All Middle East articles – Page 127

  • News

    MercuryMedia takes on Toronto doc Sea Point Days

    2008-09-01T16:34:00Z

    UK-based documentary film sales company Mercury Media has acquired world rights (excluding North America) to Sea Point Days.The film is set to premiere at the forthcoming Toronto International Film Festival.The feature-length documentary is directed by South African film-maker Francois Verster. The film is about a seaside public pool area in ...

  • News

    Dunya & Desie is selected as Oscar entry from The Netherlands

    2008-09-01T16:18:00Z

    Dunya & Desie, directed by Dana Nechushtan, has been selected as this year's Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.Dunya & Desie tells about Dutch motormouth Desie and her best friend from a Moroccan-Dutch family, Dunya. The two inseparable friends are forced to make some important choices during ...

  • News

    Nordic Prize nominees include Andersson, Kormakur

    2008-09-01T16:11:00Z

    Swedish director Roy Andersson's You the Living, which won Sweden's national film prize, the Guldbagga, for Best Film, Best Director and Best Script, is among the five nominees for the $70,000 Nordic Council Film Prize 2008, the largest film trophy in Scandinavia.Launched last year in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, ...

  • News

    There Will Be Blood takes Fipresci Grand Prix

    2008-09-01T16:08:00Z

    US director Paul Thomas Anderson has been awarded the Fipresci Grand Prix for his film There Will Be Blood.The award for best film of the year, which is given by the international federation of film critics, will be collected by Anderson in person at the San Sebastian Film Festival's opening ...

  • News

    Quay Brothers shoot film about Jan Potocki

    2008-09-01T15:54:00Z

    Stephen and Timothy Quay have concluded a two-week shoot in Poland on film about Jan Potocki, a Polish aristocrat, soldier and scholar whose wide-ranging interests included ethnology, the occult and hot-air ballooning.Polish press reports the production cost $88,000 (200,000 PLN) and described the project as a 'modest, intimate production' of ...

  • News

    Piedmont finalises $20.5m film fund

    2008-08-31T21:46:00Z

    Italy's Piedmont region, the Turin Piedmont Film Commission and LA based Endgame Entertainment have finalised terms for a$20.5m (Euros 14m) film fund.The plans were announced by Turin Piedmont Film Commission president Steve Della Casa at the Venice Film Festival.Annually, the fund will support productions by providing closing costs for qualifying ...

  • News

    Wild Bunch Holland plans take shape

    2008-08-31T21:35:00Z

    Former-A Film boss Pim Hermeling has revealed details of the distribution operation he is setting up in the Netherlands with Wild Bunch.Speaking in Venice, he said the new venture marked the latest step in Wild Bunch's long march toward setting up a pan-European distribution network and follows on from alliances ...

  • News

    Germany's UFA Cinema unveils 11-film production slate

    2008-08-29T19:56:00Z

    Germany's UFA Cinema has unveiled an 11-picture production slate encompassing bestseller adaptations, family entertainment and political cinema, with the first project going before the camera in spring 2009.The company's executive managers Wolf Bauer, Thomas Peter Friedl, Nico Hofmann and Jürgen Schuster have selected 11 projects from more than 60 in ...

  • News

    Börje Hansson named head of production with Svensk Filmindustri

    2008-08-29T15:59:00Z

    Swedish producer Börje Hansson has been named head of production with Swedish major Svensk Filmindustri.Since 2005 Hansson has been drama chief with Metronome Film & TV. He has more than 40 features and numerous television series to his credit, including The Beck Crime Series, which has been very successful in ...

  • News

    US Che sale expected alongside Venice deals for upbeat Wild Bunch

    2008-08-29T13:14:00Z

    During a torpid start to this year's Mostra, some industry figures have been questioning the expense and inconvenience of Venice, but French powerhouse Wild Bunch has given the festival a ringing endorsement. The company is in the process of closing a deal with Italian distributor Lucky Red for its new ...

  • Shirin
    Reviews

    Shirin

    2008-08-29T12:41:00Z

    Dir: Abbas Kiarostami. Iran. 2008. 92mins.

  • News

    EFA announces 2008 nominees for People's Choice Award

    2008-08-29T09:46:00Z

    The European Film Academy has announced the nominees for this year's People's Choice Award. Among the 12 films are Joe Wright's Atonement, David Yates's Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, and Nic Balthazar's Ben X. From Sept 1 to Oct 31, film fans across the continent can vote ...

  • News

    Thessaloniki International Film Festival to honour Youssef Chahine

    2008-08-29T08:01:00Z

    An homage to a legendary figure of Arab cinema, Youssef Chahine, will be the centerpiece of a tribute to the cinema of Middle East organised by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in November.The festival will screen the Egyptian master's classic film Alexandria Why' (Iskanderija ... lih') along with other ...

  • News

    San Sebastian selects projects for Cinema in Motion

    2008-08-28T15:19:00Z

    The San Sebastian International Film Festival has revealed the four films that will compete in the fourth edition of Cinema In Motion, which highlights key projects from the Maghreb region and developing Arabian countries.This year's selected projects are Lebanese director De Gaulle Eid's Chou Sar' (Lebanon-France-Palestine); Najwa Najjar's Pomegranates And ...

  • News

    Venice off to a strong start

    2008-08-28T09:00:00Z

    The 65th Venice Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with a warm reception for the Coen Brothers' dark comedy Burn After Reading.To see day one report click hereTo see buzz films click hereThe out-of-competition film assured a star-studded opening night for Venice with principal cast George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda ...

  • News

    Burn After Reading opens Venice Film Festival

    2008-08-27T15:01:00Z

    Venice kickedoff last nightwith the galapremiereof the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading.George Clooney and Brad Bitt brought some A-list star power to the red carpet for the opening. To see Screen's review of the film click here.More big names are expected to arrive forthe traditionally glitzy opening weekend, which will ...

  • News

    Fortissimo adds Food, Inc. to its Toronto line-up

    2008-08-27T11:40:00Z

    Fortissimo Films has acquired documentary feature Food, Inc., which is set to receive its world premiere at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. Produced and directed by Robert Kenner (PBS documentary series The American Experience), the film examines the American food industry and how conditions within the US borders affect the ...

  • News

    Venice 2008: Buzz films

    2008-08-27T06:58:00Z

    BUZZ VENICE FILMSCOMPETITIONAchilles And The Tortoise (Akires To Kame) (Jap)Dir: Takeshi KitanoThe story: Follows a failed painter and the long-suffering family that supports him.The cast: Kitano takes the lead, alongside Kanako Higuchi and popular actress Kumiko Aso, whose credits include Dororo.The buzz: A well-established figure on the Lido, Kitano returns ...

  • News

    Italian sales agents announce deals on eve of Venice

    2008-08-26T15:55:00Z

    Italian sales agents have announced two pick-ups on the eve of the 65th Venice Film Festival, which kicks off Aug 27.Rai Trade has picked up Pupi Avati's competition title Il papa di Giovanna, about a man who has to put his daughter in a mental institution after she murders a ...

  • News

    The Very Best Film 2 wraps production in Moscow

    2008-08-26T13:00:00Z

    In Moscow, Russian director Oleg Fomin has concluded production on The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to the No. 2 box-office hit in Russia this year. Buena Vista Sony Pictures Releasing (BVSPR) will release the film Jan 22, according to Russian Film Business Today.The Very Best Film, directed by ...