Small MPU – Page 1377

  • News

    Juliette Lewis to star in Desire And Search

    2001-10-29T18:45:00Z

    Juliette Lewis is set to star in Desire And Search, a quirky thriller being handled by Norwegian sales and finance outfit BV International.The $9m budget UK-Canadian picture is the story of an avenging angel who taps into people's secret desires and blackmails them in order to keep quiet. It ...

  • News

    Canadian actors' strike averted

    2001-10-29T18:47:00Z

    Canada's film and TV performers have reached a tentative agreement with producers that will boost actors' earnings 6% over two years. The increase is the same as that negotiated by SAG earlier this year.The 18,000-member Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) renewed its Independent Production Agreement with ...

  • News

    MIFED news round-up: Part II

    2001-10-29T18:49:00Z

    Buena Vista International is close to acquiring Latin American and French rights on local blockbuster, The Last Kiss. Rome sales agent Intramovies has also sold German rights to Tobis.Scripted and directed by Gabriele Muccino, the generational drama stars Stefano Accorsi and was produced by Fandango and Medusa Film. Meanwhile, Intramovies ...

  • News

    Salles' Virgin heads for Cinecitta

    2001-10-29T18:53:00Z

    Brazilian director Walter Salles' upcoming Assumption Of The Virgin will start shooting next year in Rome's fabled Cinecitta Studios on a set designed by Oscar winning legend Dante Ferretti (Gangs Of New York).Benicio Del Toro, Geoffrey Rush, Chloe Sevigny and Juliette Binoche are all set to star in the movie, ...

  • News

    Thym launches Luxembourg production company

    2001-10-29T18:56:00Z

    Heinz Thym, formerly head of film co-productions and acquisitions for CLT Ufa International is setting up a Luxembourg film production company, T Films.As a registered Luxembourg producer, T Films will be able to access the principality's generous local tax shelter schemes. Through the 100%-owned T Films, Thym will seek to ...

  • News

    German cinema admissions to rise by 9% in 2001

    2001-10-29T18:57:00Z

    German cinema admissions are expected to rise by 9% this year to 166m, according to a new report. In comparison, French admissions are expected to reach between 172m and 180m, while in the UK they are predicted to reach at least 148m for 2001.According to German HypoVereinsbank (HVB) Equity Research ...

  • News

    Mayson joins Artists Independent Network

    2001-10-29T19:03:00Z

    Andy Mayson, former chief operating officer at Intermedia, has joined London-based production and management company Artists Independent Network (AIN) as managing director.Mayson joins the operation as it prepares to move into the US by setting up a New York office early next year and starting its own sales division at ...

  • News

    Only One Take to premiere at Bangkok

    2001-10-29T19:09:00Z

    One Take Only from new generation Thai director Oxide Pang will have its world premiere when it closes the 4th Bangkok Film Festival on Nov 25. Local production Girl's Friends, the debut feature film from film critic turned director Mongkholchai Chaivisuth, will also have its world premiere. Both films ...

  • News

    Schmid wins prestigious Hof film award

    2001-10-29T22:38:00Z

    Hans-Christian Schmid, director of last year's box-office and critical success Crazy, was awarded this year's Film Prize of the Town of Hof at the International Hof Film Days (October 24-28) joining past filmmakers including Wim Wenders, Doris Doerrie, Tom Tykwer, Detlev Buck and Werner Herzog, all of whom have ...

  • News

    Olmi wins Italy's St Vincent prize for Arms

    2001-10-29T22:41:00Z

    Veteran Italian director Ermanno Olmi has been awarded the Best Director prize for Profession Of The Arms at Italy's prestigious St Vincent Prize, a pre-eminent festival designed to promote Italian cinema abroad.Profession Of The Arms, a tale of 16th century warfare, screened in competition at Cannes. It is also one ...

  • News

    China Star lines up $13m Books And Swords

    2001-10-29T22:47:00Z

    China Star has unveiled a big-budget period action-romance to be directed by veteran Tsui Hark.Pre-production is cranking up on Books And Swords, a $13m adaptation of one of China's most famous novels. The story, which will be heavy on swordfight action, is about two brothers and is set during the ...

  • News

    Little controversy at Beaune conference

    2001-10-29T22:57:00Z

    As the 11th Rencontres Cinematographiques de Beaune drew to a close Sunday (Oct 28), filmmakers comprising the association of writers, directors and producers (ARP) issued a statement outlining the most pertinent points to come from a weekend of debates. The main themes are nothing new in Beaune (cultural diversity, author's ...

  • Reviews

    Une Hirondelle A Fait Le Printemps

    2001-10-30T17:05:00Z

    Dir: Christian Carion. France. 103mins.While many French films deal with provincials who seek love and fortune in the big city (ie Paris), first-time director Christian Carion's Une Hirondelle A Fait Le Printemps takes the reverse tack: a young city-slicker who abandons a successful career to live off the land. ...

  • News

    Asoka opens well, Amelie shows legs

    2001-10-30T17:16:00Z

    Last weekend heralded the arrival on UK shores of an Indian film expected by critics to be the Bollywood film that would achieve the crossover to a wider audience that has so far eluded previous films in this market. The release of Asoka, by Miracle Communications, at 76 sites nationwide ...

  • News

    Eight Euro distribs put Celluloid at core of pact

    2001-10-30T22:59:00Z

    Eight of Europe's best known independent distributors have pacted together to form an ambitious pan-continental buying and investment alliance. In a deal finalised on Monday night (Oct 29), their first acquisition is not, however, a film but a sales company - Celluloid Dreams. The Hengameh Panahi-headed Celluloid will act as ...

  • News

    Franchise boards Ryan and Douglas & Crystal pics

    2001-10-30T23:03:00Z

    Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures, which has a five year co-financing and domestic distribution deal with Warner Bros, has boarded Meg Ryan starrer Against The Ropes with Paramount and taken international rights on Warner's remake of The In-Laws to star Michael Douglas and Billy Crystal.Against The Ropes marks the first collaboration ...

  • News

    Two new German media funds launched

    2001-10-30T23:22:00Z

    A $15.4m (DM 33.2m) two-part TV biopic on the life of Italian automobile legend Enzo Ferrari is one of four projects lined up by Germany's Victory Media for its latest media fund, Victory MultiMediaFonds Private Placement which was launched on October 31.The $38.5m (DM 83.1m) fund intends to attract private ...

  • News

    Mosaic's Roven assesses Till synergy

    2001-10-30T23:26:00Z

    A day after unveiling a production deal with Stewart Till's new distribution network, Mosaic Media Group producer Charles Roven says he is now studying how the deal can work in synergy with his existing MGM, Helkon Media and Toho-Towa partnership."We believe that there is a great possibility that the two ...

  • News

    France's film marketing costs set to soar

    2001-10-30T23:37:00Z

    France's audiovisual watchdog CSA (Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel) has recommended a partial lift of the current ban on advertising films on television - a move set to radically shake up the French distribution sector. The policy is part of a new French government legislative programme concerning advertising on television. Although ...

  • News

    Varda completes first of 20 Paris Je T'Aime shorts

    2001-10-30T23:40:00Z

    French film-maker Agnes Varda (The Gleaners) has completed shooting The Flighty Lion, the first in a series of twenty shorts uniting directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Tom Tykwer and Woody Allen. The twenty shorts are to be put together as a feature film entitled Paris Je T'Aime, produced by Paris-based ...