All Middle East articles – Page 112

  • News

    Allan Hansen is new CEO at Nordisk Film

    2008-12-17T14:43:00Z

    Allan Hansen is the new CEO of Denmark's Nordisk Film.Hansen has worked in several departments at Nordisk Film since 1989 most recently as director of Nordisk's distribution wing.Hansen takes over from Michael Ritto who has been with the company for nearly three years and is credited with the company's successes ...

  • News

    White Lightnin' earns Berlinale Panorama spot

    2008-12-14T15:52:00Z

    Dominic Murphy's Sundance-bound directorial debut White Lightnin' is among the first titles to win a place in the 2009 Panorama section at Berlin.The story of Appalachian mountain dancer Jesco White, starring Carrie Fisher, newcomer Edward Hogg and Muse Watson earned its place following the Berlinale's December screenings.Mike Downey, who produced ...

  • News

    Alexandra Maria Lara to star in groundbreaking Dubai-set drama

    2008-12-14T13:43:00Z

    An international cast including Control and The Baader Meinhof Complex actress Alexandra Maria Lara, Bollywood rising star Sonu Sood, US-based, Egyptian-born comedian Ahmed Ahmed, The Tudors' Natalie Dormer and hip-hop starThe Narcicyst are lining up for City Of Life, a new feature film to shoot in Dubai.UAE national Saoud Al ...

  • News

    In Focus: Film Festivals brace for the recession

    2008-12-12T00:00:00Z

    As the 2009 festival cycle approaches, organisers are huddling down, hoping the economic storms will pass them by. However, at a time when both state funding and sponsorship for arts events is under increasing pressure, most acknowledge film festivals are bound to be buffeted eventually.'In these times, sponsorship is not ...

  • News

    Profile: Spain's OscarEntryThe Blind Sunflowers

    2008-12-12T00:00:00Z

    Harrowing dramas and horror films, including the like of Pan's Labyrinth, (Rec) and The Orphanage, are enjoying their success at the Spanish and international box office. Now Jose Luis Cuerda's The Blind Sunflowers (Los Girasoles Ciegos) has emerged to join that illustrious group.The drama, about a persecuted Republican family in ...

  • News

    Tarantino to receive Legend Award at Capri, Hollywood festival

    2008-12-11T18:50:00Z

    Quentin Tarantino, currently racing to get his wartime action story Inglourious Basterds ready for a Cannes world premiere, will receive the 13th Capri, Hollywood - Honda International Film Festival's Capri Legend Award.'Quentin Tarantino is one of Hollywood's most prolific film-makers, revered and respected by the entertainment industry and movie audiences ...

  • News

    Dubai International Film Festival and Market opens

    2008-12-11T12:43:00Z

    The fifth Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) opens today with Oliver Stone's W ., kicking off a week long programme that includes 181 films, 11 world premieres and runs parallel to the inaugural Dubai Film Market. Dubai Film Market For Ziad Yaghi, director of the Dubai Film Market, the market ...

  • News

    Arts Alliance Media gains $56m boost to D-cinema ambitions

    2008-12-10T20:12:00Z

    Arts Alliance Media's (AAM) ambitions for digital conversion of Europe's cinemas hasreceived a $56m (Euros 43m)boost with the signing of a financing agreement with European services company Econocom and various private investors.The company has also announced a strategic partnership with Arqiva Satellite & Media for the satellite distribution of content.Bothdeals ...

  • News

    Moget new managing director of Paramount Pictures France

    2008-12-10T12:55:00Z

    Andrew Cripps, President of Paramount Pictures International, has announced the appointment of Frederic Moget as Managing Director of Paramount Pictures France (PFF). Frederic Moget will move shortly from 20th Fox (France) where he is currently director of the marketing division. Steve Summersby will continue as Acting Managing Director of the ...

