The 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) will take place on December 8 at the Roundhouse in Camden. The ceremony will mark a return for the BIFAs, which were last held at the storied London venue in 2007.
“We’re delighted to be returning to Roundhouse this year. The opportunity to work with our production partners and the brilliant team at the venue to do something different and really special in the space is incredibly exciting for us, and we hope for the industry we celebrate too,” said BIFA directors Amy Gustin and Deena Wallace.
The BIFAs have been staged at Old Billingsgate in the City of London for the last 14 years. The awards body’s last outing in Camden was hosted by James Nesbitt. Guests and honorees included Judi Dench, Daniel Craig, Ray Winstone, Jamie Bell, Sam Riley, Carey Mulligan, and Tilda Swinton. Film winners on the night included Control, Notes on a Scandal,...
“We’re delighted to be returning to Roundhouse this year. The opportunity to work with our production partners and the brilliant team at the venue to do something different and really special in the space is incredibly exciting for us, and we hope for the industry we celebrate too,” said BIFA directors Amy Gustin and Deena Wallace.
The BIFAs have been staged at Old Billingsgate in the City of London for the last 14 years. The awards body’s last outing in Camden was hosted by James Nesbitt. Guests and honorees included Judi Dench, Daniel Craig, Ray Winstone, Jamie Bell, Sam Riley, Carey Mulligan, and Tilda Swinton. Film winners on the night included Control, Notes on a Scandal,...
- 3/26/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been a minute since we heard from Hungarian filmmaker Nimród Antal. After his international debut “Kontrol” proved to be a modest hit, Hollywood came knocking (20007’s “Vacancy” and 2009’s “Armored”), and he was handpicked by Robert Rodriguez to direct the 2010 “Predators” sequel that never really caught fire. Antal’s done work since those movies, obviously, but he’s taking another big shot at global exposure with “Retribution,” a new revenge thriller starring action dad Liam Neeson.
Continue reading ‘Retribution’ Trailer: Liam Neeson Stars In Nimród Antal’s Remake Of Spanish Action Thriller at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Retribution’ Trailer: Liam Neeson Stars In Nimród Antal’s Remake Of Spanish Action Thriller at The Playlist.
- 6/28/2023
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Exclusive: Hot off wrapping season one of Amazon’s mega-budget The Lord Of The Rings series, Saint Maud star Morfydd Clark is attached to star alongside Sam Riley (Control) and Dominic Cooper (Preacher) in revenge thriller The Duchess Of Malfi.
Guillem Morales (Julia’s Eyes) is helming the project from Miriam Segal’s Good Films Collective (Postcard Killings). Luke Garrett has adapted the classic Jacobean play by John Webster. The story follows the recently widowed Duchess (Clark) who falls in love with her steward Antonio. Their union sets in motion a conflict with her cruel and vengeful brothers, thde Cardinal and Ferdinand, who enlist the spy Bosola to keep her from escaping their control.
WestEnd Films has picked up worldwide sales rights and will introduce the project at the virtual Toronto market. Filming is set to start in November in Italy.
Additional cast includes Freddie Fox (The Three Musketeers) and Frank Dillane...
Guillem Morales (Julia’s Eyes) is helming the project from Miriam Segal’s Good Films Collective (Postcard Killings). Luke Garrett has adapted the classic Jacobean play by John Webster. The story follows the recently widowed Duchess (Clark) who falls in love with her steward Antonio. Their union sets in motion a conflict with her cruel and vengeful brothers, thde Cardinal and Ferdinand, who enlist the spy Bosola to keep her from escaping their control.
WestEnd Films has picked up worldwide sales rights and will introduce the project at the virtual Toronto market. Filming is set to start in November in Italy.
Additional cast includes Freddie Fox (The Three Musketeers) and Frank Dillane...
- 8/27/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Studiocanal, The Picture Company and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Ombra Productions have set Nimród Antal to direct Liam Neeson in Retribution, a thriller that puts a businessman in a Speed-like dilemma when he discovers that a bomb has been planted in the car he’s driving by an unknown assailant, who tells the driver to execute a series of commands throughout the day or the bomb will be detonated. Making things worse, the businessman is accompanied in the car by his family.
Studiocanal is fully financing and will sell worldwide territories at the American Film Market and release in its own territories in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Pic is a remake of the acclaimed Spanish film El Desconocido, with a script by Chris Salmanpour and Andrew Baldwin. The original got eight Goya Award nominations when released in Spain in 2015.
The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona & Alex Heineman,...
Studiocanal is fully financing and will sell worldwide territories at the American Film Market and release in its own territories in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Pic is a remake of the acclaimed Spanish film El Desconocido, with a script by Chris Salmanpour and Andrew Baldwin. The original got eight Goya Award nominations when released in Spain in 2015.
The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona & Alex Heineman,...
- 11/9/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Matthew Byrd Feb 14, 2020
Following the success of Control, Remedy is preparing for what comes next.
Remedy, the studio behind games such as Alan Wake, Max Payne, and Control, has confirmed that they are working on three new projects, one of which is described as a live service game.
We already know that the first game is a single-player campaign for CrossFireX. If that name doesn't ring a bell, don't be surprised. The original Crossfire was an incredibly popular title in parts of Asia, but it never really made much of an impact in the West. The hope is that CrossFireX will be more of a global sensation when it debuts on Xbox One in 2020, and developer Smilegate Entertainment is certainly smart to have reached out to Remedy for assistance with the single-player portion of the game. We're excited to see what they come up with for a title that is...
Following the success of Control, Remedy is preparing for what comes next.
Remedy, the studio behind games such as Alan Wake, Max Payne, and Control, has confirmed that they are working on three new projects, one of which is described as a live service game.
We already know that the first game is a single-player campaign for CrossFireX. If that name doesn't ring a bell, don't be surprised. The original Crossfire was an incredibly popular title in parts of Asia, but it never really made much of an impact in the West. The hope is that CrossFireX will be more of a global sensation when it debuts on Xbox One in 2020, and developer Smilegate Entertainment is certainly smart to have reached out to Remedy for assistance with the single-player portion of the game. We're excited to see what they come up with for a title that is...
- 2/14/2020
- Den of Geek
Janet Jackson will kick off her 2020 Black Diamond World Tour this summer in North America, the singer announced on Monday.
The tour will feature all-new songs from her upcoming studio album, Black Diamond, set for release later this year, as well as a special performance for the 30th anniversary of her multi-platinum LP Rhythm Nation 1814.
Jackson will first perform in Miami on June 24th, visiting major cities across the U.S. and Canada before wrapping the North American leg on August 23rd, at the Tacoma Dome in Washington State. The...
The tour will feature all-new songs from her upcoming studio album, Black Diamond, set for release later this year, as well as a special performance for the 30th anniversary of her multi-platinum LP Rhythm Nation 1814.
Jackson will first perform in Miami on June 24th, visiting major cities across the U.S. and Canada before wrapping the North American leg on August 23rd, at the Tacoma Dome in Washington State. The...
- 2/10/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
There are many surprises contained within Avenue 5, HBO’s new sci-fi comedy about a space cruise to Saturn that goes awry. Some of these are good, and it would ruin many of the show’s jokes to reveal them here. But the biggest surprise is a disappointing one: that Veep creator Armando Ianucci’s first TV series since he left behind Selina Meyer is kind of an unwieldy mess. The good surprises may eventually solve the bad one, but it’s hard to tell based on the four episodes provided for review.
- 1/14/2020
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Buck Henry, the legendary screenwriter behind The Graduate and What’s Up, Doc? who also co-created Get Smart and was a regular presence in the early years of Saturday Night Live, died tonight of a heart attack at Cedars-Sinai Health Center in Los Angeles. He was 89.
A family member confirmed the news to Deadline.
Henry scored a pair of Oscar nominations — one for his and Calder Willingham’s adapted screenplay for The Graduate and another for directing with Warren Beatty the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait. He also won a writing Emmy in 1967 for Get Smart, the spy spoof he created with Mel Brooks, among many other accolades.
He became a familiar face to a new generation of TV viewers by hosting Saturday Night Live several times during its first five seasons. He might be best remembered as John Belushi’s foil in the classic “Samurai” skits.
Henry also had more...
A family member confirmed the news to Deadline.
