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Small MPU – Page 1389
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News
US regulator blocks EchoStar, DirecTV satellite merger
EchoStar Communications $16.2bn bid to acquire rival satellite television outfit DirecTV was dealt a potentially fatal blow yesterday when the US communications regulator moved to block the deal.The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to refer the deal to an administrative law judge for review - a process that could take ...
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Two Nordic majors gear up for market growth
Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and Denmark's Nordisk Film have both announced new appointments as part of their ambitions to increase their activities in the Scandinavian market.Scandinavian major Svensk Filmindustri is expanding into international production and will further strengthen its Nordic presence within film and television. The company is presently involved in ...
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Reviews
The Magic Box (Sandouk Ajab)
Dir: Ridha Behi. Tunisia-France. 2002. 89mins.One of the few really pleasant surprises at this year's Venice Film Festival, The Magic Box is a small but likeable Tunisian drama that recycles the Nuovo Cinema Paradiso theme without appearing derivative. It was snapped up by Norway's BV International after its out-of-competition world ...
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Local successes defy Polish production crisis
Despite the ongoing crisis in the Polish film industry that has seen the collapse of both production levels and budgets, local films continue to dominate the country's box office Polish productions or co-productions currently account for five of the top ten films on release. Topping the box office is Andrzej ...
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Spain's Tesela secures Alta outlet
Spanish producer Tesela has signed a theatrical distribution deal with local arthouse distributor Alta Films for the release of all of its feature films over the next three years.First up will be The Suit (El Traje) Pictured), Alberto Rodriguez's Sevilla-set dramatic comedy which screened last month at San Sebastian and ...
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News
RKO teams with Bigel/Mailer for remakes
RKO Pictures' independent arm Radio Pictures has signed a three picture deal with Bigel/Mailer Films to produce three remakes from the RKO library. The three pictures include Isle Of The Dead, which will be the second film to be directed by Burt Reynolds following The Last Producer for The Kushner-Locke ...
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News
Films In Progress seeks entries for third round of screenings
The Films In Progress (Cine En Construccion) joint initiative of the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Latin American Screenings of Toulouse have sent out a call for entries for the third round of screenings to be held in Toulouse (March 21-30, 2003).The first and second rounds of the ...
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News
Stockholm Int'l film festival to launch sales office
For the first time the Stockholm International Film Festival (November 14-24) will include a sales office for buyers and sellers. The aim of the Stockholm Sales Office is to provide a network to broaden Nordic cinema distribution of films screening at the Stockholm International Film Festival.Over 120 films have gained ...
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News
Reports of the death of the German film industry are premature
One of Germany's most prominent film industry figures has countered talk of a national cinema crisis with a prediction of rapid and dramatic growth and a call for the centralisation of the country's film studios.Writing in the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Germany's general manager for Columbia Tristar, Juergen ...
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News
CTFDI's XXX is second in France, but top in six territories
XXX opened in second place in France for Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (CTFDI) over the weekend with a $2.4m haul from 626 screens. The high-octane action thriller trailed Minority Report but the studio declared it a good opening, comparable to actioners Vertical Limit and Spy Game. There were number ...
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News
Red Dragon stays put at number one in North America
Red Dragon scared off the combined might of five top ten new releases and the irrepressible charms of Sweet Home Alabama to hold on to top spot in its second week with a $17.6m bite that brings its cumulative score after ten days to $63.2m, according to studio estimates released ...
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News
Madame Sata wins Gold Hugo at Chicago
Karim Ainouzi's Madame Sata, a Brazilian/French co-production about real-life street fighter and transvestite Joao Francisco dos Santos in 1930s Rio, won the Gold Hugo at the 38th Chicago International Film Festival on Saturday night. Cited for its "multi-faceted image of an extraordinary era, an extraordinary milieu and an extraordinary character, ...
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News
Mexico's Diego Luna takes lead role in Dirty Dancing sequel
Diego Luna, who grabbed worldwide attention opposite Gael Garcia Bernal in Y Tu Mama Tambien, has landed the lead role in Havana Nights, the second instalment in a planned Dirty Dancing franchise which is being co-produced by Miramax Films and Artisan Pictures.Guy Ferland, whose credits include recent made-for-Showtime feature Bang ...
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News
Benigni's Pinocchio smashes Italian box office record
Roberto Benigni has smashed all previous box office records in Italy with his fairytale Pinocchio which earned a massive $6.9m (Euros 7,021,422) on its opening weekend, according to Cinetel which monitors 70% of the country's screens. With Cinetel monitoring only 627 of the 940 screens on which Pinocchio was released, ...
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News
Cronenberg nets two awards at Sitges Int'l film festival
Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages From A Virgin's Diary (pictured) took home the best film award and David Cronenberg best director for Spider from the Fantastic Section of Spain's 35th annual Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia (Oct 3-13).Cronenberg was also the recipient of one of this year's two Time Machine ...
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Reviews
Swept Away
Dir: Guy Ritchie. UK-US. 2002. 89mins.Even with husband Guy Ritchie writing and directing, Swept Away turns out to be another bewilderingly off-key movie vehicle for Madonna, a misconceived and unappealing romantic comedy - based on Lina Wertmuller's 1974 Italian film Travolti da un Insolito Destino nell'Azzurro Mare d'Agosto - that ...
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Reviews
The Ring
Dir: Gore Verbinski. US. 2002. 109 mins.DreamWorks looks set for a hefty hit with The Ring, a slick, dread-laden horror movie adapted from the 1998 Japanese smash of the same name which just about delivers the chills necessary to keep people talking about it and keep it in theatres for ...
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News
Berlinale appoints new Kinderfilmfest director
Thomas Hailer has been appointed director of the Kinderfilmfest (children's film festival) of the Berlin International Film Festival. Long-time Kinderfilmfest collaborator Maryanne Redpath is deputy director.Together with the director of the section, an advisory selection committee will be responsible for the programme. Alongside Redpath, Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick will ...
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News
Shooting starts on Helen Of Peckham
Shooting has started on Helen Of Peckham, the feature debut of writer-director Emily Young, starring Peter Mullan and Ingeborga Dapkunaite.Helen Of Peckham - a working title - tells the story of an aid worker in war-torn Eastern Europe who travels back to his family in London, unaware of a tragedy ...
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Local title wins Warsaw festival's first international competition
Despite having lost its state backing, the 18th Warsaw International Film Festival this year introduced a new competition section, awarding the Grand Prix Nescafe, worth Euros 5,000 to a local Polish film Edi by director Piotr Trzaskalski.The 'New Directors, New Films' international competition section was a novelty at this year's ...