All Middle East articles – Page 185

  • News

    Poland chooses Andrzej Wajda's Katyn as Oscar contender

    2007-09-27T15:17:00Z

    A Culture Ministry selection committee featuring Polish filmmakers Janusz Majewski, Jan Kaczmarek and Slavomir Fabicki made a unanimous decision in selecting Andrzej Wajda's film Katyn from among 16 contenders for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Katyn explores the events leading up to the Katyn massacre ...

  • News

    San Sebastian's Films In Progress champions Gasolina

    2007-09-27T13:14:00Z

    In San Sebastian 's Films In Progress section, Guatemalan youth drama Gasolina by Julio Hernandez Cordon has won three of the five awards, including the top industry prize. Films in Progress provides completion funding for projects from rising Latin American talents hoping to make a name for themselves on the ...

  • News

    Control and Band's Visit among EFA discovery nominees

    2007-09-27T13:02:00Z

    Four films have been nominated for the European Discovery award at the forthcoming European Film Awards. They are: Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit from Israel, Anton Corbijn's Control from the UK, Jan Bonny's Counterparts (Gegenuber) from Germany and Ozer Kiziltan's Takva (A Man's Fear Of God) from Turkey/Germany. A total ...

  • News

    Rome Film Fest unveils full line-up include Ruiz world premiere

    2007-09-27T11:55:00Z

    The second Rome Film Fest, which runs Oct 18-27, has announced its full programme.World premieres in the Cinema 2007 programme include:La Recta Provincia (Raul Ruiz)Youth Without Youth (Francis Ford Coppola) August Rush (Kirsten Sheridan)Hafez (Abolfazl Jalili)L'Abbuffata (Mimmo Calopresti)And The Spring Comes (Chang Wei Gu)The Three Robbers (Hayo Freitag)The Private Man ...

  • News

    In focus - The call of the wild

    2007-09-27T00:00:00Z

    When French sales, distribution and finance outfit Wild Bunch signed a deal with US investment group Continental Entertainment Capital (CEC) in early September, it marked yet another step in the company's bid to bolster a planned European distribution network.The deal is a rarity. With all the international banking and US ...

  • News

    MD departs troubled German media fund

    2007-09-26T22:25:00Z

    Beleaguered German private media fund VIP Medienfonds has been dealt another blow with the sudden departure of managing director Dirk Specht from the company. Specht had been brought to VIP in March 2006 to take over responsibility for the finances and controlling of the VIP funds and he was the ...

  • News

    Italy backs Tornatore's Unknownin tough Oscar competition

    2007-09-26T17:11:00Z

    Oscar winning director Giuseppe Tornatore's The Unknown (La Sconosciuta) will be the Italian candidate to the Oscars, in a reportedly tight race which gave eight votes to Tornatore's Northern Italian set noir, and seven to Daniele Luchetti's Certain Regard entry My Brother Isan Only Child (Mio fratello e' figlio unico).The ...

  • Reviews

    Glory To The Filmmaker (Kantoku Banzai)

    2007-09-26T16:07:00Z

    Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Japan. 2007.Takeshi Kitano's last couple of films confirm that Japan 's maverick filmmaker is having a hard time deciding which way to go next and feels the urgent need to share it with his audience. After the jaundiced look at the film industry in general, and his ...

  • News

    Mongol and 12 drive Russian boom at international box office

    2007-09-26T15:51:00Z

    Russian films made their mark this weekend as three films from the territory collectively accounted for 4.7% of the international revenue from the top 40 films over the three-day period. (See Screen International's full International Box-Office Chart, compiled by Len Klady, here.)Two new entries - Mongol and 12 - both ...

  • Reviews

    Encarnacion

    2007-09-26T14:49:00Z

    Dir: Anahi Berneri. Argentina 2007. 96 mins.A subtle character study of a once-famous TV actress who is past her sell-by date, Encarnacion confirms Anahi Berneri as one of the most promising of Argentina 's new wave of directors, after her well-received AIDS-themed debut A Year Without Love (2005). Though the ...

