All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 49
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Greenaway, Breillat, Seidl topline Cinemart
New projects by art-house favourites Peter Greenaway, Catherine Breillat, Ulrich Seidl, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Alexandr Sokurov head a strong line-up at the forthcoming Cinemart co-production market in Rotterdam (Jan 27-31, 2002). Underlining Cinemart's ability to put together financing for the top art-house pictures of the year, the International Film Festival ...
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Chung, Yeoh launch multimedia Han dynasty
A new film by Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau is set to head the slate of Han Entertainment, the new multi-media company established by Thomas Chung, the colourful former head of Media Asia, and Michelle Yeoh.The film, Hua Mulan, is currently in advanced development and is written by Huang Wei Ling, ...
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Festival heads criticise industrialisation, press
At an unprecedented meeting of selectors and officials in Berlin, top film festival directors from three continents bemoaned the industrialisation of festivals and the increasing difficulty of getting press coverage they feel their events deserve. Toronto's Piers Handling described how both Europe's major state-founded festivals and North America's private-backed events ...
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Portugal becomes 15th int'l Disney Channel
Walt Disney Television International (WDTV-I) yesterday (Nov 27) launched the 15th international version of its Disney Channel, when it started broadcasting in Portugal."We launched the first ever international Disney Channel six years ago and all of the Channels have been incredibly successful in connecting the Disney brand to kids and ...
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Europa Cinemas gets MEDIA thumbs-up
Europa Cinemas, the support system for independent exhibitors which screen European films, closed its annual conference in Rome yesterday with the news that it had won a new two-year mandate from the Media programme."This is a first for us and is a real vote of confidence in the work that ...
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Loehr's Ming dynasty aims to rule in Asia
China's leading independent producer, the American-born Peter Loehr is to quit Beijing-based Imar Films and establish an international label focused on bigger and more ambitious pictures. His new outfit Ming Productions will also be located in Beijing, but starts life with a slate of four projects and a three-picture development ...
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Catalan nationalists call for Harry Potter boycott
Catalan nationalists have called for a boycott of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, which goes on release next week.The Convergence of Catalonian Christian Democrats (CDU), a party which forms part of the governing coalition in the Catalan region, have launched the protest because the film has not been dubbed ...
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Media Asia loses second high-profile executive
Peter Poon has quit Hong Kong studio, Media Asia where he was deputy general manager and took particular responsibility for international distribution.The surprise move is the second high-profile departure at Media Asia since the summer. Earlier, chief executive Thomas Chung was shifted away from day-to-day management of the group to ...
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Hong Kong's Singing Horse springs into production
Leading Hong Kong comedy director Joe Ma has set up a new production label Singing Horse Productions to deliver a slate of youth-oriented pictures. The company is jointly owned with Thomas Leong's talent agency International Pacific Artists (IPA) and Ivy Kong, former managing director of Mei Ah's production arm B.I.G. ...
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Re-cut Flower blossoms at blooming Pusan festival
Local picture Flower Island (Kotsom), by first time director Song Il-gon, was the outstanding winner at the 6th Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea. It scooped the main prize, the FIPRESCI prize and the audience award.The film, a story of three women literally on a voyage of self-discovery, ...
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Coppola to board recut version of Suriyothai
Francis Ford Coppola is poised to board the recut international version of Suriyothai, the epic Thai historical drama directed by Prince MC Chatrichalerm Yukol.The $14m picture, which closes the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) on Saturday (Nov 17) night, currently runs to three hours and five minutes. It recounts the ...
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Korea's MBC invests in PPP title: Cry Woman
Korean broadcast giant MBC has set Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) title Cry Woman as one of the first pictures to benefit from its new feature investment arm. MBC Production Co, which benefits from a modest $13m (Won15bn) revolving fund put up by 16 of the channel's regional branches and ...
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Pusan Promotion Plan rewards outstanding directors
Chinese director Lin Cheng-sheng and Korea's Kim Ki-duk were the big winners at the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP), Asian co-production workshop which wrapped on Wed, Nov 14 in Korea.At a ceremony involving much of the top brass from the Cannes festival including chief selector Thierry Fremaux, newly installed Critics' Week ...
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Japanese rights sold on Chinese classic remake
Japanese powerhouse Daiei has picked up local Japanese rights to the high-profile remake of Chinese classic Springtime In A Small Town.The film, is a story of lust unleashed on a respectable bourgeois family following the arrival of a mysterious visitor, is now being filmed by The Blue Kite director Tian ...
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Hotshot trio make pan-Asian history
Billed as a step up in pan-Asian co-operation, Fortissimo Film Sales unveiled details of Three, an omnibus film featuring three of the region's most commercially successful directors.Nonzee Nimibutr, director of Thailand's Jan Dara and Nang Nak, Korea's Kim Jee Won, who previously directed The Foul King, and Hong Kong-based Peter ...
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Pusan opens with atmosphere of regional growth
The sixth edition of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) got underway on Friday with an air of self-confidence and regional prosperity. Proceedings got underway on Friday with the world premiere of Bae Chang-ho's highly anticipated Korean War drama The Last Witness. This was followed by a mix of public, ...
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Hong Kong's TVB to broadcast in China
Sir Run Run Shaw's Hong Kong-based broadcast group Television Broadcasts (TVB) has become the third group to gain official permission to broadcast in China.In a deal slightly different to those recently hatched by AOL Time Warner and Phoenix satellite Television, which is part-owned by News Corp, TVB will set ...
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Fortissimo closes deals on a range of titles
Fortissimo Film Sales enjoyed a busy Mifed having struck deals on its foreign-language Oscar hopeful La Spagnola and a range of other titles.An Australian comedy directed by Steve Jacobs, La Spagnola was sold to Araba Films for Spain, Mongkol Cinema for Thailand, Quality Films for Mexico, Gil ...
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British Telecom applies for broadcast licence
British Telecommunications (BT) has applied to the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for a licence to become a TV broadcaster.Although it says it currently has no near term plans to operate services it is known to be eyeing video-on-demand (VoD) and multi-channel TV. BT also admitted that its networks would need ...
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MMG boards Palm Tree drama quartet
Armi Artsi's Milestone Media Group (MMG) has boarded a slate of four period features being readied by Scottish development and production outfit Palm Tree Productions. The deal was finalised at last week's Mifed film market.Palm Tree recently secured independent financial backing from Monaco-based media investment company IP Hedge for the ...