Mathieu Kassovitz was hailed as the heir to Truffaut after making La Haine in 1995. So why has he renounced French cinema after making his latest film, Rebellion?
Any doubts over Mathieu Kassovitz's feelings towards his national film industry were cleared up last year when he tweeted: "Bugger French cinema. Go fuck yourself with your shitty films." He's done with France. He's moved to Los Angeles. The tweet was in response to the César nominations, France's equivalent of the Oscars. In a field dominated by The Artist and Untouchable, Kassovitz's sober political thriller, Rebellion, received just one nomination, for best adapted screenplay.
"I wasn't hurt because they didn't want to give me a César, I was hurt because they didn't care about that kind of movie any more," says Kassovitz, who has previously won three Césars and never turned up to collect them. "It's a French story. It's craftsmanship. We...
Any doubts over Mathieu Kassovitz's feelings towards his national film industry were cleared up last year when he tweeted: "Bugger French cinema. Go fuck yourself with your shitty films." He's done with France. He's moved to Los Angeles. The tweet was in response to the César nominations, France's equivalent of the Oscars. In a field dominated by The Artist and Untouchable, Kassovitz's sober political thriller, Rebellion, received just one nomination, for best adapted screenplay.
"I wasn't hurt because they didn't want to give me a César, I was hurt because they didn't care about that kind of movie any more," says Kassovitz, who has previously won three Césars and never turned up to collect them. "It's a French story. It's craftsmanship. We...
- 4/18/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The Melbourne International Film Festival has announced a big line-up of films which screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
The announcement:
The 61st Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) will screen its biggest selection of films straight from the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Miff is one of the first festivals to screen these films after their world premiere at Cannes, meaning Melbourne audiences will be one of the first in the world to watch them after their debut on the French Riviera.
Over 35 films from Cannes are included in this year’s Festival line-up. Along with Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winning Amour, Benh Zeitlin’s Camera d’Or winner Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Wes Anderson’s Moonlight Kingdom, all announced in Miff’s First Glance on 5th June, Miff audiences will be treated to a huge selection of the world’s best filmmakers and films.
“Cannes is...
The announcement:
The 61st Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) will screen its biggest selection of films straight from the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Miff is one of the first festivals to screen these films after their world premiere at Cannes, meaning Melbourne audiences will be one of the first in the world to watch them after their debut on the French Riviera.
Over 35 films from Cannes are included in this year’s Festival line-up. Along with Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winning Amour, Benh Zeitlin’s Camera d’Or winner Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Wes Anderson’s Moonlight Kingdom, all announced in Miff’s First Glance on 5th June, Miff audiences will be treated to a huge selection of the world’s best filmmakers and films.
“Cannes is...
- 6/20/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
X-Men: First Class (12A)
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
- 6/3/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Fans of Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine's kooky sense of humour will be pleased to know the zany writing team behind last year's Mammuth - and 2004's darkly comic and highly inventive wheelchair road movie, Aaltra - are back with their latest offering, Louise-Michel.
The Euro is strong and orders are down in economically bad times, but, after reassurances from the factory bosses, the workers are given their own name-embroidered smocks. Yet upon arriving to work the next day they find, without any warning, that the factory has been shut down and decide to call a worker's meeting. As a result of said meeting, the workers are offered a mere 2,000 Euros for over 20 years work - an insulting offer that leaves a bitter taste - until ex-con Louise suggests they pool their resources and hire a hit-man to “whack” their unscrupulous bosses. Well, it's that or making a nude calendar.
The Euro is strong and orders are down in economically bad times, but, after reassurances from the factory bosses, the workers are given their own name-embroidered smocks. Yet upon arriving to work the next day they find, without any warning, that the factory has been shut down and decide to call a worker's meeting. As a result of said meeting, the workers are offered a mere 2,000 Euros for over 20 years work - an insulting offer that leaves a bitter taste - until ex-con Louise suggests they pool their resources and hire a hit-man to “whack” their unscrupulous bosses. Well, it's that or making a nude calendar.
- 5/2/2011
- Shadowlocked
Source Code (12A) (Duncan Jones, 2011, Us/Fra)
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright. 93 mins.
After cult hit Moon, Jones goes for the mainstream with a conceptual thriller that makes Christopher Nolan look soulless but would have Hitchcock scratching his head. The Deja Vu-meets-Groundhog Day plot forces Gyllenhaal's GI to relive the last eight minutes of a train bombing over and over till he finds the terrorist (experimental technology – don't ask). That shouldn't leave much time for relationships, big questions or light relief but it's all squeezed in, just about…
Sucker Punch (12A)
(Zack Snyder, 2011, Us/Can) Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone. 110 mins.
Zack Snyder shows you his fantasy, which turns out to consist of fetish-outfitted babes in scenarios out of computer games and women's prison movies, to a diluted alt soundtrack. This man needs help.
Oranges And Sunshine (15)
(Jim Loach, 2010, UK/Aus) Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving,...
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright. 93 mins.