  • News

    Salmenpera honoured at Finnish director of year

    2007-09-26T12:33:00Z

    Finland 's Love & Anarchy (the Helsinki International Film Festival) will host the annual awards from the local directors and producers associations.Aleksi Salmenpera, director of Finnish Oscar entry A Man's Job, will be honoured as director of the year. Producer of the year will be shared by Petri Jokiranta and ...

  • News

    San Sebastian sales heat up as FiGa takes US rights to Eyes

    2007-09-26T11:16:00Z

    Los Angeles-based distributor FiGa Films has bought US and Canadian rights to the Argentinian prison drama Through Her Own Eyes (Por Sus Propios Ojos), a world premiere in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian film festival, according to the film's producer Paula Grandio. Produced by Mandragora Producciones, director ...

  • News

    Berlin Senate agrees to $85m of state guarantees to 2013

    2007-09-26T10:56:00Z

    With Berlin currently experiencing a boom in national and international production thanks to such films as the Speed Racer, Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, Valkyrie and The International shooting in town, the Berlin Senate has announced plans to make $85m (Euros 60m) available until 2013 for state-backed guarantees to boost region's ...

  • News

    Switzerland chooses Late Bloomers as Oscar contender

    2007-09-26T10:41:00Z

    Swiss Films has entered Bettina Oberli's comedy Late Bloomers (Die Herbstzeitlosen) for Switzerland to the Academy Award race for a nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category. To date, Late Bloomers is the most successful film in Switzerland since 1978 with just over 600,000 admissions. The film has also ...

  • Reviews

    La Maison

    2007-09-26T10:07:00Z

    Dir: Manuel Poirier. France 2007. 96 mins.French director Manuel Poirier delivers his most convincing feature since the bittersweet 1997 road-movie Western with La Maison, an emotionally delicate romantic comedy that once again features Poirier regular Sergi Lopez in the lead role. A rural house that's up for sale becomes a ...

  • Reviews

    Mataharis

    2007-09-26T09:57:00Z

    Dir: Icair Bollain. Spain 2007. 94 mins.A bittersweet tale of frustrated lives and loves centring on three female private investigators, Mataharis is a decently plotted but decidedly tame follow-up to Icair Bollain's previous film, the convincing 2003 wife-abuse drama Take My Eyes. A leading Spanish actress, Bollain was inspired to ...

  • News

    European Film Awards announce 13 short film nominees

    2007-09-25T17:34:00Z

    The European Film Academy has announced the short film nominees for the 2007 European Film Awards. Nominees are determined by the Prix UIP at a year-long series of European festivals. The 1,800 members of the EFA will now vote for the winner. The nominees are: Salvador by Abdelatif Hwidar (Spain), ...

  • News

    Recycle and Salt Of This Sea win Cinema in Motion awards

    2007-09-25T17:00:00Z

    Now in its third year, San Sebastian's Cinema in Motion programme has selected Mahmoud Al Massad's Recycle, an insightful documentary that exposes the economic and political instability of Jordan, and Anne Marie Jacir's moving portrait of Palestine, Salt Of This Sea, as this year's winners. The award helps film-makers from ...

  • News

    Wolfgang Braun to leave post at Disney Germany

    2007-09-25T16:41:00Z

    Wolfgang Braun, general manager and senior vice president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany (previously known as Buena Vista International [Germany]), is stepping down from his post after 15 years as of Oct 1. His successor as general manager will be Thomas Menne, until now VP sales and marketing ...

  • News

    Wolfgang Braun to leave post at Disney Germany

    2007-09-25T16:41:00Z

    Wolfgang Braun, general manager and senior vice president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany (previously known as Buena Vista International [Germany]), is stepping down from his post after 15 years as of Oct 1. His successor as general manager will be Thomas Menne, until now VP sales and marketing ...