screen average of $8,014.Hot on its heels in dance-loving Italy was Jennifer Lopezand Richard Gere vehicle Shall We Dance',which grossed $2,989,347 for 01 Distribuzione.The ...
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Italian government launches private equity film fund
In a highly ambitious move,the Italian government is launching a private equity fund to support theItalian film industry.Cinefund will have a targetbudget of Euros 50-70m per year, to be spent on 30 to 40 Italian films andco-productions 'with high box office potential.' The fund will investan average of Euros 1-2m ...
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Mueller warns Biennale he needs full control over festival
Veniceartistic director Marco Mueller is warning the Biennale that he needs to havefull control over the next film festival, "or he will be better off beinga full time producer again.""The mishap that happened at this year's eventdidn't have anything to do with the number of films in the festival. There ...