All Middle East articles – Page 219

  • News

    Regional fund MDM backs new features with over $6.1m

    2007-03-19T11:52:00Z

    New feature films by John Irvin, Michael Hoffman, Aktan Arym Kubat and Oskar Roehler are among projects backed with over $6.1 million (Euros 4.6m) by the Leipzig-based regional public fund Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM). The largest single amount - $1.2m (Euros 900,000) - was awarded to UK director John Irvin's planned ...

  • News

    Astoria avoids bankruptcy

    2007-03-19T11:29:00Z

    Swedish cinema chain Astoria Cinemas was saved from bankruptcy Friday (16 Mar), as a Stockholm court accepted a majority decision by 260 creditors to write off 75% of the company's debts, totalling $8.9 million (Euros 6.7m). Only two voted against the accord, including the main creditor, the Swedish Film Institute, ...

  • News

    300 powers into the top spot at international box office

    2007-03-18T19:43:00Z

    Warner Bros Pictures International's violent epic 300 continues to indicate that it will be a worldwide phenomenon with a sensational $15.6m weekend in just 13 territories on 1,300 screens.It opened in Korea with a $6.3m five-day gross on 353 screens, it took $1.5m on 115 screens in Turkey, making it ...

  • News

    300 boosts US's box office, Mexico notes 118% year-on-year increase

    2007-03-16T16:25:00Z

    Collective box office revenue of nine territories was up 29% last weekend compared to the same weekend in 2006, according to Screen International's Screen Index. North America led the increase - the territory saw a 41.1% year-on-year increase and took $149.6m at the weekend. Top film 300 - an adaptation ...

  • News

    Lola nominees announced

    2007-03-16T10:06:00Z

    Tom Tykwer's lavish adaptation of Patrick Suskind's Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer and Chris Kraus's prison drama Four Minutes are running neck and neck with eight nominations apiece for the German Film Awards - the Golden and Silver Lolas - which will be presented in a gala ceremony ...

  • News

    Jan Sverak's Empties fills coffers at Czech box office

    2007-03-15T16:48:00Z

    Empties (Vratne Lahve), the new film from father-and-son team Jan and Zdenek Sverak (Kolya) drew more than 110,000 viewers its opening weekend. The Sveraks' film just broke the record set earlier this year by Jiri Menzel's I Served The King Of England.'Young people are going to see it and they ...

  • News

    Piedmont announces new $33.1m (Euros 25m) film fund

    2007-03-15T16:42:00Z

    Italy 's Piedmont region announced the inception of the Piedmont Film Company and the details of its new $33.1 million (Euros 25m) film fund to a packed press conference that was attended by industry insiders, cultural politicians and directors including Gabriele Salvatores and Mario Martone. Piedmont region President Mercedes Bresso ...

  • News

    Director Kwietniowski joins jury for the Central European Pitch Forum

    2007-03-15T10:28:00Z

    UK writer-director Richard Kwietniowski, the Polish Film Institute's deputy director Maciej Karpinski, Italian writer-director Giovanni Robbiano and Christina Kallas, president of the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE), have been named as members of an international jury for the first Central European Pitch Forum (CEPF).This four-person jury will select 12 ...

  • News

    Eurimages to support digitisation of its funded films

    2007-03-14T11:56:00Z

    The Council of Europe's Eurimages fund is planning to provide support for the digitisation of its funded films from the middle of this year to boost their circulation throughout Europe.Speaking at this year's Sofia Meetings, Eurimages' executive secretary Jan Vandierendonck revealed that he is currently drafting the guidelines for an ...

  • News

    Heather Graham romantic comedy starts shooting in Belfast

    2007-03-13T14:36:00Z

    Principal photography has begun in Belfast on the Heather Graham-starring romantic comedy Buy Borrow Steal, which is being directed by UK director Eric Styles (Relative Values) for Doris Kirch's Blue Angel Films Ltd. Based on a script by Camilla Leslie, which won the Best Screenplay Prize at the Hamptons Film ...

