All Middle East articles – Page 125

  • News

    Venice FIPRESCI prizes go to Goodbye Solo, Inland (Gabba)

    2008-09-07T21:17:00Z

    Ramin Bahrani's Goodbye Solo, which is screening at TIFF through September 11, took the FIPRESCI international critics prize in Venice, as best film in Horizons and International Critics' Week.The FIPRESCI prize for the international competition went Inland (Gabbla) by Tariq Teguia. Inland is about present-day Algeria, through the experiences of ...

  • News

    JCVD director El Mechri recruits Paradis for Midwife Crisis

    2008-09-07T06:00:00Z

    As Gaumont racks up major sales on TIFF Midnight Madness opener JCVD, that film's director Mabrouk El Mechri is finalising the original script this month for his next project, offbeat romantic comedy Midwife Crisis.Gaumont will again produce, with New York's Forensic Films also on board. Vanessa Paradis is attached to ...

  • News

    Films Boutique takes on sales for Woschitz's Universalove

    2008-09-07T06:00:00Z

    Berlin-based fledgling sales agent Films Boutique has picked up international rights for Austrian filmmaker Thomas Woschitz's Universalove which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last night.The co-production by Austria's Kranzelbinder Gabriele Production (KGP) with Luxembourg's Red Lion, Serbia's Art & Popcorn and the donaufestival.at was shot ...

  • Reviews

    Laila's Birthday

    2008-09-07T03:30:00Z

    Dir. Rashid Masharawi. Palestine/Tunisia/The Netherlands. 2008. 72mins

  • News

    Match Factory closes Swiss, Italy deals on Venice winner Teza

    2008-09-06T22:40:00Z

    The Match Factory has sold Venice award winner Teza to Switzerland (Trigon) and Italy (Ripley's Film). On Saturday, Haile Gerima's feature won Venice's Special Jury Prize and the Osella for Best Screenplay (also by Gerima). On Friday, it also won the SIGNIS Award special mention and Cinema for UNICEF commendation ...

  • News

    Fortissimo strikes Gigantic French deal with La Fabrique De Films.

    2008-09-06T06:40:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has closed an all-rights French deal for Toronto title Gigantic to La Fabrique De Films.Matt Aselton directed the Killer Films and Epoch Films production, which has its world premiere Monday in Discovery.The surreal love story stars Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano and John Goodman.Fortissimo EVP of International Sales Nicole ...

  • News

    Venice Film Festival confirms permanent date change

    2008-09-06T06:00:00Z

    The 65th Venice Film Festival artistic director Marco Muller has confirmed that next year's festival will open later, on September 2. More significantly, he said that the shift to the first Wednesday in September would be a permanent one. That means that, while the next two years will not see ...

  • News

    Magnolia takes North American rights to Julia from StudioCanal

    2008-09-06T06:00:00Z

    StudioCanal has announced a North American sale on Erick Zonca's Julia. Magnolia Pictures has taken the film which stars Tilda Swinton. Julia was released earlier this year by StudioCanal in France and has sold to some 23 territories including Germany's Kinowelt, Spain's Verigo and the UK's Curzon Artificial Eye. In ...

  • News

    Media Luna adds five titles including Katia's Sister

    2008-09-06T06:00:00Z

    Sales company Media Luna Entertainment has added five new titles to its Toronto lineup, including Mijke de Jong's Katia's Sister (Het Zusie Van Katia) which will have its North American premiere in Toronto tonight.De Jong's intimate portrait of a 13-year-old girl living in Amsterdam who loses her Russian mother and ...

  • News

    Celluloid kicks off Toronto with busy sales for Venice titles

    2008-09-05T21:17:00Z

    Celluloid Dreams has closed a number of deals on Venice/Toronto titles Achilles And The Tortoise and Mark Of An Angel, plus a number of key deals on Venice title Birdwatchers.Safy Nebbou's French thriller Mark Of An Angel has sold to the UK (Metrodome), Greece (Odeon), Canada (Seville), and Switzerland (Xenix). ...