Henry scored a pair of Oscar nominations — one for his and Calder Willingham’s adapted screenplay for The Graduate and another for directing with Warren Beatty the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait. He also won a writing Emmy in 1967 for Get Smart, the spy spoof he created with Mel Brooks, among many other accolades.
He became a familiar face to a new generation of TV viewers by hosting Saturday Night Live several times during its first five seasons. He might be best remembered as John Belushi’s foil in the classic “Samurai” skits.
Henry also had more...
- 1/9/2020
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Sneak Peek more new footage from the latest Marvel Studios Virtual Reality experience, "Avengers: Damage Control", produced by ILMxLAB, enabling fans to become immersed into the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe', defending the 'Wakandan Outreach Centers' from a familiar enemy, while fighting alongside 'Doctor Strange' (Benedict Cumberbatch), 'Ant-Man' (Paul Rudd), the 'Wasp' (Evangeline Lily) and a whole lot more:
"...assemble alongside Earth's mightiest heroes in 'Avengers: Damage Control', an all-new virtual reality adventure from Marvel Studios and ILMxLAB. 'Shuri' has recruited your team of four to test her latest prototype design, a powerful new suit that combines 'Wakandan' and 'Stark Industries' technologies.
"Then when when a familiar enemy from the Avengers' past seeks to steal the technology for themselves, your team must stop them before they unleash an oppressive new age upon the planet. Fight alongside some of your favorite Avengers in a race to protect the world.
"...assemble alongside Earth's mightiest heroes in 'Avengers: Damage Control', an all-new virtual reality adventure from Marvel Studios and ILMxLAB. 'Shuri' has recruited your team of four to test her latest prototype design, a powerful new suit that combines 'Wakandan' and 'Stark Industries' technologies.
"Then when when a familiar enemy from the Avengers' past seeks to steal the technology for themselves, your team must stop them before they unleash an oppressive new age upon the planet. Fight alongside some of your favorite Avengers in a race to protect the world.
- 1/3/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Exclusive: Former Bones co-showrunner Jon Collier is returning to the forensic crime drama procedural genre with No Stone Unturned, which is in development at NBC. The project, which like Bones is based on a book, hails from Universal TV and Todd Milliner and Sean Hayes’ studio-based Hazy Mills Prods.
Written by Collier, No Stone Unturned is based on the book No Stone Unturned: The Story of NecroSearch International by Steve Jackson. The character driven procedural is inspired by the real necrosearch investigation team, a group of the nation’s top scientists, specialists and behaviorists who use the latest technology and the most advanced techniques to solve unsolvable crimes.
Collier executive producers with Hazy Mills’ Milliner and Hayes.
This marks Collier’s second sale as a writer/executive producer this season. He also has medical drama Control, with Josh Berman and Sony Pictures TV, in the works at CBS.
Collier most...
Written by Collier, No Stone Unturned is based on the book No Stone Unturned: The Story of NecroSearch International by Steve Jackson. The character driven procedural is inspired by the real necrosearch investigation team, a group of the nation’s top scientists, specialists and behaviorists who use the latest technology and the most advanced techniques to solve unsolvable crimes.
Collier executive producers with Hazy Mills’ Milliner and Hayes.
This marks Collier’s second sale as a writer/executive producer this season. He also has medical drama Control, with Josh Berman and Sony Pictures TV, in the works at CBS.
Collier most...
- 12/17/2019
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
John Saavedra Dec 12, 2019
Don't miss any of the big winners or announcements at The Game Awards 2019. You can watch the show live right here!
The Game Awards is the video game industry's biggest celebration of the year, honoring the latest and greatest in gaming. The 2019 ceremony is almost here and the nominees are some of the best games we've played this year.
The 2019 Game of the Year nominees are Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Other games with at least 3 nominations include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy Xiv, Fortnite, Gris, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts.
You can see a full list of the nominees, as well as some prediction as to which game might win each category, here. Gamers looking to vote for their favorite games at The Game Awards 2019 can do...
Don't miss any of the big winners or announcements at The Game Awards 2019. You can watch the show live right here!
The Game Awards is the video game industry's biggest celebration of the year, honoring the latest and greatest in gaming. The 2019 ceremony is almost here and the nominees are some of the best games we've played this year.
The 2019 Game of the Year nominees are Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Other games with at least 3 nominations include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy Xiv, Fortnite, Gris, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts.
You can see a full list of the nominees, as well as some prediction as to which game might win each category, here. Gamers looking to vote for their favorite games at The Game Awards 2019 can do...
- 12/12/2019
- Den of Geek
Could Julian Day be the unofficial go-to costume designer for movies about icons? With films such as “Control” (Joy Division), “Nowhere Boy” (John Lennon), “Rush”, “Diana” (Princess Di) and “Bohemian
Rhapsody” (Freddie Mercury and Queen) on his eclectic resume, Day’s grasp of what directors and actors need to create the right tone and larger-than-life characters can be seen in “Rocketman.” The Elton John biopic stars Taron Egerton as John, and his costumes had to not only look authentic, but also had to stand up to the rigors of filming as well as performing, given John’s legendary onstage antics. Day also got to show off his knowledge on last season’s “Project Runway,” which mounted an Elton John costume challenge, with Day as the guest judge.
How did you find yourself in the throes of 1970s rock stardom again?
I worked with Dexter [Fletcher] on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Freddie Mercury was flamboyant,...
Rhapsody” (Freddie Mercury and Queen) on his eclectic resume, Day’s grasp of what directors and actors need to create the right tone and larger-than-life characters can be seen in “Rocketman.” The Elton John biopic stars Taron Egerton as John, and his costumes had to not only look authentic, but also had to stand up to the rigors of filming as well as performing, given John’s legendary onstage antics. Day also got to show off his knowledge on last season’s “Project Runway,” which mounted an Elton John costume challenge, with Day as the guest judge.
How did you find yourself in the throes of 1970s rock stardom again?
I worked with Dexter [Fletcher] on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Freddie Mercury was flamboyant,...
- 12/4/2019
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
Happy Holidays, dear readers! It’s that time of year once again where we here at Daily Dead celebrate the season of savings and celebrate all kinds of horror and sci-fi gift ideas out there that would make any genre geek happy to receive.
Over the next few weeks, Dd’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide will bring you the lowdown on tons of deals and discounts that are being offered up by an array of retailers, as well as dedicated themed days where we’ll be celebrating some of our favorite gift ideas, including movies, books, artwork, apparel, collectibles, enamel pins, vinyl selections, and so much more.
For this first installment, here’s a look at some of the already announced Black Friday deals that horror fans should keep an eye out for, as well as a recap of all the movies and video games that will be on sale this Black Friday at Target,...
Over the next few weeks, Dd’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide will bring you the lowdown on tons of deals and discounts that are being offered up by an array of retailers, as well as dedicated themed days where we’ll be celebrating some of our favorite gift ideas, including movies, books, artwork, apparel, collectibles, enamel pins, vinyl selections, and so much more.
For this first installment, here’s a look at some of the already announced Black Friday deals that horror fans should keep an eye out for, as well as a recap of all the movies and video games that will be on sale this Black Friday at Target,...
- 11/27/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
John Saavedra Matthew Byrd Dec 13, 2019
The Game Awards 2019 are happening in December. Here are the nominees for Game of the Year and our predictions for who wins...
The Game Awards is the video game industry's biggest celebration of the year, honoring the latest and greatest in gaming. The 2019 ceremony has come and gone, and we finally know which games are going down as the very best of the year.
The 2019 Game of the Year nominees were Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Other games with at least 3 nominations included Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy Xiv, Fortnite, Gris, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts.
You can see of all of the winners below. Winners are highlighted in Red!
Game of the Year
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sie)
Super Smash Bros.
The Game Awards 2019 are happening in December. Here are the nominees for Game of the Year and our predictions for who wins...
The Game Awards is the video game industry's biggest celebration of the year, honoring the latest and greatest in gaming. The 2019 ceremony has come and gone, and we finally know which games are going down as the very best of the year.
The 2019 Game of the Year nominees were Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Other games with at least 3 nominations included Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy Xiv, Fortnite, Gris, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts.
You can see of all of the winners below. Winners are highlighted in Red!
