Small MPU – Page 551

  • Reviews

    River Queen

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Vincent Ward. NZ-UK.2005. 114mins.Long before Peter Jacksonbecame the Lord of the Kiwis, Vincent Ward was the leading light of New Zealandcinema. After disappointing Hollywood ventures and aborted projects, Wardfinally returns home for River Queen, a labour of love period drama thatemerges virtually unscathed from a difficult, fractured production history.The ...

  • News

    Raneri takes over as interim head of Media Programme

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Domenico Raneri, until now responsible foroverseeing the development action line of the European Union's MEDIA Programme,has taken over from Costas Daskalakis as the interim head of the MEDIA unit inBrussels.Although there hasn'tbeen an official unit head for MEDIA since Delmoly's exit last year, this postis now expected to be filled ...

  • News

    Lynch, Solondz, Kerrigan among highlights of Next Reel fest

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Biannual cinema showcase theNext Reel International Film Festival, formerly known as the NYU InternationalStudent Film Festival, winds down on Oct 1 following week-long programme of 111titles.The week-long event openedwith NYU alumnus Lodge Kerrigan's drama Keane. In other highlights, Todd Solondz hosted ascreening of Palindromes andDavid Lynch led a discussion on ...

  • News

    AFI FEST to close with Hallstrom's Casanova

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    AFI FEST 2005will close in Los Angeles on Nov 13 with the North American premiere of LasseHallstrom's Casanovastarring Heath Ledger as the legendary lothario.'Casanova is a wild and whimsical cinematic tourde force,' director of programming Nancy Collet said. 'We're solooking forward to welcoming back Lasse Hallstrom, whose The Cider HouseRules ...

  • News

    THINKFilm donates some of Till proceeds to Katrina relief

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    THINKFilm and TheUntold Story Of Emmett Louis Till director Keith Beauchamp will donate a portion of box officereceipts to Katrina relief efforts when the civil rights picture expands on Oct14.Baton Rouge native Beauchamp's picture opened on Aug 14 atNew York's Film Forum and expands into Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta,Memphis, and ...

  • News

    Carnahan signs to adapt State for Universal

    2005-09-30T04:00:00Z

    Matthew MichaelCarnahan will adapt the BBC's BAFTA award winning political thriller StateOf Play for UniversalPictures, which acquired remake rights to the mini-series last year fromMission Pictures.Andrew Hauptmanwill produce the feature through Mission Pictures along with executive TracyFalco. State Of Playmini-series creator Paul Abbott will serve as executive producer.UniversalPictures president of ...

  • News

    BVI aims Goal! at UK in first worldwide opening

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Warner BrosPictures International (WBPI) has ruled the roost with Charlie And TheChocolate Factory overrecent weeks and executives will be looking to consolidate the picture's$206m-plus international running total with more strong holds this weekend.Meanwhile animated family title Tim Burton's The CorpseBride gets its first major internationaldebut this weekend when it launches ...

  • News

    FIND sets first film-maker forum in LA on Oct 15

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Film Independent (formerlyIFP/Los Angeles) will host its first annual Filmmaker Forum, Sell Your FilmWithout Getting Screwed!, on Oct 15 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.Topics to becovered include negotiating techniques, sales contracts, and new distributionmodels.Panelistsinclude UTA's Richard Klubeck, director Catherine Hardwicke and her Thirteen producer Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Netflixchief content ...

  • News

    UK box office spawns hits and misses

    2000-05-24T10:08:00Z

    Aided by seven opening films, the UK box office picked up again last weekend after the recent spate of warm weather. But with Gladiator holding over well, falling just 3% from its opening weekend, not all the new releases profited from healthy box office returns. Best out of the ...

  • News

    France's Xilam brings Lucky Luke to big screen

    2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

    LeadingFrench animation house Xilam has confirmed it will begin production on a Euros12m ($14.4m) big screen adaptation of hit TV cartoon series The New Adventures Of Lucky Luke.Thefilm will be titled Tous A L'Ouestand co-produced by Dargaud-Marina and Lucky Comics for a 2007 release.LuckyLuke has been a big critical andratings ...