After cult hit Moon, Jones goes for the mainstream with a conceptual thriller that makes Christopher Nolan look soulless but would have Hitchcock scratching his head. The Deja Vu-meets-Groundhog Day plot forces Gyllenhaal's GI to relive the last eight minutes of a train bombing over and over till he finds the terrorist (experimental technology – don't ask). That shouldn't leave much time for relationships, big questions or light relief but it's all squeezed in, just about…
Sucker Punch (12A)
(Zack Snyder, 2011, Us/Can) Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone. 110 mins.
Zack Snyder shows you his fantasy, which turns out to consist of fetish-outfitted babes in scenarios out of computer games and women's prison movies, to a diluted alt soundtrack. This man needs help.
Oranges And Sunshine (15)
(Jim Loach, 2010, UK/Aus) Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving,...
- 4/1/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Funny Balloons - the French sales company (founded in 03) has created a small niche of repertoire films, and are the folks behind some of my breakout favorites such as Chile's Tony Manero and Mexico's Lake Tahoe (both Cannes products). - Funny Balloons - the French sales company (founded in 03) has created a small niche of repertoire films, and are the folks behind some of my breakout favorites such as Chile's Tony Manero and Mexico's Lake Tahoe (both Cannes products). This year they'll be presenting Benda Bilili! in the Director's Fortnight (opening night slot) and they've got a promo reel for Pablo Larrain's Post Mortem (see pic above) - which I would now say is lining up for Venice preem. Circumstance by Maryam Keshavarz - Post-Production Mammuth by Benoît DelÉPine - Completed Post Mortem by Pablo LarraÍN - Post-Production Wandering Streams (Les Petits Ruisseaux...
- 5/11/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Funny Balloons - the French sales company (founded in 03) has created a small niche of repertoire films, and are the folks behind some of my breakout favorites such as Chile's Tony Manero and Mexico's Lake Tahoe (both Cannes products). This year they'll be presenting Benda Bilili! in the Director's Fortnight (opening night slot) and they've got a promo reel for Pablo Larrain's Post Mortem (see pic above) - which I would now say is lining up for Venice preem. Circumstance by Maryam Keshavarz - Post-Production Mammuth by Benoît DELÉPINE - Completed Post Mortem by Pablo LARRAÍN - Post-Production Wandering Streams (Les Petits Ruisseaux) by Pascal RABATÉ - Completed Benda Bilili! by Florent De La Tullaye - Completed Lake Tahoe by Fernando Eimbcke - Completed Louise-michel by Gustave Kervern - Completed Nowhere Man by Patrice Toye - Completed Tony Manero by Pablo LARRAÍN - Completed...
- 5/11/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Isabelle Huppert is teaming with the nutty Bouli Lanners (I last caught him in the little seen, bizarro comedy Louise-Michel) for an odd pairing between a prostitute and a shrink. Sans Queue Ni Tete (Cock and Bull) is being directed by Jeanne Labrune... - Isabelle Huppert is teaming with the nutty Bouli Lanners (I last caught him in the little seen, bizarro comedy Louise-Michel) for an odd pairing between a prostitute and a shrink. Sans Queue Ni Tete (Cock and Bull) is being directed by Jeanne Labrune with lensing beginning on Monday and roaming around into Belgium, Luxembourg and Paris. The cast replaces Michèle Laroque, François Berléand and Jean-Pierre Darroussin were originally on board. Co-written by Labrune and Richard Debuisne, this centres on Alice (Huppert), an independent prostitute who is tired of her job and plans to undergo psychoanalysis to find the strength to change her life.
- 12/13/2009
- by Ioncinema.com Staff
- IONCINEMA.com
"Eden Is West," co-written and directed by Costa-Gavras, was awarded the top prize by the jury of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. at the 13th annual City of Lights, City of Angels, a Week of French Film Premieres in Hollywood, which concluded Sunday at the Directors Guild Theatre.
Lafca's special prize went to "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," written and directed by Remi Bezancon. Actress Yolande Moreau was given a special mention for her work in "Seraphine," her Cesar Award-winning performance, as well as her turn in the comedy caper "Louise-Michel."
The closing film, Philippe Lioret's "Welcome," about a Kurdish youth's struggle to emigrate from Iraq to the U.K. via Calais, won the Colcoa audience award, while "Baby Love," written and directed by Vincent Garenq, garnered both the Colcoa first feature and audience special prize awards.
Audience special mention went to the gangster...
Lafca's special prize went to "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," written and directed by Remi Bezancon. Actress Yolande Moreau was given a special mention for her work in "Seraphine," her Cesar Award-winning performance, as well as her turn in the comedy caper "Louise-Michel."
The closing film, Philippe Lioret's "Welcome," about a Kurdish youth's struggle to emigrate from Iraq to the U.K. via Calais, won the Colcoa audience award, while "Baby Love," written and directed by Vincent Garenq, garnered both the Colcoa first feature and audience special prize awards.
Audience special mention went to the gangster...
- 4/27/2009
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Sticking to their usual habit of importing the Sundance film festival to the east coast side, the New Directors/New Films 2009 edition will be bookmarked by opening film selection Amreeka from first time filmmaker Cherien Dabis and ending it off with the impressive sophomore feature from Lee Daniels. Along with Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire (I'd be curious to see what distribution company "label" is shown before the film), the event will showcase many New York based filmmakers and some excellent quality affair in Sophie Barthes Cold Souls, So Yong Kim's 2nd film Treeless Mountain and a doc film that has surprisingly been unbought in Ondi Timone's We Live in Public. The 39th edition which runs March 25th to April 5th grabbed films dating back to Tiff and Venice of last year. Here is the list of selected titles. $9.99, dir. Tatia Rosenthal (Israel/Australia) Amreeka, dir.