Game of the Year
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sie)
Super Smash Bros.
- 11/19/2019
- Den of Geek
The full list of nominees for this year’s The Game Awards has been released with Control, The Outer Worlds, and Death Stranding leading the pack. This year’s The Game Awards are just a few weeks away (on December 12th) and this morning gives us nominees for the various awards this time around. Unsurprisingly, Death Stranding […]
The post Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding Dominates The Game Awards Nonimations appeared first on Cinelinx.
The post Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding Dominates The Game Awards Nonimations appeared first on Cinelinx.
- 11/19/2019
- by Jordan Maison
- Cinelinx
“Supernova,” a romance starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as a longtime couple on a road trip, has inked a raft of early distribution deals after having just wrapped a six-week shoot in England’s scenic Lake District.
The Bureau Sales has sold Harry Macqueen’s new feature to territories including the U.K. (Studiocanal), Germany and Austria (Weltkino), Japan (Culture Entertainment), Benelux (Cineart), Taiwan (Catchplay), Penny Black (Airlines) and Scandinavia (Scanbox). The Bureau Sales will shop the film further at Afm next month.
The movie marks actor Macqueen’s second feature as a director following his highly regarded debut, “Hinterland,” in 2014. “Supernova” centers on Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci), partners of 20 years, who are traveling across England in their old Rv visiting friends, family and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia two years ago, their time together is the most important thing they have.
The Bureau Sales has sold Harry Macqueen’s new feature to territories including the U.K. (Studiocanal), Germany and Austria (Weltkino), Japan (Culture Entertainment), Benelux (Cineart), Taiwan (Catchplay), Penny Black (Airlines) and Scandinavia (Scanbox). The Bureau Sales will shop the film further at Afm next month.
The movie marks actor Macqueen’s second feature as a director following his highly regarded debut, “Hinterland,” in 2014. “Supernova” centers on Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci), partners of 20 years, who are traveling across England in their old Rv visiting friends, family and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia two years ago, their time together is the most important thing they have.
- 10/24/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Jack O’Connell is in advanced negotiations to star in a music biopic called “Twisting My Melon” about the life of Shaun Ryder, the frontman of the British band Happy Mondays, Agc Studios chairman and CEO Stuart Ford announced on Friday.
O’Connell would star with Jason Isaacs, Holliday Grainger and Maxine Peake in the film that will be fully financed and co-produced by Agc Studios. Isaacs will play Ryder’s father and fellow musician Derek Ryder, Peake will play his mother, and Grainger would star as Ryder’s girlfriend. Production on the film is slated to begin in January 2020. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:
Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock’n’Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the “Horseman.” Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills...
O’Connell would star with Jason Isaacs, Holliday Grainger and Maxine Peake in the film that will be fully financed and co-produced by Agc Studios. Isaacs will play Ryder’s father and fellow musician Derek Ryder, Peake will play his mother, and Grainger would star as Ryder’s girlfriend. Production on the film is slated to begin in January 2020. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:
Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock’n’Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the “Horseman.” Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills...
- 9/6/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Jack O’Connell is in advanced negotiations to play Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in Agc Studios’ “Twisting My Melon.” The project, which Agc will fully finance and co-produce, was announced at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
In addition to O’Connell, Jason Isaacs is in talks to play Derek Ryder, Shaun’s father. Holliday Grainger (“Cinderella”) will likely play Shaun’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (“The Theory of Everything”) will portray his much-put-upon mother. The Happy Mondays were giants of the independent music scene in the U.K., combining elements of funk and psychedelia with hits such as “Hallelujah” and “Mad Cyril.”
The project was originated and developed by Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films. He co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film. Greenhalgh has dramatized the rock world before, writing screenplays for the John Lennon...
In addition to O’Connell, Jason Isaacs is in talks to play Derek Ryder, Shaun’s father. Holliday Grainger (“Cinderella”) will likely play Shaun’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (“The Theory of Everything”) will portray his much-put-upon mother. The Happy Mondays were giants of the independent music scene in the U.K., combining elements of funk and psychedelia with hits such as “Hallelujah” and “Mad Cyril.”
The project was originated and developed by Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films. He co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film. Greenhalgh has dramatized the rock world before, writing screenplays for the John Lennon...
- 9/6/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The first sound you hear in Lorene Scafaria’s fact-based “Hustlers” is all about control — literally: It’s the opening lines of Janet Jackson’s 1986 banger “Control.” The placement of the song seems a bit incongruous at first, picking up backstage at a New York City strip club where it doesn’t seem as if anyone, especially shy exotic dancer Destiny (Constance Wu), is in any kind of control.
She’s not, but Scafaria’s clever crime thriller eventually finds a woman who is: Jennifer Lopez as the formidable Ramona. Based on Jessica Pressler’s viral New York magazine story “The Hustlers at Scores,” Scafaria’s third film follows Destiny, Ramona, and a pack of some of their stripper pals — all loosely based on the very real women that populate Pressler’s 2015 story — as they move from pole dancing to glorified pickpocketing.
First, however, there’s a lot of dancing...
She’s not, but Scafaria’s clever crime thriller eventually finds a woman who is: Jennifer Lopez as the formidable Ramona. Based on Jessica Pressler’s viral New York magazine story “The Hustlers at Scores,” Scafaria’s third film follows Destiny, Ramona, and a pack of some of their stripper pals — all loosely based on the very real women that populate Pressler’s 2015 story — as they move from pole dancing to glorified pickpocketing.
First, however, there’s a lot of dancing...
- 9/5/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
2019 has been a rough year for the wallets of most gamers. The onslaught of huge releases has already ravaged our bank accounts and we’re only half-way through the year! As we look ahead to the line-up of releases still to come in 2019, one game stands out in particular – one that, for our money (or at least what’s left of it), looks poised to steal the Game of the Year crown – and that game is Control (2019). Here are five reasons why:...
- 6/24/2019
- by Jonathan Jones
- The Cultural Post
Madrid — Freddie Highmore, star of ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” the top exported U.S. scripted series last year, has been joined on bank heist thriller “Way Down” by Liam Cunningham, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey and Sam Riley.
Cunningham plays Sir Davos Seaworth in “Game of Thrones”; Astrid Bergès-Frisbey embodied mermaid Syrena in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”; Riley portrayed Ian Curtis in “Control,” and Diaval in Disney‘s “Maleficent,” alongside Angelina Jolie.
Directed by Jaume Balagueró, the ambitious English-language heist thriller partners two of Europe’s biggest media corporations, Spain’s Mediaset España and France’s TF1 Group. Ghislain Barrois and Álvaro Augustín, at Telecinco Cinema, Mediaset España’s film arm, are producing with El Tesoro de Drake Aie, Ciudadano Ciskul (Francisco Sánchez) and Think Studio (Eneko Lizarraga), in collaboration with Mediaset España and TF1 Group.
Highmore himself will take a producer credit. “Way Down” will be sold at...
Cunningham plays Sir Davos Seaworth in “Game of Thrones”; Astrid Bergès-Frisbey embodied mermaid Syrena in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”; Riley portrayed Ian Curtis in “Control,” and Diaval in Disney‘s “Maleficent,” alongside Angelina Jolie.
Directed by Jaume Balagueró, the ambitious English-language heist thriller partners two of Europe’s biggest media corporations, Spain’s Mediaset España and France’s TF1 Group. Ghislain Barrois and Álvaro Augustín, at Telecinco Cinema, Mediaset España’s film arm, are producing with El Tesoro de Drake Aie, Ciudadano Ciskul (Francisco Sánchez) and Think Studio (Eneko Lizarraga), in collaboration with Mediaset España and TF1 Group.
Highmore himself will take a producer credit. “Way Down” will be sold at...
- 4/15/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Janet Jackson received the high honor of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday night. At the NYC ceremony, singer Janelle Monáe introduced Janet, calling her "the legendary queen of black girl magic." Janet then took the stage to accept the accolade and deliver a rousing speech about her journey, as well as her hopes for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's future. "When I was a kid, my dream wasn't to be a singer. I wanted to go to college and I wanted to be a lawyer," the 52-year-old singer revealed. "It was my father's dream. He wanted me to become this wonderful performer." She also reminisced on what it was like watching her brothers from The Jackson 5 get inducted by the Rock Hall in 1997.