  • News

    Uberto Pasolini's Machan takes Venice Europa Cinemas Label

    2008-09-05T19:30:00Z

    Uberto Pasolini's Machan has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival.Pasolini's directorial debut is also playing here in Contemporary World Cinema. It is about a group of poor Sri Lankan men who aspire to attend a handball tournament ...

  • News

    San Sebastian to honour Antonio Banderas and Meryl Streep

    2008-09-05T16:24:00Z

    The San Sebastian film festival has announced that Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas will receive the Donostia award, which is given to a film personality in recognition of their work and career. A respected Spanish actor and director, Banderas' career spans from his role in Pedro Almodovar's Labyrinth Of Passion ...

  • News

    BackUp launches new funding scheme with indie distributors

    2008-09-05T14:56:00Z

    French film financing agency BackUp Films has created a new funding scheme intended to co-acquire distribution rights alongside independent distributors. The venture, entitled Districup, will share risk with distributors while the distributors will have the opportunity to own all of the co-acquired rights following the first exploitation cycle.In its first ...

  • News

    Memento adds sales on Goodbye Solo to Benelux, Switzerland

    2008-09-05T14:54:00Z

    Memento Films International has generated strong buzz on Venice Horizons title Goodbye Solo with sales to Imagine in Benelux and Xenix in Switzerland. Following its premiere in Venice, the film is also being pursued with offers from France, Portugal, Greece and Italy among others.Ramin Bahrani's third feature will hit Toronto ...

  • News

    Anna Marsh joins StudioCanal as VP of international sales

    2008-09-05T14:51:00Z

    StudioCanal has employed Anna Marsh as vice president of international sales in charge of English-speaking territories, Scandinavia and Latin America. Toronto will be her first outing with StudioCanal.Marsh, formerly of TF1 International, will be based in both Paris and London and report to StudioCanal international sales executive vice president Harold ...

  • News

    Hungary names Iska's Journey as Oscar submission

    2008-09-05T14:46:00Z

    Hungary will submit Iska's Journey for consideration for the Foreign Language Oscar.Csaba Bollok's feature, his second, is a tale of modern slavery, following a teenage girl's harrowing journey from an abusive home in a Romanian mining village. The film saw its international premiere in Berlin in 2007. It has screened ...

  • News

    Sunshine Barry boogies with Baltics, Benelux, India

    2008-09-05T06:00:00Z

    Sola Media has sold 3-D animation Sunshine Barry & The Disco Worms to more territories including the Baltics (AMCE), Benelux (Independent Films) and India (VMI).Thomas Borch Nielsen's film has its world premiere here in with public screenings starting Sept 7. Sola previously booked sales for 40 countries including Brazil (Imagem), ...

  • News

    CPH:PIX starts $72,000 prize in debut feature competition

    2008-09-05T06:00:00Z

    Denmark's new April festival, CPH:PIX, will have a competition devoted to first-time feature directors. The directors of 10-12 debut films will compete for a cash prize of $72,090 (Euros 50,000).'A substantial cash prize can make all the difference to a first-time filmmaker, and it is our hope that the money ...

  • News

    In Focus: D-cinema divide hangs over the digital switch

    2008-09-04T22:28:00Z

    Every period of radical change goes through an initial 'what if'' stage where enthusiasts and sceptics try to predict the future.Digital cinema has been rather longer than most in the 'what if'' foothills, partly because of lack of engagement with the issues but mainly because the technology has been out ...

  • News

    Zurich Film Festival to honour Costa-Gavras

    2008-09-04T21:16:00Z

    The Zurich Film Festival will presents it Golden Eye Award to film-maker Constantin Costa-Gavras in recognition of his career as a director, writer and producer.ZFF director Karl Spoerri announce the tribute. Paris-based, Greek-born Costa-Gavras will attend the award ceremony on Oct 4 and the festival will also host a retrospective ...