Small MPU – Page 491
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News
Goldwyn, SPE snap up The Squid And The Whale
Samuel GoldwynFilms and Sony Pictures Entertainment have jointly acquired worldwiderights to Noah Baumbach's Sundance prizewinner The Squid And The Whale.Samuel Goldwyn will take the lead on distribution in North America and expectsto release the picture this autumn, while Sony Pictures Releasing Internationalwill handle the international roll-out.Baumbach's autobiographical tale chronicles the ...
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Quebec films lead Genie nominations
Films from Quebec held sway as Canada's Genie Awardsannounced its 2005 nominees, however the big news was the absence of GoldenGlobe winner and Oscar nominee Annette Bening in the best actress categorydespite a best picture nod for the Robert Lantos-produced Being Julia.Also shut out of major prize contention was Don ...
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Famous Players target of 'family values' boycott
Canada's largest exhibitor Famous Players has found itselfthe target of a boycott campaign over objections to a pre-show advertisement insupport of marriage rights for same-sex couples.The Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), which opposes same-sex marriage, iscalling for a national boycott of Famous for having "subjected patrons to apro-gay 'marriage' ad," ...
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Murdoch buys 34% of Germany's TM3 channel
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is buying a 34% stake in German TV-channel TM3 from Germany's Tele-Muenchen Group for $168m, taking over the operation 100%.Despite repeated denials that he was considering the move, Tele-Muenchen managing director Herbert Kloiber is reportedly selling his stake after repeated attempts to find an audience for ...
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News
Obituary: Joan Weidman
Joan Weidman, president ofproduction at International Film Guarantors (IFG) and one of the industry'smost knowledgeable veterans, passed away on Feb 6.Weidman oversaw allproduction and financial aspects of completion bonding for IFG, a leadingcompletion bond company, and was a key player in the financing and productionof such pictures as The Aviator, ...
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ITALY 9 February
BVI's Finding Neverlandwas the clear winner at the weekend, as it shot straight to the top of theItalian box office and rallied $2,120,139 from 269 screens for an impressiveaverage of $7,875 per screen.The Johnny Depp vehiclepushed The Aviator down into second place, with the Martin Scorsesepicture shedding a huge 44% ...
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NEW ZEALAND 9 February
It was a very unusualweekend at the New Zealand box office with nearly half the films rising up inthe chart instead of dropping down. This was caused by a combination of factorsincluding children being back at school, which has given more grown-up films aboost, strong word of mouth being created ...
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EASTERN EUROPE Production Listings - Feb 9
RUSSIA PRE-PRODUCTION BASTARDS (SVOLOCHI)(Rolan Bykov's Fund/ Rithm telecompany). Co-prod: Paradise. Genre/synopsis:drama, action. Almaty 1943. Colonel Vishnevsky has a governmental task: toprepare a diversion group of fighters, consisting of 14-15 years old orphans,to block all activities of selected German formations Edelweiss. All these guysshould not only to destroy fascist military base, ...
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Russia on target to produce more than 160 films in 2005
Russia is on target toproduce more than 160 feature films this year with an economic boom drivingproduction funding and an increase of 40% at the box office last year makingfilm production start to look attractive for local backers. It also has heated up thedebate over the long stalled privatisation of ...
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Reviews
The Wedding Date
Dir: Clare Kilner. US. 2005. 85minsImagine Pretty Womanin reverse. Instead of a handsome, sophisticated businessman hiring abeautiful, vivacious call girl to serve as his date for the weekend, it is thewoman, in this case sweet but neurotic, who pays a professional male escort topose as her boyfriend for three days. ...
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Reviews
Rize
Dir. David LaChapelle.US. 2004. 84mins.A delirious celebrationof dance, Rize is an eye-popping portrait of a south-central Los Angelescommunity that has turned its back on gang culture to embrace the music andmotion of a dance craze known as "krumping".Having screened inSundance's American Spectrum strand, where Lions Gate Films acquired worldwiderights, this ...
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De Hadeln takes helm at new Montreal festival
Moritz De Hadeln, the veteran festivaldirector of Berlin and Venice, has accepted the top job at the new filmfestival in Montreal, Festival Internationale du Films de Montreal (FIFM).The new event was announced last Decemberfollowing a long simmering dispute between the Montreal World Film Festival(MWFF) and its principal public sector financiers ...
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Survey highlights pay inequality for film industry women
Women working in the UK film industry earn less thantheir male counterparts despite being better qualified, according to a majornew survey conducted by the UK Film Council and Skillset.The Feature Film Production Workforce Survey, which isbased on responses from 903 people working in feature films, also found that mostpeople working ...
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Buyers out in force for Berlin market
Film buyers and sellers are pouring in to Berlin inunprecedented numbers in time for this year's festival and European Film Market(EFM), which starts today.Buyer numbers are understood to be up by about 30%. Salescompanies are shoe-horned into the EFM's Debis building and scores more areoperating out of hotels in and ...
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Reviews
Twelve Nights
Dir: Aubrey Lam. HK. 2000. 100 mins.Prod cos: Golden Harvest Film Productions, Golden Harvest Pictures China Ltd. Int sales: Golden Harvest (+852 2352 8222). Exec prod: Stephen Chu. Scr: Aubrey Lam. DoP: Deng Cheng Siu Keung. Cast: Cecilia Cheung, Eason Chan, Stephen Fung, Candy Lo, Cheung Sum Yuet. Twelve Nights ...
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UK censor to take tougher action against racism in film
Films with scenes involvingracism face a tougher entrance into the UK market after the local certificationbody published new guidelines.The British Board of FilmCertification (BBFC) cited incitement to racial hatred or violence andexpletives with a racial association as a chief area of growing public concern.The body based its researchon the views ...
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Director Eytan Fox floats The Bubble at Berlin
After the high-profile success of last year's Panoramaopening film Walk On Water, Israeli-American director Eytan Fox is using Berlin as the platform for his next film The Bubble.New French sales company Scalpel Films has picked upinternational rights to the story of three young people who share an apartmentin Tel Aviv's ...
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Pathe joins Marshall's Descent as shooting wraps
Celador Films has concluded principal photography on TheDescent, Neil Marshall's follow up to his 2002 hit, Dog Soldiers. Pathe Pictures International is to handle worldwide salesand Pathe UK will handle UK distribution.Shooting began on location in Scotland at the end of lastyear and moved to Pinewood Studios in January where ...
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Celluloid takes on sales for Sundance winner Blue
Leading French sales agent Celluloid Dreams hasadded to its Berlin slate, picking up two films from this year's Panoramasection. FortyShades Of Blue won the dramatic competition at lastmonth's Sundance festival, while Hostage,by Constantine Giannaris, is based on a real-life bus hijack which took placein Greece.Celluloid president, Hengameh Panahi said:"We screened ...
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FFC Australia bankrolls four new features
Four new Australian features - Two Fists One Heart,Razzle Dazzle - A Journey Into Dance, Footy Legends and Macbeth -are all are going into production thanks to investment decisions madetoday by Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC).The country's principal film backer is also puttingpost-production finance into The Magician, which has already ...