Janet - who has a handful of multi-platinum albums including 1986's Control, 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814, and 1993's Janet...
Janet - who has a handful of multi-platinum albums including 1986's Control, 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814, and 1993's Janet...
- 3/30/2019
- by Brea Cubit
- Popsugar.com
Matthew Byrd Mar 21, 2019
The Epic Store just acquired a huge batch of major games that includes Quantic Dream titles.
The Epic Store scored some huge games recently as it has been confirmed that Detroit: Become Human, Beyond Two Souls, Heavy Rain, The Outer Worlds, Control, The Sinking City, and more will all release exclusively on the Epic Store and skip Steam.
This is quite a bit to break down, so let's start with the fact that Quantic Dream has surprisingly decided to bring three games that were previously exclusive to the PS4 to the PC via the Epic Store. There had been some rumblings that Quantic Dream might explore the option of porting their games to other platforms, but it's a little surprising to see them come to PC so quickly and to skip Steam. Actually, we assume that they will come to PC relatively quickly, but nobody has confirmed...
The Epic Store just acquired a huge batch of major games that includes Quantic Dream titles.
The Epic Store scored some huge games recently as it has been confirmed that Detroit: Become Human, Beyond Two Souls, Heavy Rain, The Outer Worlds, Control, The Sinking City, and more will all release exclusively on the Epic Store and skip Steam.
This is quite a bit to break down, so let's start with the fact that Quantic Dream has surprisingly decided to bring three games that were previously exclusive to the PS4 to the PC via the Epic Store. There had been some rumblings that Quantic Dream might explore the option of porting their games to other platforms, but it's a little surprising to see them come to PC so quickly and to skip Steam. Actually, we assume that they will come to PC relatively quickly, but nobody has confirmed...
- 3/21/2019
- Den of Geek
Rising pop star/rapper Bryce Vine and British singer Dan Caplen have joined French DJ/producer Feder for the upbeat new song, “Control.”
The cut finds Vine and Caplen spitting and singing over a snappy groove laced with synths that grow from a mellow throb to a striking pulse. In an enticing drawl, Vine spits, “Baby don’t talk the way you’re not supposed to/ Your body can do the rest/ And if you need a little mind vacation/ Press your cheek against my chest.”
“Control” follows Vine’s breakout track,...
The cut finds Vine and Caplen spitting and singing over a snappy groove laced with synths that grow from a mellow throb to a striking pulse. In an enticing drawl, Vine spits, “Baby don’t talk the way you’re not supposed to/ Your body can do the rest/ And if you need a little mind vacation/ Press your cheek against my chest.”
“Control” follows Vine’s breakout track,...
- 11/26/2018
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Kenneth Bi’s directorial debut, Rice Rhapsody (2004), won Outstanding Screenplay from Taiwan’s Gio and screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The Drummer (2007) was selected for competition at the Sundance Film Festival and opened the 2008 Toronto Reel Asian International Film festival. It also won Best Supporting Actor (Tony Leung Ka Fai) at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2010, Bi followed up with the topical social drama, Girl$, and in 2013, he directed the neo-noir suspense thriller Control, starring Daniel Wu, Simon Yam, Yao Chen and Leon Dai. Wish You Were Here is Bi’s fifth film.
On the occasion of “Wish You Were Here” having it’s North American debut at the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, we speak to him about his Shaw Brothers members parents, shooting in the snow, being comfortable with one’s own heritage. different cultures, the casting of the film, and many more topics .
You are...
On the occasion of “Wish You Were Here” having it’s North American debut at the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, we speak to him about his Shaw Brothers members parents, shooting in the snow, being comfortable with one’s own heritage. different cultures, the casting of the film, and many more topics .
You are...
- 11/13/2018
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
Joe Jackson, the iron-fisted patriarch and manager of an American musical dynasty that included the hit-making Motown Records group the Jackson 5 (later the Jacksons), its megastar lead singer Michael Jackson and soloist sister Janet Jackson, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 89.
The estate of Michael Jackson confirmed Joe Jackson’s death. “We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family,” co-executors of the estate John Branca and John McClain said in a statement. “We had developed a warm relationship with Joe in recent years and will miss him tremendously.”
TMZ was first to report the news of Joe Jackson’s death. In late June, several news outlets reported that Jackson was suffering from terminal cancer.
Jackson was a former Golden Gloves boxer, semi-pro musician and steelworker when he began coaching his pre-teen sons in a family band,...
The estate of Michael Jackson confirmed Joe Jackson’s death. “We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family,” co-executors of the estate John Branca and John McClain said in a statement. “We had developed a warm relationship with Joe in recent years and will miss him tremendously.”
TMZ was first to report the news of Joe Jackson’s death. In late June, several news outlets reported that Jackson was suffering from terminal cancer.
Jackson was a former Golden Gloves boxer, semi-pro musician and steelworker when he began coaching his pre-teen sons in a family band,...
- 6/27/2018
- by Chris Morris
- Variety Film + TV
Production has begun on Maleficent II, a sequel to the 2014 global box office hit “Maleficent,” at Pinewood Studios and on locations throughout the U.K..
Oscar® and three-time Golden Globe® winner Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning reprise their roles as the dark fairy Maleficent and Princess Aurora, respectively, two characters from the studio’s animated classic “Sleeping Beauty,” whose untold story was brought to life on screen in Maleficent.
Michelle Pfeiffer, the Golden Globe® Award winning, Emmy® nominated and three-time Academy Award® nominated actress, joins the cast as Queen Ingrith.
Also joining the production are Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein and Robert Lindsay.
Harris Dickinson joins Maleficent II as Prince Phillip.
It's bring your mom to work day on the #Maleficent2 set!!!!!
A post shared by Elle Fanning (@ellefanning) on May 29, 2018 at 10:34am Pdt
Maleficent II is directed by Joachim Rønning and written by...
Oscar® and three-time Golden Globe® winner Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning reprise their roles as the dark fairy Maleficent and Princess Aurora, respectively, two characters from the studio’s animated classic “Sleeping Beauty,” whose untold story was brought to life on screen in Maleficent.
Michelle Pfeiffer, the Golden Globe® Award winning, Emmy® nominated and three-time Academy Award® nominated actress, joins the cast as Queen Ingrith.
Also joining the production are Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein and Robert Lindsay.
Harris Dickinson joins Maleficent II as Prince Phillip.
It's bring your mom to work day on the #Maleficent2 set!!!!!
A post shared by Elle Fanning (@ellefanning) on May 29, 2018 at 10:34am Pdt
Maleficent II is directed by Joachim Rønning and written by...
- 5/29/2018
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Nicolas Cage has a new film out in a couple weeks, and it looks interesting. Looking Glass is about a couple who purchases a hotel in the desert, only for Ray to discover there's a secret corridor that allows them to watch guests without them knowing. Check out the full synopsis below and continue reading:
Ray and his wife look to start over by buying an old motel in the middle of the desert. Things take a turn for the worse however when Ray witnesses a murder through a two-way mirror. As they struggle to escape, they discover more and more gruesome secrets involving the hotel and its visitors. Looking Glassis directed by American filmmaker Tim Hunter, of the films Tex, Sylvester, River's Edge, Paint It Black, The Saint of Fort Washington, The Maker, The Failures, Control, and The Far Side of Jericho previously. The screenplay is written by Jerry Rapp and Matthew Wilder.
Ray and his wife look to start over by buying an old motel in the middle of the desert. Things take a turn for the worse however when Ray witnesses a murder through a two-way mirror. As they struggle to escape, they discover more and more gruesome secrets involving the hotel and its visitors. Looking Glassis directed by American filmmaker Tim Hunter, of the films Tex, Sylvester, River's Edge, Paint It Black, The Saint of Fort Washington, The Maker, The Failures, Control, and The Far Side of Jericho previously. The screenplay is written by Jerry Rapp and Matthew Wilder.
