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Category: International

  • Book on bin Laden killing to be made into a Hollywood film By Indiantelevision.com Team(22 October 2011 3:45 pm)

    Book on bin Laden killing to be made into a Hollywood film By Indiantelevision.com Team(22 October 2011 3:45 pm)

    MUMBAI: Osama bin Laden continues to interest Americans. And now a book detailing his death could be converted into a Hollywood movie.

    Chuck Pfaffer, author of “SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama bin Laden,” is keen to sell to studios or producers the television and film rights. The book is set for release on 8 November.

    The book is a first hand account of the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan from SEAL members. Pfaffe, a former U.S. Navy SEAL commander, has offered a different account of the raid than the official White House version.

    According to the official version, bin Laden’s death operations took 40 minutes as SEALS made their way up to the bedroom from the ground floor. Pfarrer, however, writes that bin Laden was killed in the first 90 seconds of the raid as the SEALS entered from the roof.

    Another movie about the raid is being made by director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal for Sony. The film is scheduled to release during the fall of 2012.

  • Five debut films nominated for European Film Awards

    Five debut films nominated for European Film Awards

    MUMBAI: Five debut films have been nominated to be presented at the 24 European Film Awards on 3 December.

    The film films are: ‘Adem‘ (Oxygen), Belgium/The Netherlands (director Hans Van Nuffel); ‘Atmen‘ (Breathing), Austria (writer and director Karl Markovics), ‘Michael‘ Austria (writer and director Markus Schleinzer); ‘Smukke Menesker‘ (Nothing‘s All Bad), Denmark (writer-director Mikkel Munch-Fals) and ‘Tilva Ros‘ Serbia (writer-director Nikola Ležaic).

    The Europen Discovery 2011 – Prix are presented by FIPRESCI
    (International Federation of Film Critics) as part of the European Film Awards to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film.

    This year‘s nominations were determined by a committee consisting of observer Yves Marmion (EFA Chairman, France), Board Members Els Vandevorst (the Netherlands) and Cedomir Kolar (France), EFA Members Pierre-Henri Deleau (France) and Jacob Neiiendam (Denmark), as well as Alin Tasciyan (Turkey), Paulo Portugal (Portugal), and László Kriston (Hungary), all of them members of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.

    The nominated films will now be made available to all 2,500 members of the European Film Academy. They will vote for the winner who will be announced at the 24th European Film Awards on 3 December in Berlin.

  • Hollywood actress Jennifer Grey to be guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing

    Hollywood actress Jennifer Grey to be guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that Hollywood star Jennifer Grey will foxtrot into the dance based reality show ‘Strictly Come Dancing‘ as a guest judge next month.

    Stepping into Len Goodman‘s shoes for one week, Grey will join Craig Revel Horwood, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli on 5 and 6 November.

    She is most famous for her leading lady role in ‘Dirty Dancing‘. Last year she and professional partner Derek Hough were crowned champions of ‘Dancing With The Stars‘, the US version of Strictly.

    The couple achieved consistently high scores throughout Season 11 and lifted the glitter-ball trophy after revisiting their first week dance – the Viennese Waltz.

    Grey said, “I am delighted to be involved. I so look forward to making the pilgrimage to the birthplace of the greatest dance show, the mecca of spray tans and tangos, and to sit in for the great and pernickety Len Goodman.”

    Waltzing her way from the dance-floor to the judging panel, Grey will be able to draw upon her personal dancing experiences to offer a constructive critique to the remaining couples in the competition.

    Due to his commitments with both Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars, Len Goodman will take a week off Strictly Come Dancing and will return to the judging panel from 12 November.

  • Zucker to retire as Sony Pictures Releasing International prez

    Zucker to retire as Sony Pictures Releasing International prez

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Releasing International president Mark Zucker is retiring and the company has promoted Steven O‘Dell to fill that role.

    The announcement was made by Sony Pictures Entertainment president, Worldwide Distribution Rory Bruer.

    Zucker was with Sony Pictures since last 27 years. He has worked closely with Bruer and Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution chairman Jeff Blake, to build an international distribution team.

    O‘Dell, who joined Sony Pictures in 2005 as a VP, was promoted to senior vice president in 2009. In his most recent role, he oversaw Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, and Scandinavia.

    Bruer said, “Mark is one of the most highly regarded, well-respected, and well-liked executives in our company and industry. We are sorry to see him go, but we are happy for him – he‘s worked hard for this moment. We all dream of retiring when we‘re on top, but Mark has been on top for many years – we are thrilled to see him enjoy this next chapter. We also are thrilled to have Steven as our new International President. Steven is innovative, collaborative, and a strong leader. His promotion is well-earned and he is ready to step into this important role.”

    Among the many hits in his career, Zucker orchestrated the international releases of the Spider-Man franchise, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, as well as the two most recent James Bond films, which were the highest-grossing films in franchise history.

    In recent years, Zucker has also overseen the distribution of international hits like The Smurfs, 2012, Hancock, and upcoming releases like The Adventures of TinTin.

    Under Zucker‘s leadership, Sony Pictures has surpassed $1 billion at the international box office in 11 of the past 12 years, including 2011. Since Zucker took over the reins of international distribution in 2001, SPRI has delivered 36 $100 million-plus releases and over $14 billion in box office.

  • Tibetan director gets Dragon and Tigers Award at Vancouver

    Tibetan director gets Dragon and Tigers Award at Vancouver

    NEW DELHI: The $10,000 Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema went to Tibetan director Sonthar Gyal of China for The Sun-Beaten Path at the 30th Vancouver International Film Festival.

