Small MPU – Page 572
-
News
Tsotsi, Look Both Ways win top prizes at Toronto
The Toronto InternationalFilm Festival ended on Saturday, with Gavin Hood's UK/South Africaco-production Tsotsi winning thecoveted People's Choice Award voted on by festival audiences. The award has, inthe past, signaled enormous popular successes such as Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon (2000), Amelie (2001), Whale Rider (2002) Zatoichi (2003), and last year Hotel Rwanda.Sarah ...
-
News
Spain names trio of films to fight for Oscar contention
The Spanish Film Academy hasselected three finalists for its nomination to the foreign-language Oscar,including Montxo Armendariz's Obaba, which inaugurated the 53rd Donosita-San Sebastian International FilmFestival on Thursday night.The other two finalists areJose Luis Garci's theatre adaptation Ninette and Fernando Leon's prostitute drama Princesas.The Academy, which createdthe two-tiered selection four years ...
-
News
Local films dominate San Sebastian opening weekend
Local films dominated the opening weekend of the 53rdannual Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival (Sept 15-24). Half of thecompetition titles to screen over the opening weekend were Spanish orSpain-backed. One of the festival's most highly anticipated world premieres, NineQueens director FabianBielinsky's2 hour 14 minutethrillerTheAura (El Aura), earned praise for its ...
-
News
Festival do Rio lines up programme of over 300 films
The Rio International FilmFestival, which takes place Sept 22 to Oct 6, has unveiled its programme ofover 300 features and documentaries from 60 countries.Sponsored by the City ofRio, the Secretary of Culture, Riofilme and Petrobras, the festival screens 28new Brazilian features and 21 shorts including ten new features in fictioncompetition ...
-
News
Yes takes private route after cancelling IPO
UK video-on-demand (VoD) pioneer Yes Television is to seek private finance having today called a halt to its London stockmarket flotation for the second time. Earlier this month Yes TV cut its planned sale price from 225p-275p a share to just 175p in an effort to get the float away ...
-
News
Inferno pacts with WiP, Castle Rock for Chaos Theory
Jim Seibel and BillJohnson's Inferno Distribution has closed a deal with Castle Rock Entertainmentand Warner Independent Pictures (WiP) to finance Chaos Theory, a comedy starring Ryan Reynolds which will bedirected by Marcos Siega (Pretty Persuasion, Underclassman).Reynolds plays a young manabout to run out on his wedding day, until he is ...
-
News
Reese Witherspoon beats out Emily Rose at US box office
DreamWorks' romantic comedy JustLike Heaven was the number onepicture of the weekend following an estimated $16.5m launch, while Lions Gate'saction title Lord Of War openedin third place on a so-so $9.2m. Meanwhile last weekend'schampion, Screen Gems' The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, slipped to second place on $15.3m for a commendable$52m ...
-
News
Pride & Prejudice enjoys $4.6m opening in UK for Universal/UIP
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory remained the number oneinternational release after an estimated $12.8m haul raised the cumulativetotal to $176.3m through Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI).Thehighlights were a $1.8m Korean launch including previews for an unconfirmed ranking, and number one launches in Norway and Sweden on $1.5m on 97 screens ...
-
News
Carmichael joins Goldcrest as director of acquisitions and development
Seth Carmichael has joined production and sales company GoldcrestFilms as director of acquisitions and development, effective immediately.Carmichael, a former producer and chief executive officer of thePR, marketing and sales outfit Carmichael Films, will operate out of the LosAngeles and New York offices and will attend festivals and markets worldwide."There is ...
-
News
Heirloom scares up strong opening weekend
Horror picture TheHeirloom has racked up the biggest opening for a local film in Taiwan this year, grossing $105,500 (NT$3.49m) over thethree-day weekend (Sept 16-18) in Taipei.Directed by newcomer LesteChen, the film was released by Buena Vista on 12 screens in Taipei and 50 nationwide. It came second in the ...
-
News
Ninja title Shinobi set for US remake
In a greeting to the audience on September 17, theopening day of his new film Shinobi, director Ten Shimoyama announcedthat a Hollywood company has offered to remake his ninja actioner - even beforeits release in Japan. Distributor and international sales company Shochiku hadscreened a 10-minute show reel of the film, ...
-
News
Falk's Collector gathers Polish Film Fest prizes
Veteran filmmaker FeliksFalk was the big winner at this year's 30th Polish Film Festival (Sept 12-17)in the Baltic port of Gdynia with his first film for 10 years, The Collector(Komornik), which picked up five prizes at the weekend's closing galaceremony.Falk and his producer JanuszMorgenstern of Film Studio Perspektywa received the ...
-
Reviews
El Aura
Dir/scr: Fabian Belinsky.Arg-Sp. 2005. 129mins.A successful debut filmis always a difficult act to follow. Argentine director Fabian Bielinsky dealswith the pressure by giving us what might be described as the anti Nine Queensin his follow-up feature, El Aura. That multi-territory hit, whichspawned the US remake Criminal, was as sharp as ...
-
News
France opts for Christmas as Oscar choice
France haschosen Christian Carion's Merry Christmas as this year's entry for thebest foreign language film Oscar, controversially overlooking box office smash MarchOf The Penguins.A committee made up of industry professionals includingCannes festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux and Unifrance presidentMargaret Menegoz selected the film which is set to be released by ...
-
Reviews
Manslaughter (Drabet)
Dir:Per Fly. Den. 2005. 105mins.Adark, controlled moral tragedy, Manslaughter is even more austere, evenmore relentless in its probings of the consequences of our wrong turns, thanPer Fly's previous film, Inheritance. Jesper Christensen, most recentlyseen in The Interpreter, delivers an outstanding performance as anacademic proponent of class resistance forced to live ...
-
News
Gregor to quit post as Forum head
Ulrich Gregor, head of the Forum section of the Berlin film festival, is to resign after next year's event. His departure will co-incide with the less amicable departure of the festival's chief selector Moritz De Hadeln.The 67-year-old Gregor, who has headed the Forum young directors' sidebar since 1971, said he ...
-
Reviews
In Her Shoes
Dir: Curtis Hanson. US.2005. 130mins.Curtis Hanson'sgenre-spanning career has included The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, TheRiver Wild, LA Confidential and 8 Mile - so it should come asno surprise that he is able to craft a superior tearjerker in his latest film InHer Shoes.The contemporary equivalentof what used to be ...
-
News
Shadowboxer sold to Italy in San Sebastian
Lee DanielsEntertainment closed a sale to Italy's Videa on Daniels' directorial debutShadowboxer at the San SebastianFilm Festival where it is in official selection. The film had its worldpremiere at Toronto.The company expects toannounce deals with the US and Spain in the days ahead.The film, which marks thedirectorial debut of producer ...
-
News
El Aura cleans up at Argentina box office
Fabian Bielinsky's El Aura (The Aura), his follow-up to local smash Nine Queens, has opened to record-breaking numbers in its hometerritory of Argentina.Producer Patagonik Filmsreported that the film was seen by a massive 120,000 spectators on its firstweekend out on 51 prints through Patagonik backer Buena Vista International(BVI).That figure is ...
-
News
Hanks joins Kimmel as senior vp of business & legal affairs
Nicholas Hanks has joinedSidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) in the new role of senior vice president ofbusiness and legal affairs.The former entertainmentlawyer will be based in Los Angeles and reports to Jim Tauber, who was namedSKE president in July.Hanks arrives from DavisWright Tremaine, where he served as an associate in the ...