- 1/29/2018
- by Mick Joest
- GeekTyrant
Since he emerged as a possible new leading man in Anton Corbijn's 2007 Ian Curtis biopic Control, Sam Riley has taken his time fulfilling that early promise. He's finally about to hit screens with a couple of new roles in Brighton Rock and 13, and he's now shooting the decades-in-development adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. As a follow-up to those three films, Riley now has what could be his most intriguing post-Control project. He's set up to appear as playwright and Shakespeare contemporary Christopher Marlowe in A Dead Man in Deptford, which will toy with the revisionist notion that Marlowe was also a spy and victim of political assassination. Variety says that the film will be based on the Anthony Burgess novel of the same name, which is essentially a fictionalization of a Marlowe biography called The Reckoning. The ideas behind it all are certainly entertaining: that...
- 9/13/2010
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Riley + Lara Engaged
British actor Sam Riley is to marry German actress Alexandra Maria Lara.
The Reader star accepted Riley's proposal at Christmas, according to the actress' representative.
The spokesperson tells German publication Bunte, "It's true, the two have gotten engaged, it happened around Christmas time and both are very happy."
The couple met on the set of highly-acclaimed Joy Division biopic Control in 2007. Riley portrayed the band's frontman Ian Curtis, while Lara played journalist Annik Honore.
The Reader star accepted Riley's proposal at Christmas, according to the actress' representative.
The spokesperson tells German publication Bunte, "It's true, the two have gotten engaged, it happened around Christmas time and both are very happy."
The couple met on the set of highly-acclaimed Joy Division biopic Control in 2007. Riley portrayed the band's frontman Ian Curtis, while Lara played journalist Annik Honore.
- 1/14/2009
- WENN
Over the weekend Slumdog Millionaire won big at the British Independent Film Awards as Danny Boyle took home director kudos, Dev Patel won for most promising newcomer and the film itself won best independent film. Of course, many are reporting the news as if this is just the start of something big as buzz around the little film has gotten louder and louder over the course of the previous week. I reviewed it and gave it a well-earned "A-", but when it comes down to awards I can't see this flick moving all the way to the big show. Take, for example, the last five Bifa "Best British Independent Film" award winners were Control, This Is England, The Constant Gardener, Vera Drake and Dirty Pretty Things. Of that bunch there are eight Oscar nominations including a win for Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener, but there isn't a best picture...
- 12/1/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
• "Slumdog Millionaire" won best picture, director and newcomer (Dev Patel) at the British Independent Film Awards. Best actor champ: Michael Fassbender, "Hunger." Best actress: Vera Farmiga, "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas." Read More. These kudos are poor Oscar prophets. "Control" swept last year. In 2006, "This Is England" beat "The Queen" and "Last King of Scotland" for best British film, but those two losers received apt consolation prizes (best director and screenplay). • All Oscar voters were shipped "The Wrestler" DVD late last week. Some received it in time for the Thanksgiving break. Members of the directors' branch also got "Che," which was sent to a few other branches too, but not to...
- 12/1/2008
- by tomoneil
- Gold Derby
Screendaily reports the winners of the British Independent Film Awards. Last year, Control won all of the top spots: Awards in full Best British Independent film Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle) Best director, sponsored by The Creative Partnership Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) The Douglas Hickox Award (best debut director) Steve McQueen (Hunger) Best screenplay sponsored by BBC Films Martin McDonagh – In Bruges Best actress Sponsored [...]...
- 11/30/2008
- by Sasha Stone
- AwardsDaily.com
Eastern European Distributors at the San Sebastian Film Festival
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
London -- The story of John Lennon is headed for the big screen with "Nowhere Boy," a biopic that will be directed by visual artist Sam Taylor-Wood.
Produced by U.K. shingle Ecosse Films, the script from "Control" screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh will focus on the Beatle's childhood and subsequent journey to icon status. Filming is set to take place on location in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool.
Greenhalgh's script details the story of Lennon as a lonely teenager growing up as his aunt and the mother who gave him up fight for his love. His only escape is music, art and his fateful friendship with Paul McCartney.
Casting for the major roles "is under way," the backers said of the project that is being co-developed with the U.K. Film Council.
Sales and finance house HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and will be trying to get sellers to tune...
Produced by U.K. shingle Ecosse Films, the script from "Control" screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh will focus on the Beatle's childhood and subsequent journey to icon status. Filming is set to take place on location in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool.
Greenhalgh's script details the story of Lennon as a lonely teenager growing up as his aunt and the mother who gave him up fight for his love. His only escape is music, art and his fateful friendship with Paul McCartney.
Casting for the major roles "is under way," the backers said of the project that is being co-developed with the U.K. Film Council.
Sales and finance house HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and will be trying to get sellers to tune...
- 8/30/2008
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Former Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris has hit out at robbers who stole Ian Curtis's gravestone. The memorial was taken from Macclesfield Cemetery in Cheshire at some point between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. Morris speculated that the thieves may have been attempting to capitalise on recent interest in Curtis prompted by 2007 movie Control and this year's eponymous documentary. He told NME: "I (more)...
- 7/5/2008
- by By Beth Hilton
- Digital Spy
Trio makes it a 'Killers' lineup
LONDON -- Alastair Mackenzie, James Pearson and Charles Mnene have joined Dougray Scott in the cast of writer-director Richard Jobson's Scottish-set thriller New Town Killers.
Mackenzie (The Edge Of Love), Pearson (Control) and Mnene (Chromophobia) appear alongside Scott in the tale of two high-flying financial whiz kids who get their kicks hunting people on the margins of society.
Jobson, whose directorial debut, 16 Years of Alcohol, garnered plaudits on the international film festival circuit, has begun shooting in Edinburgh. He is producing with Luc Roeg of Independent.
Executive producers are Michael Robinson and Andrew Orr of Independent, Paul Martin and his banner Str8jacket Creations, Carole Sheridan at Scottish Screen and Sheryl Crown at government-backed agency Screen East
The film is backed by Independent, Str8jacket Creations, Scottish Screen and the Screen East Content Investment Fund in association with LipSync and the Glasgow Film Office.
Independent is handling worldwide sales.
Mackenzie (The Edge Of Love), Pearson (Control) and Mnene (Chromophobia) appear alongside Scott in the tale of two high-flying financial whiz kids who get their kicks hunting people on the margins of society.
Jobson, whose directorial debut, 16 Years of Alcohol, garnered plaudits on the international film festival circuit, has begun shooting in Edinburgh. He is producing with Luc Roeg of Independent.
Executive producers are Michael Robinson and Andrew Orr of Independent, Paul Martin and his banner Str8jacket Creations, Carole Sheridan at Scottish Screen and Sheryl Crown at government-backed agency Screen East
The film is backed by Independent, Str8jacket Creations, Scottish Screen and the Screen East Content Investment Fund in association with LipSync and the Glasgow Film Office.
Independent is handling worldwide sales.
- 3/31/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Prism noms for 'Gone Baby,' 'Rule'
Miramax's Gone Baby Gone and Universal's Georgia Rule are among the feature films nominated for Prism Awards, which aim to bring attention to substance abuse and mental health issues.
In addition to those wide-release nominees, five films were nominated in the limited-release category: the Weinstein Co.'s Control, Warner Independent's In the Valley of Elah, Outsider Pictures' Man in the Chair, ThinkFilm's Self-Medicated and IFC Films' You Kill Me.
The Entertainment Industries Council, which announced nominees in 29 categories Monday, will name winners of the 12th annual Prism Awards on April 24.
The awards are designed to "honor actors, movies, music, media and television's top shows (that) that accurately depict and bring attention to substance abuse and mental health issues." ABC led all TV networks with 20 noms.
A complete list of noms follows.
Feature film wide release
Georgia Rule (Universal Pictures / Morgan Creek Productions)
Gone Baby Gone (Miramax Films / LivePlanet / Ladd Co.)
Feature film limited release
Control (The Weinstein Co. / Northsee Ltd. / EM Media / IFF-CINV / 3 Dogs and a Pony / Warner Music UK)
In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent Pictures / Blackfriars Bridge Films / Summit Entertainment / Samuels Media / NALA Films)
Man in the Chair (Outsider Pictures)
Self-Medicated (ThinkFilm / Promise Pictures)
You Kill Me (IFC Films / Code Entertainment / Baum Echo Lake Rosenman Productions / Bipolar Productions)
Performance in a feature film
Casey Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Felicity Huffman, Georgia Rule
Ben Kingsley, You Kill Me
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton...