- 2/13/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Awards were announced on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 and Lee Daniels’ examination of parental abuse and self-redemption in Harlem in the 1980s, “Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire,” won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the U.S. dramatic competition.
“Push” tells the story of an embattled teenageer living in 1980s Harlem.
Photo credit: Sundance/Variety “We Live in Public” won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary. The Chilean film “The Maid” by Sebastian Silva, won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. The audience award in World Cinema went to “An Education” by Lone Scherfig. The film recounts a 16-year-old girl’s adventures in early ’60s London.
Other winning documentaries besides Ondi Timoner’s look at Internet pioneer Josh Harris were “Rough Aunties” by Kim Longinotto, which won the World Cinema docu grand jury prize. The doc focuses on...
“Push” tells the story of an embattled teenageer living in 1980s Harlem.
Photo credit: Sundance/Variety “We Live in Public” won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary. The Chilean film “The Maid” by Sebastian Silva, won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. The audience award in World Cinema went to “An Education” by Lone Scherfig. The film recounts a 16-year-old girl’s adventures in early ’60s London.
Other winning documentaries besides Ondi Timoner’s look at Internet pioneer Josh Harris were “Rough Aunties” by Kim Longinotto, which won the World Cinema docu grand jury prize. The doc focuses on...
- 1/26/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
"Push," Lee Daniels' adaptation of performance poet Sapphire's novel about an abused, illiterate teenager struggling to break free from her hellish homelife in Harlem, was the big winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival, picking up both the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, with star Mo'Nique earning a Special Jury Prize for Acting. Ondi Timoner's film about dot-com golden boy Josh Harris "We Live in Public" snagged the Documentary Grand Jury Prize, while in the World category, Kim Longinotto's "Rough Aunties" and Sebastián Silva's "The Maid" were given awards. The complete list of awards follows:
The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to "We Live in Public," directed by Ondi Timoner. The film portrays the story of the Internet's revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris, and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.
The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to "We Live in Public," directed by Ondi Timoner. The film portrays the story of the Internet's revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris, and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.
- 1/25/2009
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
A story of an abused inner-city teenager trying to set her life right moved audiences and the jury at the Sundance Film Festival, as "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire," won both the grand jury award and the audience award in the U.S. dramatic competition in Park City.
The wins marked only the second time this decade that one film has taken both prizes -- Mexican-American coming-of-age tale "Quinceanera" did it in 2006 -- and proved another feather in the cap of the word-of-mouth sensation and its star, Gabourey Sidibe.
The movie, which Lee Daniels directed from a script by Damien Paul, picked up a third prize when Mo'Nique received a special jury award for her performance as an abusive mother. Cinetic Media is repping rights to the picture.
There were a number of multiple-award winners named when Jane Lynch hosted the...
The wins marked only the second time this decade that one film has taken both prizes -- Mexican-American coming-of-age tale "Quinceanera" did it in 2006 -- and proved another feather in the cap of the word-of-mouth sensation and its star, Gabourey Sidibe.
The movie, which Lee Daniels directed from a script by Damien Paul, picked up a third prize when Mo'Nique received a special jury award for her performance as an abusive mother. Cinetic Media is repping rights to the picture.
There were a number of multiple-award winners named when Jane Lynch hosted the...
- 1/24/2009
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
My first Sundance film Friday morning was Louise-Michel, a French-style mind-messing am-i-laughing-with-these-characters-or-at-them? transgendered revenge comedy playing in the Foreign Drama Competition. Yeah -- when will someone finally come up with some new stories in film making? Louise (Yolande Moreau) is a laborer at a local factory who comes to work one day to find the entire operation gone; abandoned alongside her co-workers, Louise -- who's not terribly bright -- suggests that they pool their severance and hire a hitman to kill the boss; she knows someone from when she was in prison. But Louise can't find her old confederate, and instead hires Michel (Bouli Lanners), a 'security expert' with no real clients, no phone, no e-mail and a variety of handmade guns courtesy of his engineer neighbor. The hunt is on! Oh, and Louise used to be a man and Michel used to be a woman. And Michel can't bring himself to kill,...
- 1/18/2009
- by James Rocchi
- Cinematical
U.S. Dramatic Competition
This year's 16 films were selected from 1,026 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.
Adam (Director-screenwriter: Max Mayer)
A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams. Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison.
Amreeka (Director-screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)
When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges. Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat.
Big Fan (Director-screenwriter: Robert Siegel)
The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants' biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player. Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (Director-screenwriter: John Krasinski)
When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation,...
This year's 16 films were selected from 1,026 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.
Adam (Director-screenwriter: Max Mayer)
A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams. Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison.
Amreeka (Director-screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)
When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges. Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat.
Big Fan (Director-screenwriter: Robert Siegel)
The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants' biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player. Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (Director-screenwriter: John Krasinski)
When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation,...
