Small MPU – Page 866
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Features
International - A Slice of the action
While Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street was the highest entrant in this week's international box-office chart, there were a number of new European entries that catch the eye.The Warner Bros film, directed by Tim Burton, took $8,111,368 over the weekend, playing on 1,092 screens in five territories. ...
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Reviews
Possible Worlds
Dir: Robert Lepage. Canada. 2000. 93 min. Prod co: The East Side Film Company, In Extremis Images. Int'l sales: Alliance Atlantis International, tel: (1) 310 899 8000. Prod: Sandra Cunningham, Bruno Jobin. Scr: John Mighton, from his play. DoP: Jonathan Freeman. Ed: Susan Shipton. Prod des: Francois Seguin. Main cast: ...
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Features
The international view - Going for Oscar gold
Predicting the Oscar nominations is not an exact science, not least because the arcane voting system tends to throw up left-field candidates.The window of opportunity for distributors to cash in on a nomination is also very limited. But over the years, it has been possible to see a big picture. ...
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Reviews
The King of Ping Pong (Ping-Pongkingen)
Dir: Jens Jonsson. Sweden. 2007. 107 mins.Growing pains in a cold climate: this formula has reaped handsome dividends for Nordic cinema in the past, most spectacularly for Lasse Hallström's My Life as a Dog, and more modestly for Dagur Kári's Icelandic art-house hit of 2003 Noi Albinoi. Swedish comedy-drama The ...
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News
EU report says legal framework for VoD not solidly defined
The new legal framework for video-on-demand (VoD) services in Europe created under the European Commission's Audio Visual Media Services Directive may not be as solidly defined as expected. That is the conclusion of a report published today by the European Audiovisual Observatory. If true, it could open up a legal ...
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News
High Point expands with new Sydney-based operations led by Bowen
UK-based High Point Media Group has expanded its operations to now include Australia and New Zealand.Producer/writer Adam Bowen will head up the Sydney-based operations to source films and TV projects from Australia and New Zealand.Bowen will work closely with High Point's head of productions and acquisitions Carl Simons and head ...
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Reviews
Go with Peace, Jamil
Dir: Omar Shargawi, Denmark 2008, 90 minutesHigh on testosterone and sweaty machismo, Omar Shargawi's debut feature is let down by a lack of subtlety and some shallow characterisation. This is a revenge thriller set in the immigrant Arab community in Copenhagen. Sunnis are pitted against Shias. Shargawi shows plenty of ...
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News
EastWest takes on sales for Rotterdam title Worldrevolution
Sales company EastWest Filmdistribution has acquired worldwide rights to Worldrevolution According To Drahdiwaberl.Klaus Hundsbichler's film looks at the life of Vienna-based punk musician Stefan Weber and his revolutionary band Drahdiwaberl, which has been together for almost 40 years.Hundsbichler worked on the film for more than eight years. 'My most important ...
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News
Technicolor to move London West Drayton office to Pinewood Studios
Thomson has announced that it will relocate Technicolor London from its West Drayton location (home for more than 70 years) to a new post-production facility at Pinewood Studios.The new Technicolor at Pinewood location will offer integrated film and front-end services, release printing, and digital cinema distribution services.Technicolor will host a ...
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News
Mei Ah Entertainment sells BIG stake to mainland investor
Hong Kong producer-distributor Mei Ah Entertainment has sold a 21% stake in local production outfit BIG Media Group to Chinese investor Brandon Wen Rui Feng for $10.3m (HK$80m). Mei Ah bought a 44% share in BIG last year which was diluted to 23% following the placement of new shares. The ...
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News
Invicta Entertainment sets up shop Berlin
Production and financing outfit Invicta Entertainment has set up its headquarters in Berlin to produce films in the $1m-$10m range for the international market. With an in-house development team and access to private equity for development and production, Invicta will have the ability to acquire, develop and produce projects at ...
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News
Hauer joins van Houten in cast of Smoke And Ochre
Rutger Hauer and German actor Sebastian Koch have joined the cast of biopic Smoke And Ochre, to be directed by Dutch filmmaker Paula van der Oest. Dutch actress Carice van Houten plays the lead role of revolutionary South African writer Ingrid Jonker. Hauer will play her father while Koch will ...
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Reviews
The Weight Of Water
Dir: Kathryn Bigelow. US-Fr. 2000. 110 mins.Prod cos: Manifest Film Co, Palomar Pictures, Miracle Pictures. Int'l sales: Le Studio Canal Plus (33) 1 44 43 98 00. Exec prods: Lisa Henson, Steven-Charles Jaffe. Prods: Janet Yang, Joni Sighvatsson, A Kitman Ho. Scr: Alice Arlen, Chris Kyle, from the novel by ...
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News
Bavaria Film to unveil four market premieres at EFM
Bavaria Film International (BFI) will have four market premieres at the forthcoming European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin next week. These titles are in addition to the three films that the company has in Official Competition - Cherry Blossoms - Hanami, Restless and Black Ice.The four new titles showing at ...
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News
British Columbia boosts foreign production service tax credits to 25%
The province of British Columbia has boosted its production service tax credits, matching a recent rise in credits in Ontario and Quebec. The tax credit for foreign-financed productions will rise from 18 per cent of labour costs to 25 per cent, while the credit for local and qualifying coproductions, Film ...
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News
Eastern Promises, Shake Hands lead Canadian Genie nominations
David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises and Roger Spottiswoode's Shake Hands With The Devil are leading the nomination pack with 12 apiece as the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced the nominees for the 28th annual awards. Among the other titles nominated for best motion picture, Sarah Polley's Away From Her ...
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Reviews
Derek
Dir: Isaac Julien. UK. 2008. 76mins. A collaboration between film-maker Isaac Julien and actress Tilda Swinton, Derek is a fondly remembered film essay on the life and art of iconoclastic British film-maker Derek Jarman (1942-1994). The documentary is arranged through disparate parts that occasionally play against each other and sometimes ...
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News
Rotterdam short Tigers go to Rivers, Ho, Liotta
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has handed out the awards in its short film programme.The three Tiger Awards for Short Film went to Ah, Liberty! by Ben Rivers (UK), As I Lay Dying by Ho Yuhang (Malaysia) and Observando el cielo by Jeanne Liotta (US). Each comes with a ...
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Reviews
Baghead
Dir. Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass. USA, 2008, 84 minsIn this their second feature, the Duplass brothers have made a wildly funny parody of low-budget horror cinema, and created a bag-headed monster that has a no-budget franchise written all over it. Baghead should go right to the young audience that made ...
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News
Sony Pictures Television extends deal with ProSieben
Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has extended its relationship with Germany's ProSiebenSat 1 Group through a multi-year volume deal. The deal includes current and library feature films and TV programmes for the ProSieben's free-to-air channels.The line-up of feature films includes such blockbusters as Spider-Man 3, The Pursuit Of Happyness and ...