In addition to those wide-release nominees, five films were nominated in the limited-release category: the Weinstein Co.'s Control, Warner Independent's In the Valley of Elah, Outsider Pictures' Man in the Chair, ThinkFilm's Self-Medicated and IFC Films' You Kill Me.
The Entertainment Industries Council, which announced nominees in 29 categories Monday, will name winners of the 12th annual Prism Awards on April 24.
The awards are designed to "honor actors, movies, music, media and television's top shows (that) that accurately depict and bring attention to substance abuse and mental health issues." ABC led all TV networks with 20 noms.
A complete list of noms follows.
Feature film wide release
Georgia Rule (Universal Pictures / Morgan Creek Productions)
Gone Baby Gone (Miramax Films / LivePlanet / Ladd Co.)
Feature film limited release
Control (The Weinstein Co. / Northsee Ltd. / EM Media / IFF-CINV / 3 Dogs and a Pony / Warner Music UK)
In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent Pictures / Blackfriars Bridge Films / Summit Entertainment / Samuels Media / NALA Films)
Man in the Chair (Outsider Pictures)
Self-Medicated (ThinkFilm / Promise Pictures)
You Kill Me (IFC Films / Code Entertainment / Baum Echo Lake Rosenman Productions / Bipolar Productions)
Performance in a feature film
Casey Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Felicity Huffman, Georgia Rule
Ben Kingsley, You Kill Me
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton...
- 3/18/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Literary adaptation Atonement took home the Best Film award at this year's BAFTAs, though it was La Vie En Rose and No Country for Old Men which won the most awards. While Atonement received just one other award, for Production Design, La Vie En Rose was the top winner overall with four honors, including Best Actress for Marion Cotillard and three technical awards for Music, Costume Design and Make Up & Hair. The Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men, which is heavily favored for the upcoming Academy Awards, won three top awards, including Best Direction, Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem and the cinematography award. The only other film to win more than one award was The Bourne Ultimatum, which received the Sound and Editing honors.
Oscar favorite Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for There Will Be Blood, while Tilda Swinton was the surprise winner in the Best Supporting Actress category for Michael Clayton. Screenplay awards went to Juno (original) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (adapted), and This Is England was named Outstanding British Film of the Year. Other winners included The Lives of Others (Best Film not in the English Language), The Golden Compass (Visual Effects), Ratatouille (Animated Film), Shia LaBeouf (the Orange Rising Star Award), and Control screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh (Most Promising Newcomer).
Get the full list of winners in our Road to the Oscars section.
Oscar favorite Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for There Will Be Blood, while Tilda Swinton was the surprise winner in the Best Supporting Actress category for Michael Clayton. Screenplay awards went to Juno (original) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (adapted), and This Is England was named Outstanding British Film of the Year. Other winners included The Lives of Others (Best Film not in the English Language), The Golden Compass (Visual Effects), Ratatouille (Animated Film), Shia LaBeouf (the Orange Rising Star Award), and Control screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh (Most Promising Newcomer).
Get the full list of winners in our Road to the Oscars section.
- 2/11/2008
- IMDb News
'Atonement' leads BAFTA noms
LONDON -- Joe Wright's "Atonement" leads the field of nominations for this year's British Academy Film Awards, securing 14 noms, ahead of the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood", both of which took nine slots.
The trio of titles are all in the race for the best film award along with Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" and last year's foreign-language Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "The Lives of Others". Both "Gangster" and "Others" scored five nominations.
Wright, Joel and Ethan Coen, Anderson and Henckel von Donnersmark also will battle it out with Paul Greengrass for the evening's best director nod, with Greengrass nominated for "The Bourne Ultimatum".
The best British film award, one of 23 awards dished out by the British Academy of Film and Television, will go to one from "Atonement", "Ultimatum", "Control", "Eastern Promises" and "This Is England".
George Clooney ("Michael Clayton"), Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood"), James McAvoy ("Atonement"), Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") and Ulrich Muehe ("The Lives of Others") all secure nominations for best actor.
Cate Blanchett has two nominations, for leading actress in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and supporting actress in "I'm Not There".
Blanchett will have to triumph over Julie Christie ("Away From Her"), Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), Keira Knightley ("Atonement") and Ellen Page ("Juno") to secure the best actress nod.
And Kelly Macdonald ("No Country"), Samantha Morton ("Control"), Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") and Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") might have something to say in the supporting actress race.
Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones (both for "No Country"), Paul Dano ("Blood"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War") and Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton") are slugging it out for supporting actor.
The prize for best animated film will be drawn by "Ratatouille", "Shrek the Third" or "The Simpsons Movie".
Nominations for the Carl Foreman Award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature include Chris Atkins for writing and directing the documentary "Taking Liberties", Mia Bays for her producer role on documentary "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man", Sarah Gavron for helming "Brick Lane", Matt Greenhalgh for penning "Control" and Andrew Piddington for writing and directing "The Killing of John Lennon".
The original screenplay prize is a contest between Steven Zailian ("American Gangster"), Diablo Cody ("Juno"), Henckel von Donnersmarck ("Lives of Others"), Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton") and Shane Meadows ("This Is England").
Nominations for adapted screenplay are Christopher Hampton ("Atonement"), Ronald Harwood ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), David Benioff ("The Kite Runner"), the Coens ("No Country") and Anderson ("Blood").
The winners will be announced Feb. 10 at London's Royal Opera House.
A complete list of nominations follows:
Best film
"American Gangster" -- Brian Grazer/Ridley Scott
"Atonement" -- Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster
"The Lives of Others" -- Quirin Berg/Max Wiedemann
"No Country for Old Men" -- Scott Rudin/Joel Coen/Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" -- JoAnne Sellar/Paul Thomas Anderson/Daniel Lupi
British film
"Atonement" -- Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Joe Wright, Christopher Hampton
"The Bourne Ultimatum" -- Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Paul L.
The trio of titles are all in the race for the best film award along with Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" and last year's foreign-language Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "The Lives of Others". Both "Gangster" and "Others" scored five nominations.
Wright, Joel and Ethan Coen, Anderson and Henckel von Donnersmark also will battle it out with Paul Greengrass for the evening's best director nod, with Greengrass nominated for "The Bourne Ultimatum".
The best British film award, one of 23 awards dished out by the British Academy of Film and Television, will go to one from "Atonement", "Ultimatum", "Control", "Eastern Promises" and "This Is England".
George Clooney ("Michael Clayton"), Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood"), James McAvoy ("Atonement"), Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") and Ulrich Muehe ("The Lives of Others") all secure nominations for best actor.
Cate Blanchett has two nominations, for leading actress in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and supporting actress in "I'm Not There".
Blanchett will have to triumph over Julie Christie ("Away From Her"), Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), Keira Knightley ("Atonement") and Ellen Page ("Juno") to secure the best actress nod.
And Kelly Macdonald ("No Country"), Samantha Morton ("Control"), Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") and Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") might have something to say in the supporting actress race.
Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones (both for "No Country"), Paul Dano ("Blood"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War") and Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton") are slugging it out for supporting actor.
The prize for best animated film will be drawn by "Ratatouille", "Shrek the Third" or "The Simpsons Movie".
Nominations for the Carl Foreman Award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature include Chris Atkins for writing and directing the documentary "Taking Liberties", Mia Bays for her producer role on documentary "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man", Sarah Gavron for helming "Brick Lane", Matt Greenhalgh for penning "Control" and Andrew Piddington for writing and directing "The Killing of John Lennon".
The original screenplay prize is a contest between Steven Zailian ("American Gangster"), Diablo Cody ("Juno"), Henckel von Donnersmarck ("Lives of Others"), Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton") and Shane Meadows ("This Is England").
Nominations for adapted screenplay are Christopher Hampton ("Atonement"), Ronald Harwood ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), David Benioff ("The Kite Runner"), the Coens ("No Country") and Anderson ("Blood").
The winners will be announced Feb. 10 at London's Royal Opera House.
A complete list of nominations follows:
Best film
"American Gangster" -- Brian Grazer/Ridley Scott
"Atonement" -- Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster
"The Lives of Others" -- Quirin Berg/Max Wiedemann
"No Country for Old Men" -- Scott Rudin/Joel Coen/Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" -- JoAnne Sellar/Paul Thomas Anderson/Daniel Lupi
British film
"Atonement" -- Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Joe Wright, Christopher Hampton
"The Bourne Ultimatum" -- Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Paul L.