- 12/3/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The European Film Promotion (EFP) and the San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 18-27) launched a new promotion initiative entitled "European Distributors: Up Next".
Ten independent distributors from Central and Eastern Europe attending the festival discussed the possibilities of theatrical distribution on a European level. Since the majority of European producers do not cross national borders, the meetings in San Sebastian were aimed to create possible platform and networking opportunities to improve the circulation of European productions.
• From Slovenia, Natasa Bucar, project manager of the cultural center Cankarjev Dom, a public institution that organizes many events promoting film, including the Ljubljana International Film Festival has been in art film distribution for the last 15 years. They distribute five to six titles every year to fill the gap in theatrical distribution of European high-profile films in Slovenia. Priority is given to established and not always well-known European and other international filmmakers. Their last distributed titles were Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, Tony Gatlif’s ‘Transylvania’, Bent Hamer’s ‘Factotum’, Dagur Kari’s ‘Dark Horse’, Corneliu Porumboiu’s ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, Roy Andersson’s ‘You, the Living’, Pascale Ferran’s ‘Lady Chatterley’, Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.
Besides Cankarjev Dom, there are only four arthouse cinemas in Slovenia. They need more along with arthouse cinema networks to enable better film promotion. In Slovenia, like everywhere in Europe, the number of cinema viewers has fallen drastically. Audiences focus on fewer films, the top 20 films take up to almost 50% of the market in Slovenia.
• From Hungary, Rita Linda Potyondi of Cirko Film - Másképp Foundation, the only Hungarian distributor to operate as a non-profit-foundation, they also own one theater in Budapest. Working on a showstring budget, they are guided by personal tastes and focus on international and particularly European ‘difficult’ auteur films with targeted or limited audiences, especially those that explore themes related to discriminated groups: homosexuals, handicapped people, ethnic or religious minorities and victims of family abuse. Their last releases include films by Robert Guédiguian, Bruno Dumont, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Baltasar Kormakur, Alain Corneau, Bruno Podalydès, Bertrand Bonello, Claire Denis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Catalin Mitulescu and Oskar Roehler. A recent surprise success was Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘Adam's Apples’ which became a sort of cult film. They also did well with Palme d’Or-winner ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, and ‘Persepolis’, Susanne Bier’s ‘After the Wedding, ‘Red Road’, ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, ‘A Soap’, ‘Our Daily Bread’. Upcoming are the Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's ‘Lorna’s Silence’, Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Belepine’s ‘Louise Michel’, Nic Balthazar’s ‘Ben X’, Simon Staho’s ‘Heaven’s Heart’, Ole Christian Madsen’s ‘Kira’s Reason’, Josef Fares’ ‘Leo’, Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘The Green Butchers’ and ‘Flickering Lights’, and Ole Bornedal’s ‘Just Another Love Story’.
• Czech distributor Artcam’s Managing Director Premysl Martinek knows he is fighting an uphill battle. In 2007 combined total admissions for Artcam's films were under 50,000 — 0.4 percent of the national total. By comparison, leading distributor Falcon drew more than 4,000,000 viewers with its films, nearly a third of the market. However Martinek is convinced there is room in the market for small distributors and is interested in the shared challenges, from the opportunities offered by digital distribution and video-on-demand to how to negotiate with producers on minimum guarantees. The main problem is cultivating an audience. “It's very different from in Holland or Germany, where there are audiences for arthouse films,” he says.
Most of Artcam's target market is in Prague, home to roughly 1,000,000 people where European film is largely restricted to a handful of single-screen theatres, while the city's 14 multiplexes focus primarily on Hollywood imports and successful local films.
Artcam has distributed some of the most widely heralded European films of recent years, including Ole Madsen's drama ‘Prague’, ‘Persepolis’ and ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The international success of such films has attracted the attention of larger distributors who are now crowding the arena. This year in Cannes when they tried to acquire ‘Waltz with Bashir’, there was greater competition. Martinek says arthouse is an important part of any film culture, and lack of access to European films is hurting Czech cinema because if they lack exposure to the cinema of other countries, from new ways of narration, they cannot develop their own cinema. The Czech Ministry of Education has introduced media studies to secondary school curricula to show young people that film is “not just fun and popcorn. It's also art.”
• Polish distribution company Gutek’s Jakub Duszyński, artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theater also programs for the different festivals held at the theatre and for Poland’s largest film event, the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specializing in this type of film.
Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. Every year, they distribute two or three films not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles are Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ and ‘Control’. Coming up are Polish features including Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Four Nights With Anna’, Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s ‘0_1_0’ and Katarzyna Adamik’s ‘Boisko bezdomnych’. They distribute almost exclusively European films. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they may be inspired by European literature.
• Slovakia’s Michal Drobny is marketing manager for Slovak distributor Continental Film. Slovakia sees 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 admissions in a year. A successful film for Continental is 10,000 to 15,000 admissions, as compared to one of the Harry Potter films which will have 200,000 admissions.
Continental releases 30 to 40 films a year and, thanks largely to its partnership with Warner Bros, enjoys a market share of 20%–30%. Continental also serve as Slovak distribution partners for Hollywood Classic Entertainment, which often buys rights to European and arthouse titles for several Eastern European territories at once. Continental acquires other titles through direct negotiation with the producers, usually from the Czech Republic. Drobny seldom attends festivals other than Berlin. This year is his first visit to San Sebastian.
