Small MPU – Page 636
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News
Locarno boasts 12 premieres in competition line-up
LocarnoInternational Film Festival's Irene Bignardiis promising a journey into "uncharted territories"forher final year as artistic director with 12 world premieres in its 15-titlecompetition line-up of films.Whileadmitting that 2005 was "undoubtedly a complex and difficult year forinternational production", Bignardi told Screendaily.com that she"very happy that we discovered a number of films ...
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Locarno boasts 12 world premieres in main competition
Locarno International FilmFestival's Irene Bignardi is promising a journey into "unchartedterritories"for her final year as artistic director with 12 worldpremieres in its 15-title competition line-up of films.While admitting that 2005was "undoubtedly a complex and difficult year for internationalproduction", Bignardi told ScreenDaily.com that she was "veryhappy that we discovered a number ...
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Irish producers lobby for RTE backing
Irishproducer lobby group Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) has called on nationalbroadcaster RTE to invest more in local feature films.It told a parliamentary Committee on Communications todaythat it wants a fair deal with RTÉ on three issues: investment in indigenousfeature film, programme rights ownership; and guaranteed levels of indigenouslyproduced children's and ...
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Reviews
Festival
Dir/scr: Annie Griffin.UK. 2005 107mins.Festival is a deceptive affair. Early on, as we're introduced to agallery of aspiring comedians and actors, Annie Griffin's debut feature looksset to turn into a grating celebration of the Edinburgh Festival (the largestarts festival in the world) in all its full carnivalesque glory. There issomething ...
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Bertolucci, others sign up for Atomfilms shorts
Top theatrical directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Nicolas Roeg, Jim Jarmusch, Chris Marker and Aki Kaurismaki have signed up to make a collection of short films that will be screened on the Internet by webcaster and short films boutique Atomfilms. The quintet are the first of 15 leading directors committed to make ...
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Reviews
Guy X
Dir: Saul Metzstein.UK-Can-Ice. 2005. 94mins.One would love to like afilm that was one of the few survivors from the British film funding crunch inFebruary 2004. But despite some enjoyable satire along the way, Guy X,the second feature from Scottish director Saul Metzstein, never adds up to thesum of its parts.Set ...
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UK Film Council looks at supporting sales companies
The UK Film Council is to conduct research into ways thatit could provide support for sales companies operating out of the UK.The move follows the closure of four UK based salesoperations in the past three months: Renaissance Films, Element X, Portman andHBO Films.It also comes as senior figures from the ...
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Weinsteins team with Vertigo on Harry remake
The Weinstein Company hasteamed up with hot UK production outfit Vertigo Films to shoot Paranoia,an English language remake of French hit thriller Harry, He's Here ToHelp.The film will be directed byJonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) and will see its settingrelocated to New England in the US. However, the film will shoot ...
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Solo Project Greenlight winner rounds out cast
Veteran Australian actor Colin Friels is to star in Solo,the winner of Australia's Project Greenlight film-making competition.Friels,who has been in about 30 films, is taking the starring role of Barrett, anenforcer who wants to get out of working for a group of Sydney underworldbusinessmen known as The Gentlemen. BojanaNovakovic, Angie ...
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Cannes festival names Residence directors
The Cannes Film Festival has announced the names of the sixdirectors who will take part in the next Residence film-making workshop. The 11thsession of the Residence, a four-and-a-half month workshop during whichfilmmakers are given room and board while fine-tuning their first or secondprojects and the chance to meet with industry ...
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News
Capital, Sundance acquire domestic on Blue
Capital Entertainment hasacquired North American rights to Ira Sach's Sundance American Dramatic GrandJury Prize winner Forty Shades Of Blue, while the Sundance Channel has taken US pay TV rights.Capital, a fledgling LosAngeles-based distributor, plans a New York release in September and SundanceChannel will broadcast in 2006 following the theatrical and ...
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Major named production designer of the year by HFA
Grant Major will receive theproduction designer of the year award at the Hollywood Film Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills on Oct 24.Major is currently workingon Universal's upcoming release of King Kong, extending his relationship with Peter Jacksonfollowing their collaboration on The Lord Of The Rings.Major won the Oscar in 2004for ...
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News
Kaufman steps down at Focus to become producer
Focus Featuresexecutive vice president of production Amy Kaufman (pictured) is leaving her role to become an independent producer based at the studio.Effective in September, Kaufman will begin work asproducer or executive producer onseveral titles for Focus and its Rogue Pictures genre label.Kaufman has beenwith Focus since its formation in early ...
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News
Australia's RGM launches $100m Singapore facility
In a bid to strengthen itspresence in Asia, Australian production and talent management company RGM hasopened a new Singapore office armed with a US$100m media financing facilityopen to international film producers.RGM is looking to backmainly English-language projects with international potential. 'We are on the constantlookout for new materials. Through the ...
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Reviews
Charly (L'Avion)
Dir: Cedric Kahn. Fr-Ger.2005. 100mins.Making a family film thatappeals to young and more sophisticated audiences is not that easy - but it isa task that film-maker Cedric Kahn mostly succeeds in with Charly.Though no less than fivescreenwriters were involved, Kahn's feature tells the simple and well-wornstory of a young boy ...
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News
Lion's Gate smells Loach's Roses
Lions Gate Films has secured North American rights on Ken Loach's competition film Bread And Roses from UK sales house The Sales Co. Several other companies were circling the Los Angeles-set tale of striking janitors, but Lions Gate's Tom Ortenberg and Mark Urman clinched the deal through the company's distribution ...
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Reviews
Piccadilly Jim
Dir. John McKay. UK.2004. 97mins.John McKay's sophomorefeature Piccadilly Jim is one of those all-too common happenings incinema: a film that barely misses the mark when aiming at greatness, therebyinfuriating those who notice its failings and thus bringing the film down tothe level of 'having potential".Adapted by Oscar winnerJulian Fellowes (Gosford ...
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Japanese producers look to spark animal magic
Animal films are big again in Japan, after the thumpingsuccess last year of Yoichi Sai's Quill. Based on a true story, thisheart-warmer about a lovable blind dog and its grumpy middle-aged mastergrossed $20m (Y2.2bn) in Japan and was a hit across Asia. Japan's first cinematic animal wave -- or rather ...
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Mad Hot Ballroom leaps out of specialist arena
It wasclear to anyone who saw Marilyn Agrelo's appealing Slamdance documentary MadHot Ballroom earlier this year that the picture was special, and so it'sproved to be with filmgoers over the course of a storming run that promisesplenty more to come.ParamountClassics co-presidents David Dinerstein and Ruth Vitale "fell in love" with ...
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Empress Chung set for historic Korean release
Empress Chung, an animated feature based on a Korean folk tale, isset to become the first ever film to receive a simultaneous release in Northand South Korea.The $6m North-South Korean co-production will bere-dubbed into Pyongyang dialect by famous local actors and released into sixtheaters in North Korea on August 15.The ...