- 1/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bafta Rising Star Nominees Announced
Shia LaBeouf, Sienna Miller and Ellen Page have all been nominated for the Orange Rising Star award at the British Academy Film And Television Awards (BAFTAs) this year. The actors will compete against Sam Riley, star of Joy Division biopic Control and Lust Caution's Wei Tang for the prize, which seeks to recognize up-and-coming performers demonstrating "exceptional talent." The category was established in honor of late casting director Mary Selway, who died in 2004, with the inaugural honor going to Scottish actor James McAvoy. Casino Royale star Eva Green, who won the award last year, announced the nominees on Tuesday, saying, "This year's five nominees are all actors who have really stood out in their work and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of them throughout 2008." The honor is the only one of the BAFTAs voted for the public. The winner will be announced at the official ceremony on February 10.
- 1/9/2008
- WENN
London critics like the look of 'Blood'
LONDON -- Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood is nominated in a trio of major categories for this year's London Film Critics' Circle awards.
Anderson's tale of U.S. oil prospectors in a frontier town is nominated for film of the year and director of the year as well as actor of the year for Daniel Day-Lewis.
The nominations were announced Friday.
To win the best film award, Blood will have to fend off the mighty challenge of No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Zodiac and The Bourne Ultimatum.
Anderson will slug it out with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others), Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men), David Fincher (Zodiac) and Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) in the fight for director of the year.
Up against Lewis in the actor category are the late Ulrich Muhe (The Lives of Others), Casey Affleck (Jesse James), George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah).
Vying for actress of the year are Laura Linney (The Savages), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Maggie Gyllenhaal (SherryBaby), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) and Anamaria Marinca (4 Months).
The London Critics' Circle awards concentrate heavily on U.K. endeavors at the cinema, with eight of the 14 categories exclusively there to reward British talent.
The Attenborough Award for British film of the year will go to either Once, Control, Atonement, Eastern Promises or This Is England.
British director of the year might just go to Dutch-born Anton Corbijn for his stint behind the lens of Control, with challenges from Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), Shane Meadows (This Is England), Joe Wright (Atonement) and Danny Boyle (Sunshine).
The awards will be given out at a ceremony in the British capital Feb.
Anderson's tale of U.S. oil prospectors in a frontier town is nominated for film of the year and director of the year as well as actor of the year for Daniel Day-Lewis.
The nominations were announced Friday.
To win the best film award, Blood will have to fend off the mighty challenge of No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Zodiac and The Bourne Ultimatum.
Anderson will slug it out with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others), Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men), David Fincher (Zodiac) and Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) in the fight for director of the year.
Up against Lewis in the actor category are the late Ulrich Muhe (The Lives of Others), Casey Affleck (Jesse James), George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah).
Vying for actress of the year are Laura Linney (The Savages), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Maggie Gyllenhaal (SherryBaby), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) and Anamaria Marinca (4 Months).
The London Critics' Circle awards concentrate heavily on U.K. endeavors at the cinema, with eight of the 14 categories exclusively there to reward British talent.
The Attenborough Award for British film of the year will go to either Once, Control, Atonement, Eastern Promises or This Is England.
British director of the year might just go to Dutch-born Anton Corbijn for his stint behind the lens of Control, with challenges from Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), Shane Meadows (This Is England), Joe Wright (Atonement) and Danny Boyle (Sunshine).
The awards will be given out at a ceremony in the British capital Feb.
- 12/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Brit indie film noms favor 'Control'
LONDON -- The best actor category for the 10th annual British Independent Film Awards spans the generations, with newcomer Sam Riley, Jamie Bell, Cillian Murphy, Viggo Mortensen and Jim Broadbent slugging it out for the prize, organizers said Tuesday.
The actor nod is one of 17 plaudits that will be dished out at a Nov. 28 ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.
Anton Corbijn's Control leads the main award categories with nominations for best director, British independent film, screenplay and Riley's turn in the actor category. Both Samantha Morton and Toby Kebbell occupy a spot in the best supporting actor/actress category also.
But Morton and Kebbell will have to overcome each other and strong challenges from Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal); Armin Muehler Stahl, who joins Mortensen from the Eastern Promises cast; and Colin Firth, who stars opposite Broadbent in And When Did You Last See Your Father? to win that particular plaudit.
Corbijn will slug it out with David Mackenzie, helmer of Bell starrer Hallam Foe, Anand Tucker (And When), Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and Cronenberg (Promises) in the directing category.
The actor nod is one of 17 plaudits that will be dished out at a Nov. 28 ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.
Anton Corbijn's Control leads the main award categories with nominations for best director, British independent film, screenplay and Riley's turn in the actor category. Both Samantha Morton and Toby Kebbell occupy a spot in the best supporting actor/actress category also.
But Morton and Kebbell will have to overcome each other and strong challenges from Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal); Armin Muehler Stahl, who joins Mortensen from the Eastern Promises cast; and Colin Firth, who stars opposite Broadbent in And When Did You Last See Your Father? to win that particular plaudit.
Corbijn will slug it out with David Mackenzie, helmer of Bell starrer Hallam Foe, Anand Tucker (And When), Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and Cronenberg (Promises) in the directing category.
- 10/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dame Helen's Corgis Tipped To Score Canine Oscars
The corgis who played Dame Helen Mirren's companions in 2006's The Queen have been tipped to win the film yet another accolade - a Fido award. The five pups have been nominated for the Historical Hound category of this month's Fidos, a British award ceremony recognizing outstanding canine acting. The competition, held as part of the London Film Festival, sees the corgis go head-to-head with fellow movie mutts including the collie-mix owned by Samantha Morton's character in Control, and the brown hunting dog from French picture Moliere. Mirren says, "I loved those corgis because they were funny. I can understand why the Queen has them. Forget winning an Oscar, I'd be more proud of an award for dog handling."...
- 10/18/2007
- WENN
Joy Division
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- Arriving at the best possible moment, this doc about groundbreaking postpunk band Joy Division is playing festivals alongside Control, music-video master Anton Corbijn's well-received feature on the group. A solid, well presented history of the band's brief career, Joy Division has appeal for music buffs but could get mileage in theaters from a smart coordination with the feature film's release.
Placing a straightforward, chronological account of the band's existence in the context of Manchester, a city whose re-emergence from post-Industrial gloom is credited to the pop music explosion Joy Division helped start, the doc contains plenty of testimony from all the surviving key musical players. (Singer Ian Curtis killed himself in 1980; producer Martin Hannett, credited with inventing much of the group's distinctive sound, died in 1991.) Happily, TV host-turned-music entrepreneur Tony Wilson, who died last month, is among the interviewees. (Wilson was the colorful subject of Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People, which would make a fan-pleasing triple feature with Joy Division and Control.)
Veteran music critic Jon Savage wrote the film, which makes sure to recount seminal moments like the 1976 Sex Pistols show that inspired so many bands, but it's group member Bernard Sumner who makes the most eloquent cultural observation about the shift from in-your-face Pistols-style punk to the more introspective music Joy Division helped instigate: "Sooner or later somebody was going to want to say more than 'fuck you' ... to say 'I'm fucked.'"
A good assortment of vintage performance clips chart the quick evolution of Joy Division's style, which was not only a matter of sound but of Curtis' spasm-like movements at the microphone, a dance that evoked possession by malevolent spirits and foreshadowed the epilepsy that struck the singer suddenly, near the end of his life. As one who witnessed those shows puts it, the onstage surrender was "like he sacrificed something for you" in order to follow his muse.
Little of this material will be news to devoted followers of the band, though even they may be interested to know that Sumner never liked listening to their debut album Unknown Pleasures and that Peter Saville, who designed that iconic record sleeve, hadn't even listened to the music. For the rest of the audience, just the right amount of narrative detail, archive footage, and analysis is included.
Director Grant Gee, known for the Radiohead film Meeting People Is Easy, does little out of the ordinary here, outside of the appealing way he accompanies audio-only archive material with cleverly stylized waveforms. For a group whose influence had so much to do with the unintuitive manipulation of familiar sounds, that's a knowing touch.