Margins are tight for Continental, which is the second or third largest distributor in Slovakia. Continental is also a 30% shareholder in Slovak multiplex chain Cinemax, which owns nine cinemas countrywide. Continental also operated Bratislava's only arthouse cinema until it was turned into a congress hall.
Continental counts on public money for a small portion of its operating budget. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives support up to a maximum of SKK 160,000 (€5,500) for the distribution of European films which covers the cost of two or three prints. Continental also receives funding through the MEDIA automatic support scheme, typically receiving 40 to 60 cents per admission for European films.
Drobny says this public support is welcome but it's seldom enough to make a real difference to distributors. “A print for a US title costs $300 [€210]. For a European title, the cost is $1,000–1500 [€700–1,000] for the print, plus I still need to pay for the all the marketing materials and the cost of subtitles,” he says. “We can't be surprised that American films are everywhere.”
Not surprisingly few European films secure distribution in Slovakia. Cinemax promotes European and arthouse film through its Artmax program and screens independent films once a week, sometimes for free. Current titles in the selection include ‘Good Bye, Lenin!’, ‘The Secret Life of Words’, ‘The Science of Sleep’, ‘Volver’ and ‘Angel’. In cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, Continental and Cinemax are creating a Spanish Days celebration of Spanish cinema at Cinemax locations in November.
Drobny has hopes that digital cinema will help small distributors, but believes it will be five to ten years before the major studios settle on a common format. Even then, the costs of converting screens will be challenging for the private sector. “To install one 2K digital system costs SKK 3m–4m [€100,000–132,000] and we have 37 screens, so it's a lot of money,” he says. “We'd like to invest but it will take a long time to see a return on that investment.”
• From Romania, Transilvania Film, founded by Tudor Giurgiu and currently run by Stefan Bradea is one of the successful pioneers of arthouse film distribution in Romania. At first they distributed mainly British, German and Scandinavian features but gradually turned to quality Romanian films, genre pictures, even some mainstream American movies. Their eclectic selection is targeted to the highly educated public, basically university graduates under 35. Their latest premiere was ‘Non pensarci’ by Gianni Zanasi, an Italian comedy. Coming up are Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and a few Romanian films: Horatiu Malaele’s ‘Silent Wedding’, Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Hooked’ and Anca Damian’s debut, ‘Crossing Dates’. Their most profitable film was Tudor Giurgiu’s ‘Love Sick’ with 20,800 admissions and a box office gross of over €50,000. Other successful features were Neil Burger’s ‘The Illusionist’, with 11,500 admissions, and ‘Paris Je T’Aime’, with 9,715 admissions.
Film distribution business in Romania is rather unstable. There are eight active distributors bringing 150-160 features every year to 40-50 screens around the country. The number of distributors is growing and it is becoming a overserved field.
The Romanian mainstream public has little interest in European arthouse film and there are very few available screens, no arthouse cinemas and a poor DVD and TV arthouse market. And there is competition among distributors.
• Stefan Kitanov is the founder of the most important annual film event in Bulgaria, the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2001 he founded ART FEST Ltd., the company behind Sofia IFF. The same company is one of the key European film distributors in Bulgaria. ART FEST Ltd. has three components: production, distribution and exhibition.
Most recent releases include Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’, ‘The Palermo Shooting ‘by Wim Wenders and ‘Delta’ by Kornel Mundruczo. The most successful releases were Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Crossing the Bridge’ by Fatih Akin with 8,000 to 10,000 admissions.
Such a distribution business is not profitable. Festival audiences like European films but the general audience likes Hollywood films. Festival audiences don’t go to regular cinemas. The general audience goes to regular cinemas, therefore European films don’t go regularly to mainstream cinemas. There need to be events around the distribution of European films so that they be seen, such as a traveling package going to different towns, whether it is with 35mm or video screenings. There are less than 30 towns in Bulgaria with cinemas.
• From Estonia, Katrin Rajaare of Tallinnfilm, a state-owned company that used to produce the majority of Estonian films during the Soviet era has stopped production and sold its studio and now focuses on restoration of its archives. In 2004, Tallinnfilm began operating as an arthouse cinema and a year later started a distribution operation to ensure continuous programming for the cinema. Tallinnfilm acquires the rights to 12-16 films a year, mostly European films, with some titles from Asia and the US. As a state-owned company, Tallinnfilm buys mostly Estonian theatrical rights only. It is the second largest distribution company in Estonia, with a market share of 2.6%. In the Baltic countries, all rights are acquired for smaller films and shared with Lithuania’s Skalvija and Latvia’s Kino Riga. Their biggest hit in 2007 was ‘La Vie en Rose’ with 9,606 paid admissions. This film was number 43 in the 2007 national box office chart. Only US and Estonian films were at the top of the chart. Recent acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ and ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ to be released around Christmas and the beginning of 2009.
There is a small, steady market for arthouse titles in the capital city of Tallinn, but the recent opening of a five-screen miniplex in the second city, Tartu (96,000 inhabitants), has brought hope from the outskirts as well. There are very few towns where you can screen European films, although the cinemas have received public support for technical equipment and should screen arthouse titles, but the reality is that you can’t force cinemas to screen certain films that won’t bring in audiences.