  • News

    Cohen, Faber to co-head Weinstein Co marketing dept

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    One day before The WeinsteinCompany officially launches, the brothers have announced that longtime Miramaxexecutives Matthew Cohen and Gary Faber will jointly head up the new company'smarketing department.Cohen is named executivevice president of marketing and creative affairs and Faber becomes executivevice president of marketing.Both executives will reportdirectly to Bob and Harvey ...

  • News

    Japan submits Blood And Bones as Oscar entry

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    Yoichi Sai's Blood AndBones has been selected by the Japan Motion Pictures Association (Eiren) asJapan's nominee for the best foreign-language film AcademyAward.The drama stars TakeshiKitano as a violent but charismatic Korean man who becomes a family patriarchand community power in postwar Osaka, while spreading misery, resentment and fear. Sai, of ...

  • News

    Tokyo Project Gathering unveils full line-up

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    The Tokyo Project Gathering,a new section of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), has announcedthe full list of twenty projects to be presented at the TIFF's main venue fromOct 26 to 28.Six of the titles are"presentation projects", meaning that the producer will make thirty-minutepresentations to prospective partners, followed by meetings. ...

  • News

    Indian government postpones onscreen smoking ban

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    The Indian government'sproposed ban on smoking scenes in films and television programmes has beendelayed from Oct 2 to Jan 1, 2006.Following strong protestsfrom the film and TV industry, the Indian Information and Broadcasting Ministryinformed the Indian Health Ministry about the practical difficulties involvedin implementing the ban. This is the secondpostponement ...

  • News

    SPE names Blake as Col TriStar worldwide marketing chairman

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    Jeff Blake has been named Chairman of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for theColumbia TriStar Motion Picture Group.His appointment wasannounced by Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Amy Pascal,Chairman of SPE's Motion Picture Group.Blake directsand oversees the global marketing and distributionof all films from SPE'S production entities ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's See Corp set to produce digital slate

    2005-10-02T20:30:00Z

    See Corporation, a Hong Kong-basedcontent company backed by local tycoon Lawrence Yu, plans to invest $3.8m-5.2m(HK$30-40m) in a slate of high definition (HD) films, in an attempt to boost Hong Kong's flagging production industry.The company has lined up severalhigh-profile filmmakers to work on the digital slate including Fruit Chan andGordon ...

  • News

    Till says 'too early' to predict post-UIP plans

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    United International Pictures chairman and CEO Stewart Tilltold ScreenDaily.com today that it's "much tooearly" to predict his career path after UIP's planned restructuring at the endof 2006. He didn't, however, rule out the possibility suggested in aninterview with the UK's The Guardiannewspaper on September 30 that he'd establish a new ...

  • News

    Holroyd joins UK's Casarotto Ramsay agency

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    Rachel Holroyd will joinUK-based Casarotto Ramsay & Associates as an agent, effective November 1. Holroyd will serve on theboard and will work alongside Jenne Casarotto in the agency's film andtelevision department.Holroyd previously served ashead of business affairs at Working Title Films, managing director of TigerAspect Pictures, and most recently as ...

  • Reviews

    The White Masai (Die Weisse Massai)

    2005-09-30T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Hermine Huntgeburth.Ger. 2005. 132mins.Hermine Huntgeburth's TheWhite Masai (Die Weisse Massai) is much less good than it shouldhave been. True, it's handsomely and expensively mounted, beautifully andrigorously shot in an extremely photogenic Kenya, and has a political andcultural heart that is decidedly in the right place. But at two hours-plus ...

  • News

    CLT-Ufa acquires stake in Antena 3

    2000-05-24T10:53:00Z

    CLT-Ufa is to buy an 11% stake in Spanish free broadcaster Antena 3 in a move that further tightens an emerging European TV production and distribution network.According to unconfirmed reports, the stake is being sold by Bank Of New York and Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica will maintain an unchanged 47% ...