  • News

    Hunger takes top prize at Black Nights Film Festival

    2008-12-08T06:42:00Z

    Steve McQueen's Hunger won the Grand Prix at the 12th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).The EurAsia competition included 18 films with the jury headed by film director Jos Stelling from the Netherlands.The first Tridens Baltic Film Award went to Three Men And Fish Pond from Latvian documentary film makers ...

  • News

    France: box office 2008

    2008-12-07T17:39:00Z

    Pathe's comedy Welcome To The Sticks saw off all-comers in 2008, garnering a record-breaking 20.5 million admissions. The second biggest film of the year was Pathe's Asterix At The Olympic Games with 6.8 million admissions. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is the highest non-French film with ...

  • News

    Spain: box office 2008

    2008-12-07T17:20:00Z

    Spanish films struggled to hit their stride in 2008, with Alex de la Iglesia's English-language, UK-set thriller The Oxford Murders the most successful local film of the year at $10.2m (EUR8.1m). Paramount's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulltopped the charts with $26.4m (EUR20.9m). Admissions have plummeted,reaching 93.6 ...

  • News

    First four films named in Swedish Rookie initiative

    2008-12-07T16:28:00Z

    The Swedish Film Institute has announced the first four films in the Rookie project, instigated last year with Swedish Television (SVT) and regional film centre, Film i Väst, to invigorate Swedish film. Set up as one of the institute's counter-measures to meet declining admission figures for domestic cinema, the ...

  • News

    Nanni Moretti to step down as Turin Film Festival head

    2008-12-07T11:26:00Z

    Rome-Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti has said he will not continue on as director of the Turin Film Festival in 2009. Moretti took over the festival in its 25th edition in 2007 and remained at the helm in 2008. Alberto Barbera, President of Turin's Cinema Museum and Steve Della ...

  • News

    Gomorrah dominates European Film Awards

    2008-12-07T11:05:00Z

    Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah was named best European film at the 21st European Film Awards in Copenhagen.The film, which exposes the Neapolitan mafia, also won best director (Matteo), best actor (Tony Servillo), best cinematography (Marco Onorato) and best screenplay. Servillo's award also recognised his performance in Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo.Gomorrah, winner ...

  • News

    International co-productions benefit from $11.4mGerman support

    2008-12-05T17:22:00Z

    New international co-productions by Poland's Agnieszka Holland, Serbia's Oleg Novkovic and Sweden's Björn Runge are among a raft of feature projects supported with a total of over $ 11.4m (Euros 9m) by German public film funders at their latest funding sessions.Holland's German-Canadian-Polish co-production Hidden about the struggle for survival by ...

  • News

    Dubai Festival announces 12 documentaries up for Muhr Award

    2008-12-05T16:55:00Z

    DIFF has announced 12 Muhr Documentaries, which examine subjects such as memory, identity and war. DIFF's Arab Programme Consultant Erfan Rashid said: 'The Muhr Documentaries let viewers feel the pulse of the Arab world. The films offer hard-hitting commentary on pressing issues, like the recent war on Lebanon; histories that ...

  • News

    Preview: Dubai International Film Festival

    2008-12-05T00:00:00Z

    'Dubai is a marketing machine. Everybody knows that,' says Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) chairman Abdulhamid Juma. His comment comes at the end of a month that has seen, as if to prove his point, the $2m celebrity-crammed, Kylie Minogue-serenaded opening of Dubai's crunch-defying Atlantis, the Palm mega-hotel.Interview with festival ...

  • News

    Syria: Postcard from Damascus

    2008-12-05T00:00:00Z

    With the recent emergence of film festivals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Middle East's festival calendar is getting busy. But one of the oldest in the region - the Damascus International Film Festival - is determined to raise its international profile, despite operating on budgets that are a fraction ...

  • News

    Universal extends home entertainment deal with Warner in Russia

    2008-12-02T17:35:00Z

    Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE) and Warner Home Video (WHV) are to extend their existing home entertainment distribution partnership.Under the deal, Universal Pictures Russia will continue to distribute DVD and launch Blu-ray releases for Warner Bros and New Line in the Russian home entertainment market for a further three-year term.The ...