  • News

    Italian exhibitors pull controversial Death Of A President

    2007-03-13T13:21:00Z

    Gabriel Range's Death Of A President has already hit a nerve in Italy, where ahead of its March 16th opening 30% of planned exhibitors have backed out of showing the film and 600 out of 2,000 promotional posters have disappeared in Rome. Andrea Occhipinti, president of the film's Italian distributor ...

  • News

    LoveFilm to offer sponsored and burnable feature downloads

    2007-03-13T12:04:00Z

    European online DVD rental and movie download company LoveFilm.com has today announced two new digital downloading initiatives. The company is starting the world's first advertiser-sponsored free downloads of feature films and is also launching the UK's first download-to-burn service for feature films. The first advertiser on board for the sponsored ...

  • News

    Bavaria Film International takes on Doris Doerrie's new film

    2007-03-13T11:53:00Z

    Bavaria Film International will handle international sales for Doris Doerrie's new feature film Kirschblueten (literally Cherry Blossoms) which began shooting on location in Tokyo today (March 13).The project (previously known as Hanami) reunites Doerrie with Munich-based Olga-Film, who produced her international breakthrough hit Men (Maenner) more than 20 years ago. ...

  • News

    Universal Pictures Germany to distribute Egoli Tossell quartet

    2007-03-13T11:41:00Z

    Universal Pictures International (UPI) Germany is to handle distribution in all German-speaking territories for another three Egoli Tossell Film projects in addition to Michael Hoffman's $17m Tolstoy drama The Last Station, starring Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep.The three new acquisitions by UPI are:* Mostly Martha director Sandra Nettelbeck's next feature, ...

  • News

    New multiplex causes box office boom in Sweden

    2007-03-12T16:36:00Z

    Three months after Sweden's Queen Silvia inaugurated Filmstaden Bergakungen - SF Bio's new $35.3 million (Euros 26.9m) multiplex with 2,260 seats in Goteborg, the country's second-largest city - Sweden's number-one exhibitor has registered a 42% increase in local cinema attendance. Already operating Filmstaden DownTown (eight auditoria) and Palladium (one), adding ...

  • News

    Teen cult film beats Pinocchio

    2007-03-12T14:22:00Z

    Italian teen cult film I Want You (Ho Voglia Di Te) has beaten Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio for best opening day for a local film, a record the Oscar winner's film has held since 2002. The Cattleya-produced I Want You, which is a sequel, scored $2 million (Euros 1.5 m) off ...

  • News

    Diagonale continues strong documentary tradition

    2007-03-12T14:08:00Z

    Documentaries are once again out in force at this year's Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film which will open in Graz on March 19 with Sabine Derflinger's 42 plus.The documentaries selected to screen over the six days of the festival - one day longer than last year - include Susanne ...

  • News

    Princess Of The Sun to become first film screening at Pyramids

    2007-03-12T12:24:00Z

    French animated feature Princess Of The Sun is to receive its world premiere tomorrow at a special outdoor screening in Egypt, at the bottom of the pyramids of Giza. This is the first time the Egyptian Government has sanctioned such a screening. The Egyptian premiere is the brainchild of French ...

  • News

    WBPI enjoys powerhouse weekend at international box office

    2007-03-11T20:21:00Z

    Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore ruled the overseas arena as Music And Lyrics grossed an estimated $10.1m in what turned out to be a sensational weekend for Warner Bros.Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) also reported record-breaking initial results for the Spartan battle epic 300 - which dominated the North American ...

  • News

    Serbian triumph at Sofia festival

    2007-03-11T10:42:00Z

    Serbian filmmaker Srdan Golubovic's family drama-thriller The Trap (Klopka) won the Grand Prix at this year's Sofia International Film Festival.The Serbian-German-Hungarian co-production received its world premiere at last month's Berlinale Forum before opening the Belgrade International Film Festival FEST. It subsequently topped Serbia's box office ahead of the current US ...