• From Lithuania Skalvija, an exhibitor since 1962 under the name of Planeta became the only arthouse in Lithuania in 1992. It has only one screen and 88 seats and is subsidized by the Vilnius Municipality. Located in the city center; it promotes quality cinema and pays special attention to young audiences and education. Its market share as an exhibitor is 1.11%. Two major multiplex theatres share 70 % of the entire Lithuanian exhibition market. Greta Akcijonaite heads its recent arthouse film distribution activity. Over the last two years they have released 10 films theatrically, and another 5 have been acquired for Lithuania and/or all the Baltic States. As a very small and specialized distributor, Skalvija has a market share of 0.64%. Most recent releases were the Danish film ‘Adam's Apples’, with almost 8,000 admissions and the Spanish film ‘Dark Blue Almost Black’ with over 6000 admissions. Recent acquisitions include Sam Garbarski’s ‘Irina Palm’ (Belgium/UK), Kornel Mundruczo’s ‘Delta’ (Hungary), the Palme d’Or winner ‘The Class’ (France) by Laurent Cantet, Thomas Clay’s ‘Soy Cowboy’ (Thailand/UK), Ruben Östlund’s’ Involuntary’ (Sweden), and Ilmar Raag’s ‘The Class’ (Estonia).
The market share of the European films released theatrically was 25% in 2007 although the share of admissions to European films was only 11%. There is definitely a lack of venues for screening European and quality films.
• Latvia’s Oskars Killo heads Acme Film Sia the leading independent film distributor in Latvia, established in 2004 and owned by Acme, a Lithuanian based company. The rights for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are bought by the mother company in Lithuania. In 2007, Acme Film had 62 theatrical releases and a 25% market share. In 2008, the number of films released will be the same, but the revenue is expected to be higher. In 2008, Acme Film has had such European successes as French films ‘99 Francs’ and ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, and Spain’s ‘The Orphanage’. The last European hit was ‘2 Days in Paris’, released on one print on July 4, 2008 and still in release with 12,500 admissions thus far. ‘Cash’ was released on one print on August 1 and has 8,500 admissions so far. The results for ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Cash’ are comparable to recent US releases in Latvia such as ‘The X-Files 2’, and ‘Disaster Movie’. Recent European acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, ‘Paris’, ‘JCVD’, ‘The Duchess’, ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’, ‘Vinyan’, ‘Ne te retourne pas’ among others.
In 2007, European films had a 18.3% market share, US films a 66% market share, the rest of the world 10.1% and national films a 5.5% market share.
Ten independent distributors from Central and Eastern Europe attending the festival discussed the possibilities of theatrical distribution on a European level. Since the majority of European producers do not cross national borders, the meetings in San Sebastian were aimed to create possible platform and networking opportunities to improve the circulation of European productions.
• From Slovenia, Natasa Bucar, project manager of the cultural center Cankarjev Dom, a public institution that organizes many events promoting film, including the Ljubljana International Film Festival has been in art film distribution for the last 15 years. They distribute five to six titles every year to fill the gap in theatrical distribution of European high-profile films in Slovenia. Priority is given to established and not always well-known European and other international filmmakers. Their last distributed titles were Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, Tony Gatlif’s ‘Transylvania’, Bent Hamer’s ‘Factotum’, Dagur Kari’s ‘Dark Horse’, Corneliu Porumboiu’s ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, Roy Andersson’s ‘You, the Living’, Pascale Ferran’s ‘Lady Chatterley’, Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.
Besides Cankarjev Dom, there are only four arthouse cinemas in Slovenia. They need more along with arthouse cinema networks to enable better film promotion. In Slovenia, like everywhere in Europe, the number of cinema viewers has fallen drastically. Audiences focus on fewer films, the top 20 films take up to almost 50% of the market in Slovenia.
• From Hungary, Rita Linda Potyondi of Cirko Film - Másképp Foundation, the only Hungarian distributor to operate as a non-profit-foundation, they also own one theater in Budapest. Working on a showstring budget, they are guided by personal tastes and focus on international and particularly European ‘difficult’ auteur films with targeted or limited audiences, especially those that explore themes related to discriminated groups: homosexuals, handicapped people, ethnic or religious minorities and victims of family abuse. Their last releases include films by Robert Guédiguian, Bruno Dumont, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Baltasar Kormakur, Alain Corneau, Bruno Podalydès, Bertrand Bonello, Claire Denis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Catalin Mitulescu and Oskar Roehler. A recent surprise success was Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘Adam's Apples’ which became a sort of cult film. They also did well with Palme d’Or-winner ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, and ‘Persepolis’, Susanne Bier’s ‘After the Wedding, ‘Red Road’, ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, ‘A Soap’, ‘Our Daily Bread’. Upcoming are the Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's ‘Lorna’s Silence’, Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Belepine’s ‘Louise Michel’, Nic Balthazar’s ‘Ben X’, Simon Staho’s ‘Heaven’s Heart’, Ole Christian Madsen’s ‘Kira’s Reason’, Josef Fares’ ‘Leo’, Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘The Green Butchers’ and ‘Flickering Lights’, and Ole Bornedal’s ‘Just Another Love Story’.
