Small MPU – Page 1170
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News
Malaysia bans Ghobadi's Marooned In Iraq
The Malaysian censorshipboard, Censorship Film Malaysia, has banned the local release of Marooned InIraq, Bahman Ghobadi'sacclaimed drama which details the impact of Saddam Hussein's devastatingchemical attacks on the Iraqi Kurds.A personal film retitledfrom Cannes 2002 where it played in Un Certain Regard as Songs From MyHomeland, Marooned In Iraq follows ...
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Chouchou continues to dominate French box office
In its secondweek in France the comedy Chouchou, which is being distributed by Warner Bros, held on to top spot,grossing an estimated $4m (Euros 3.8m) for a $10.2m (Euros 9.6m) running total.In Paris and the suburbs the picture recorded 127,500admissions on 46 screens, while nationwide the figures were 650,000 admissionson ...
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Ned takes $1.5m in Australian opening weekend for Universal
Ned Kelly followed up its powerful opening day(Screendaily Mar 28) with a $1.5m opening weekend.Buoyed by anintense publicity campaign featuring Heath Ledger and most of the cast, theUniversal Pictures/Endymion Films production opened in 252 theatres and went onto claim a 30% market share over the weekend.It was the thirdhighest opening ...
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Videotron, Rogers confirm $4.1bn merger
North America's seventh largest cable TV operator was forged on Monday when Canada's biggest cable company, Rogers Communications, announced a merger with Groupe Videotron, the country's third largest.The C$6bn ($4.1bn) friendly takeover creates a company that boasts not only 3.7m subscribers, representing nearly half of Canadian households, but also the ...
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BVITV appoints Alison Homewood
Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) has appointed Alison Homewood as vice president of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa, it was announced by Tom Toumazis, vice president and managing director, BVITV. Homewood will report directly into Toumazis and joins BVITV from BBC Worldwide where she was deputy managing director ...
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Reviews
The Suit (Shik)
Dir: Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov. Russ-Ger-It-Fr. 2003. 95 mins.The latest outing by director Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov is, essentially, about three country lads fooling about, telling unlikely stories and occasionally becoming maudlin or lovestruck. Charming in its own small way, it is unlikely to have the impact of 1999's Luna Papa on the international ...
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News
Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum postponed
The organisers of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) have confirmed that the event has been postponed until further notice due to the outbreak of a deadly virus in Hong Kong. More than 450 industry professionals from 20 countries had registered to attend the projects and co-production market ...
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News
Screwball comedy scores Spain's fifth biggest opening
Actor-turned-director Jesus Bonilla struck gold this weekend with star-studded comedy Moscow Gold (El Oro De Moscu), recording the fifth top opening weekend ever for a Spanish film.The success follows on the heels of Mortadelo & Filemon - The Big Adventure, which continues its record streak with a cumulative Euros 21.6m ...
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News
Italian producer seals landmark international co-production deals
Veteran Italian producer Leo Pescarolo has sealed two landmark multi-million dollar international co-production deals with China and Canada.Fred Wang of Hong Kong's Salon Media Films has taken a 50% stake in the $18m English-language fantasy tale She, which Pescarolo developed through his Rome-based development outfit Imago Film.Salon Media Films, ...
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News
European competition watchdog to rule on Stream/Telepiu merger
The competition watchdog of the European Commission (EC) is tomorrow expected to announce that the merger of Italian pay-TV companies Telpiu and Stream can go ahead.The deal was sealed five months ago with the News Corp-controlled Stream buying Telepiu from Vivendi Universal's Canal Plus unit for Euros 900m. The deal ...
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News
CETV granted extra broadcast rights in China
CETV, the Chinese-language entertainment channel majority-owned by AOL Time-Warner, has been granted additional broadcast rights in mainland China.In a statement AOL Time-Warner said that the channel will be allowed to broadcast via cable networks in the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzen. Since October 2001 it has been allowed to broadcast ...
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News
Leslie Cheung dies, aged 46
Hong Kong actor and singer Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing reportedly leapt to his death from a Hong Kong hotel on Tuesday. He was 46. According to Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK, Cheung jumped from the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the Central district of Hong Kong Island in the early evening. He was ...
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News
CIA thriller recruits UK core audience
Buena Vista International's CIA thriller The Recruit expanded from one to 381 sites in its second weekend on release in the UK and swept straight to the top of the chart with $1.4m (£920,472).The wide opening of The Recruit kept other new hopefuls, including day-and-date launch The Core, off the ...
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News
Strand takes North American rights to A Thousand Peace Clouds
Santa Monica-based Strand Releasing has snapped up North American rights to award-winning Mexican gay drama A Thousand Peace Clouds Encircle The Sky (Mil Nubes De Paz Cercan El Cielo) by Julian Hernandez. Hernandez, who also wrote the screenplay, recently took home the Best Director and Best Sound awards for his ...
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News
Telefonica gets approval for LatAm buy-outs
Shareholders of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica Friday approved a euro922m increase in capital to allow the conglomerate to follow through on plans to buy out 100% of four of its Latin American interests: Telesp and Tele Sudeste Celular of Brazil, Telefonica of Argentina and Telefonica of Peru. Telefonica will offer ...
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News
Israel's Channel 10 on the brink of bankruptcy
The future of Israel's newest television broadcaster, Channel 10, hangs in the balance as controlling shareholder Yossi Maiman gives the station one week to avoid bankruptcy.Maiman, who holds 51% of Channel 10's interests, has recently been injecting some $8m a month into the operation to keep it afloat. Last weekend, ...
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News
Spanish scriptwriting consultancy to launch in May
Four Spanish partners are preparing a May launch for their new consulting company abc guionistas (abc scriptwriters) which will offer a range of services related to film and television scripts.If successful, the company could help streamline practices in Spain for scriptwriters and those who hire them. "Agents for scriptwriters are ...
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News
Koch to distribute Passport Video catalogue in North America
US independent music andhome entertainment distributor Koch Entertainment Distribution is stepping upits DVD operation with the announcement that it has signed an exclusive deal todistribute Passport Video's entire catalogue in the US and Canada.Passport Video'slibrary comprises mostly documentaries and entertainment specials and includesnew releases and reissues of the five-DVD Collectors ...
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News
THINKFilm buys domestic rights to Brazilian documentary
THINKFilm haspicked up North American rights to Jose Padilha's award-winningdocumentary, Bus 174.A theatrical release in New York has been scheduled for Oct 8.Since its worldpremiere at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival last autumn Bus 174 has drawn considerable attention afterfestival selections at Sundance, Rotterdam and Miami.It was named best ...
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News
Toronto Film Festival announces 'Festival Centre' complex
The Toronto InternationalFilm Festival Group (TIFFG) today (Tues) launched its new initiative to createFestival Centre, a film complex in Toronto located on the corner of King andJohn Streets which will consist of a five-storey podium building and aresidential condominium development.Announced withmuch fanfare, the new facility will be housed on property ...