JOY DIVISION
No Distributor
Hudson Prods. Ltd. / Brown Owl Films
Credits:
Director: Grant Gee
Writer: Jon Savage
Producers: Tom Astor, Tom Atencio, Jacqui Edenbrow
Director of photography: Grant Gee
Music: Jerry Chater, Rashad Omar
Editor: Jerry Chater
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
TORONTO -- Arriving at the best possible moment, this doc about groundbreaking postpunk band Joy Division is playing festivals alongside Control, music-video master Anton Corbijn's well-received feature on the group. A solid, well presented history of the band's brief career, Joy Division has appeal for music buffs but could get mileage in theaters from a smart coordination with the feature film's release.
Placing a straightforward, chronological account of the band's existence in the context of Manchester, a city whose re-emergence from post-Industrial gloom is credited to the pop music explosion Joy Division helped start, the doc contains plenty of testimony from all the surviving key musical players. (Singer Ian Curtis killed himself in 1980; producer Martin Hannett, credited with inventing much of the group's distinctive sound, died in 1991.) Happily, TV host-turned-music entrepreneur Tony Wilson, who died last month, is among the interviewees. (Wilson was the colorful subject of Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People, which would make a fan-pleasing triple feature with Joy Division and Control.)
Veteran music critic Jon Savage wrote the film, which makes sure to recount seminal moments like the 1976 Sex Pistols show that inspired so many bands, but it's group member Bernard Sumner who makes the most eloquent cultural observation about the shift from in-your-face Pistols-style punk to the more introspective music Joy Division helped instigate: "Sooner or later somebody was going to want to say more than 'fuck you' ... to say 'I'm fucked.'"
A good assortment of vintage performance clips chart the quick evolution of Joy Division's style, which was not only a matter of sound but of Curtis' spasm-like movements at the microphone, a dance that evoked possession by malevolent spirits and foreshadowed the epilepsy that struck the singer suddenly, near the end of his life. As one who witnessed those shows puts it, the onstage surrender was "like he sacrificed something for you" in order to follow his muse.
Little of this material will be news to devoted followers of the band, though even they may be interested to know that Sumner never liked listening to their debut album Unknown Pleasures and that Peter Saville, who designed that iconic record sleeve, hadn't even listened to the music. For the rest of the audience, just the right amount of narrative detail, archive footage, and analysis is included.
Director Grant Gee, known for the Radiohead film Meeting People Is Easy, does little out of the ordinary here, outside of the appealing way he accompanies audio-only archive material with cleverly stylized waveforms. For a group whose influence had so much to do with the unintuitive manipulation of familiar sounds, that's a knowing touch.
JOY DIVISION
No Distributor
Hudson Prods. Ltd. / Brown Owl Films
Credits:
Director: Grant Gee
Writer: Jon Savage
Producers: Tom Astor, Tom Atencio, Jacqui Edenbrow
Director of photography: Grant Gee
Music: Jerry Chater, Rashad Omar
Editor: Jerry Chater
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Swerve will swing into indie action
Swerve Festival -- a new film, art and music festival celebrating West Coast creative culture -- will run Sept. 28-30, screening three indie films at the Barnsdale Art Park in Hollywood. Screening are Doug Pray's documentary Surfwise, Mike Hill's docu The Man Who Souled the World and Anton Corbijn's biopic Control. Jonathan Wells serves as director of the fest, created by Fuel TV, which will telecast closing night ceremonies on Nov. 9.
- 8/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fest circuit jewels lined up for San Seb
MADRID -- Those who missed out on Pascal Ferran's Lady Chatterley at Berlin, Anton Corbijn's Control at Cannes or Etger Keret and Shira Geffen's Camera d'Or-winning Jellyfish will have another chance to see them at the 55th San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers said Thursday.
The films will join five others from previous festivals in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section. Zabaltegi-Pearls will compete for the TCM Audience Award, which carries a 70,000 ($94,930) for the importer of the winning film. A second prize of 35,000 will go to the European film obtaining the most votes from the audience at the end of each screening.
Barbet Schroeder's Terror's Advocate, Nadine Labaki's Lebanese beauty salon-centered Caramel, Frank Oz's family drama Death at a Funeral, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy and Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" round out the showcase's slate.
Zabaltegi-Pearls also will offer special screenings of Carlos Saura's music-based Fados, screening in Toronto; a restored version of Richard Lester's Beatles movie Help; and Lou Reed's Berlin, Schnabel's tribute to Lou Reed's 2005 live performance of his mythical album.
The films will join five others from previous festivals in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section. Zabaltegi-Pearls will compete for the TCM Audience Award, which carries a 70,000 ($94,930) for the importer of the winning film. A second prize of 35,000 will go to the European film obtaining the most votes from the audience at the end of each screening.
Barbet Schroeder's Terror's Advocate, Nadine Labaki's Lebanese beauty salon-centered Caramel, Frank Oz's family drama Death at a Funeral, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy and Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" round out the showcase's slate.
Zabaltegi-Pearls also will offer special screenings of Carlos Saura's music-based Fados, screening in Toronto; a restored version of Richard Lester's Beatles movie Help; and Lou Reed's Berlin, Schnabel's tribute to Lou Reed's 2005 live performance of his mythical album.
- 8/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Edinburgh fest hails the written word
LONDON -- Organizers of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival have lined up Christopher Hampton, William Nicholson, Paul Laverty and Irvine Welsh to talk about Cinema and the Written Word, the subject of the first themed year in the festival's history.
As part of that theme, the festival also will feature a retrospective dedicated to legendary Hollywood screenwriter Anita Loos, who penned a variety of movies including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, based on her novel.
First-year EIFF artistic director Hannah McGill said that the festival's 61st edition will showcase 120 movies from 31 countries, with 25 billed as world or international premieres.
Gala events will be held for Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters, Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State, Mike White's Year of the Dog, Billy Ray's Breach and Matthew Vaughn's Stardust.
This year's lineup also includes Anton Corbijn's Control, Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart, Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and new Pixar entry Ratatouille.
The festival will close with Julie Delpy's romantic comedy Two Days in Paris.
Other guests on the talk roster include directors John Waters, Apatow, Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh, and actors Samantha Morton, Chris Cooper, Delpy, Bob Hoskins, Stellan Skarsgard and Tilda Swinton.
As part of that theme, the festival also will feature a retrospective dedicated to legendary Hollywood screenwriter Anita Loos, who penned a variety of movies including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, based on her novel.
First-year EIFF artistic director Hannah McGill said that the festival's 61st edition will showcase 120 movies from 31 countries, with 25 billed as world or international premieres.
Gala events will be held for Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters, Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State, Mike White's Year of the Dog, Billy Ray's Breach and Matthew Vaughn's Stardust.
This year's lineup also includes Anton Corbijn's Control, Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart, Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and new Pixar entry Ratatouille.
The festival will close with Julie Delpy's romantic comedy Two Days in Paris.
Other guests on the talk roster include directors John Waters, Apatow, Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh, and actors Samantha Morton, Chris Cooper, Delpy, Bob Hoskins, Stellan Skarsgard and Tilda Swinton.
- 7/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Directors' Fortnight in 'Control'
PARIS -- The Directors' Fortnight is taking Control. The Anton Corbijn film starring Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and Alexandra Maria Lara will open the Festival de Cannes sidebar on May 17, organizers said Tuesday.
The black-and-white film centers on Ian Curtis, lead singer of '70s band Joy Division, who committed suicide at age 23.
Corbijn, a world-renowned photographer, is best known for directing music videos for such groups as U2, Depeche Mode, New Order, Nirvana, Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The movie, produced by Corbijn alongside Tony Wilson, Todd Eckhert and Deborah Curtis and released in France by La Fabrique du Films, hits Gallic theaters Sept. 26. Becker International is handling world sales.
The official selection for the Directors' Fortnight will be revealed at a news conference May 3 in Paris.
The black-and-white film centers on Ian Curtis, lead singer of '70s band Joy Division, who committed suicide at age 23.
Corbijn, a world-renowned photographer, is best known for directing music videos for such groups as U2, Depeche Mode, New Order, Nirvana, Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The movie, produced by Corbijn alongside Tony Wilson, Todd Eckhert and Deborah Curtis and released in France by La Fabrique du Films, hits Gallic theaters Sept. 26. Becker International is handling world sales.
The official selection for the Directors' Fortnight will be revealed at a news conference May 3 in Paris.
- 4/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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