• Czech distributor Artcam’s Managing Director Premysl Martinek knows he is fighting an uphill battle. In 2007 combined total admissions for Artcam's films were under 50,000 — 0.4 percent of the national total. By comparison, leading distributor Falcon drew more than 4,000,000 viewers with its films, nearly a third of the market. However Martinek is convinced there is room in the market for small distributors and is interested in the shared challenges, from the opportunities offered by digital distribution and video-on-demand to how to negotiate with producers on minimum guarantees. The main problem is cultivating an audience. “It's very different from in Holland or Germany, where there are audiences for arthouse films,” he says.
Most of Artcam's target market is in Prague, home to roughly 1,000,000 people where European film is largely restricted to a handful of single-screen theatres, while the city's 14 multiplexes focus primarily on Hollywood imports and successful local films.
Artcam has distributed some of the most widely heralded European films of recent years, including Ole Madsen's drama ‘Prague’, ‘Persepolis’ and ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The international success of such films has attracted the attention of larger distributors who are now crowding the arena. This year in Cannes when they tried to acquire ‘Waltz with Bashir’, there was greater competition. Martinek says arthouse is an important part of any film culture, and lack of access to European films is hurting Czech cinema because if they lack exposure to the cinema of other countries, from new ways of narration, they cannot develop their own cinema. The Czech Ministry of Education has introduced media studies to secondary school curricula to show young people that film is “not just fun and popcorn. It's also art.”
• Polish distribution company Gutek’s Jakub Duszyński, artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theater also programs for the different festivals held at the theatre and for Poland’s largest film event, the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specializing in this type of film.
Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. Every year, they distribute two or three films not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles are Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ and ‘Control’. Coming up are Polish features including Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Four Nights With Anna’, Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s ‘0_1_0’ and Katarzyna Adamik’s ‘Boisko bezdomnych’. They distribute almost exclusively European films. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they may be inspired by European literature.
• Slovakia’s Michal Drobny is marketing manager for Slovak distributor Continental Film. Slovakia sees 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 admissions in a year. A successful film for Continental is 10,000 to 15,000 admissions, as compared to one of the Harry Potter films which will have 200,000 admissions.
Continental releases 30 to 40 films a year and, thanks largely to its partnership with Warner Bros, enjoys a market share of 20%–30%. Continental also serve as Slovak distribution partners for Hollywood Classic Entertainment, which often buys rights to European and arthouse titles for several Eastern European territories at once. Continental acquires other titles through direct negotiation with the producers, usually from the Czech Republic. Drobny seldom attends festivals other than Berlin. This year is his first visit to San Sebastian.
Margins are tight for Continental, which is the second or third largest distributor in Slovakia. Continental is also a 30% shareholder in Slovak multiplex chain Cinemax, which owns nine cinemas countrywide. Continental also operated Bratislava's only arthouse cinema until it was turned into a congress hall.
Continental counts on public money for a small portion of its operating budget. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives support up to a maximum of SKK 160,000 (€5,500) for the distribution of European films which covers the cost of two or three prints. Continental also receives funding through the MEDIA automatic support scheme, typically receiving 40 to 60 cents per admission for European films.
Drobny says this public support is welcome but it's seldom enough to make a real difference to distributors. “A print for a US title costs $300 [€210]. For a European title, the cost is $1,000–1500 [€700–1,000] for the print, plus I still need to pay for the all the marketing materials and the cost of subtitles,” he says. “We can't be surprised that American films are everywhere.”
Not surprisingly few European films secure distribution in Slovakia. Cinemax promotes European and arthouse film through its Artmax program and screens independent films once a week, sometimes for free. Current titles in the selection include ‘Good Bye, Lenin!’, ‘The Secret Life of Words’, ‘The Science of Sleep’, ‘Volver’ and ‘Angel’. In cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, Continental and Cinemax are creating a Spanish Days celebration of Spanish cinema at Cinemax locations in November.
Drobny has hopes that digital cinema will help small distributors, but believes it will be five to ten years before the major studios settle on a common format. Even then, the costs of converting screens will be challenging for the private sector. “To install one 2K digital system costs SKK 3m–4m [€100,000–132,000] and we have 37 screens, so it's a lot of money,” he says. “We'd like to invest but it will take a long time to see a return on that investment.”
• From Romania, Transilvania Film, founded by Tudor Giurgiu and currently run by Stefan Bradea is one of the successful pioneers of arthouse film distribution in Romania. At first they distributed mainly British, German and Scandinavian features but gradually turned to quality Romanian films, genre pictures, even some mainstream American movies. Their eclectic selection is targeted to the highly educated public, basically university graduates under 35. Their latest premiere was ‘Non pensarci’ by Gianni Zanasi, an Italian comedy. Coming up are Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and a few Romanian films: Horatiu Malaele’s ‘Silent Wedding’, Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Hooked’ and Anca Damian’s debut, ‘Crossing Dates’. Their most profitable film was Tudor Giurgiu’s ‘Love Sick’ with 20,800 admissions and a box office gross of over €50,000. Other successful features were Neil Burger’s ‘The Illusionist’, with 11,500 admissions, and ‘Paris Je T’Aime’, with 9,715 admissions.
Film distribution business in Romania is rather unstable. There are eight active distributors bringing 150-160 features every year to 40-50 screens around the country. The number of distributors is growing and it is becoming a overserved field.
The Romanian mainstream public has little interest in European arthouse film and there are very few available screens, no arthouse cinemas and a poor DVD and TV arthouse market. And there is competition among distributors.
• Stefan Kitanov is the founder of the most important annual film event in Bulgaria, the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2001 he founded ART FEST Ltd., the company behind Sofia IFF. The same company is one of the key European film distributors in Bulgaria. ART FEST Ltd. has three components: production, distribution and exhibition.
Most recent releases include Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’, ‘The Palermo Shooting ‘by Wim Wenders and ‘Delta’ by Kornel Mundruczo. The most successful releases were Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Crossing the Bridge’ by Fatih Akin with 8,000 to 10,000 admissions.
Such a distribution business is not profitable. Festival audiences like European films but the general audience likes Hollywood films. Festival audiences don’t go to regular cinemas. The general audience goes to regular cinemas, therefore European films don’t go regularly to mainstream cinemas. There need to be events around the distribution of European films so that they be seen, such as a traveling package going to different towns, whether it is with 35mm or video screenings. There are less than 30 towns in Bulgaria with cinemas.
• From Estonia, Katrin Rajaare of Tallinnfilm, a state-owned company that used to produce the majority of Estonian films during the Soviet era has stopped production and sold its studio and now focuses on restoration of its archives. In 2004, Tallinnfilm began operating as an arthouse cinema and a year later started a distribution operation to ensure continuous programming for the cinema. Tallinnfilm acquires the rights to 12-16 films a year, mostly European films, with some titles from Asia and the US. As a state-owned company, Tallinnfilm buys mostly Estonian theatrical rights only. It is the second largest distribution company in Estonia, with a market share of 2.6%. In the Baltic countries, all rights are acquired for smaller films and shared with Lithuania’s Skalvija and Latvia’s Kino Riga. Their biggest hit in 2007 was ‘La Vie en Rose’ with 9,606 paid admissions. This film was number 43 in the 2007 national box office chart. Only US and Estonian films were at the top of the chart. Recent acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ and ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ to be released around Christmas and the beginning of 2009.
There is a small, steady market for arthouse titles in the capital city of Tallinn, but the recent opening of a five-screen miniplex in the second city, Tartu (96,000 inhabitants), has brought hope from the outskirts as well. There are very few towns where you can screen European films, although the cinemas have received public support for technical equipment and should screen arthouse titles, but the reality is that you can’t force cinemas to screen certain films that won’t bring in audiences.
• From Lithuania Skalvija, an exhibitor since 1962 under the name of Planeta became the only arthouse in Lithuania in 1992. It has only one screen and 88 seats and is subsidized by the Vilnius Municipality. Located in the city center; it promotes quality cinema and pays special attention to young audiences and education. Its market share as an exhibitor is 1.11%. Two major multiplex theatres share 70 % of the entire Lithuanian exhibition market. Greta Akcijonaite heads its recent arthouse film distribution activity. Over the last two years they have released 10 films theatrically, and another 5 have been acquired for Lithuania and/or all the Baltic States. As a very small and specialized distributor, Skalvija has a market share of 0.64%. Most recent releases were the Danish film ‘Adam's Apples’, with almost 8,000 admissions and the Spanish film ‘Dark Blue Almost Black’ with over 6000 admissions. Recent acquisitions include Sam Garbarski’s ‘Irina Palm’ (Belgium/UK), Kornel Mundruczo’s ‘Delta’ (Hungary), the Palme d’Or winner ‘The Class’ (France) by Laurent Cantet, Thomas Clay’s ‘Soy Cowboy’ (Thailand/UK), Ruben Östlund’s’ Involuntary’ (Sweden), and Ilmar Raag’s ‘The Class’ (Estonia).
The market share of the European films released theatrically was 25% in 2007 although the share of admissions to European films was only 11%. There is definitely a lack of venues for screening European and quality films.
• Latvia’s Oskars Killo heads Acme Film Sia the leading independent film distributor in Latvia, established in 2004 and owned by Acme, a Lithuanian based company. The rights for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are bought by the mother company in Lithuania. In 2007, Acme Film had 62 theatrical releases and a 25% market share. In 2008, the number of films released will be the same, but the revenue is expected to be higher. In 2008, Acme Film has had such European successes as French films ‘99 Francs’ and ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, and Spain’s ‘The Orphanage’. The last European hit was ‘2 Days in Paris’, released on one print on July 4, 2008 and still in release with 12,500 admissions thus far. ‘Cash’ was released on one print on August 1 and has 8,500 admissions so far. The results for ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Cash’ are comparable to recent US releases in Latvia such as ‘The X-Files 2’, and ‘Disaster Movie’. Recent European acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, ‘Paris’, ‘JCVD’, ‘The Duchess’, ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’, ‘Vinyan’, ‘Ne te retourne pas’ among others.
In 2007, European films had a 18.3% market share, US films a 66% market share, the rest of the world 10.1% and national films a 5.5% market share.
- 10/11/2008
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.