    This award is presented to the director of a creative and innovative film from East Asia who has not yet won significant international recognition.

    Anne Émond of Quebec has won the Shaw Media Award for Best Canadian Feature Film this year for Nuit #1 along with the $20,000 cash prize.

    The three-member jury selected this film for its “unflinching intimacy” and atmosphere of “containment with candour and lucidity.”

    The 16-day Festival ended earlier this week.

    The Canadian Images jury comprised Beth Barrett (Programme Manager of the Seattle International Film Festival); Dana Claxton (photographer, filmmaker and educator); and Greg Hamilton (filmmaker and Chinlone, the national sport of Myanmar, expert).

    The Honourable Mention for Canadian Feature Film went to Wetlands, directed by Guy Édoin (Quebec)

    The Canadian Images jury, represented by Dana Claxton, awarded a $2,000 cash award from an anonymous donor to Andrew Cividino of Ontario for We Ate the Children Last. The jury selected this film “for its creation of an apocalyptic, yet fully believable world.”

    The Rogers People‘s Choice Award went to A Separation directed by Asghar Farhadi.

    All of the festival‘s 375 films – dramas and nonfiction, short, mid and feature length – were eligible for this award, chosen by festival-goers chose the most popular film by rating every film they saw on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).

    The VIFF Most Popular Nonfiction Film Award went to ‘Sing Your Song’ directed by Susanne Rostock. The VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award was won by ‘Starbuck’, directed by Ken Scott.

    The National Film Board Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award went to ‘Peace Out’ directed by Charles Wilkinson with a cash prize of $2,500 in NFB technical services toward their next film from the Filmmaker Assistance Programme.

    VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award was won by ‘People of a Feather’ directed by Joel Heath.

  • Malibu Fest honors Director Mary Lambert

    Malibu Fest honors Director Mary Lambert

    NEW DELHI: Renowned director Mary Lambert has been honoured with a Cinematic Environmentalist Award at the 12th Annual Malibu International Film Festival during its Opening Night directly after the screening of her documentary Miss South Pacific: Beauty and the Sea.


    The film not only follows the 2009-2010 Miss South Pacific Pageant, but also tells the story of various Pacific Island countries and how they have been affected by climate change.


    While Lambert first gained attention as a director in the music video world, she is best known for her work in features (Pet Sematary, Pet Sematary 2, Siesta) and has directed a wide range of television projects for major networks.


    Lambert accepted in hopes of spreading her film‘s message – one that, according to Lambert, needs to be heard.


    Fellow environmental activists and personal friends Pierce and Keely Brosnan presented the Award.


    Miss South Pacific kicked off the Opening Night of the Festival with a screening at Malibu Cinemas. After the presentation of Lambert‘s Award, the evening continued with an introduction by Pierce Brosnan for the romantic comedy feature Kissing Strangers directed by David Katz (Film and Television Producer, Malibu Film Festival Founder).


    The Opening Night Films were sponsored by Keely Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan, Kym Gold, Babakul, Dianne Burnett, the Joan Valentine Foundation, Kanner Sisters Productions, and Marty Katz Productions.

  • Big rush for Oldenburg fest

    Big rush for Oldenburg fest

    NEW DELHI: Happy New Year by K Lorrel Manning with Michael Cuomo as lead actor received the German Independence Award – Audience Award – presented by Peter Göttelmann, CEO Marketing of EWE AG – at the Oldenburg International Film Festival which concluded over the weekend.


    Both the director and lead actor were present.


    Director Markus Engel received the award for the best short film for his work The Last Guest with a special recommendation going to 15 Summers Later by Pedro Collantes.


    The five-day festival was filled with 8 world premieres, 9 international premieres, 3 European premieres, 17 German premieres and a total of 55 films.


    The festival opening gala was highlighted by the comedy No Sex Is No Option by Torsten Wacker in front of 1300 people at Oldenburg‘s EWE Arena with stars Stephan Luca, Anna Thalbach, Armin Rohde and Janin Reinhardt in attendance.


    The Festival ended with the award ceremony and the premiere of Anduni – Where is Home with guest Florian Lukas.


    Dr. Ketel by Linus de Paoli won the jury award of German Independence Award – Best German Film.


    The international jury of Matthew Modine, Radley Metzger, Ildi Toth Davy, Soopum Sohn, and Matteo Lovadina said, “The film adventurously explores the techniques of film making. Pushing the boundaries of storytelling to an area that is unique in contemporary cinema.”


    Another highlight of the festival was the German premiere of US-Spanish co-production The Way by Emilio Estevez in attendance of Deborah Kara Unger and Yorick van Wageningen at the packed St. Lamberti Church, where the festival showed a film for the first time.


    Among the many programming highlights were Brawler an energising tale about two brothers who fight for the same woman in a series of illegal bouts.


    Among the guests of this year‘s festival were: Matthew Modine, Deborah Kara Unger, Inger Nilsson, Ted Kotcheff, Roger Fritz, Mark Polish, Arthur Brauss, Radley Metzger, Bela B. Felsenheimer, Stephan Luca, Anna Thalbach, Armin Rohde, Janin Reinhardt, Kostja Ullmann, Ken Duken, Florian Lukas, Marc Senter, Nathan Grubbs, Chris Sivertson, Noémie Merlant, and Burak Yigit.

  • Stephen Frears to get European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement award in Berlin

    Stephen Frears to get European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement award in Berlin

    LONDON: Stephen Frears, director of films like Dangerous Liaisons, The Hi-Lo Country, and The Queen is to will receive this year‘s European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding and dedicated body of work.


    “I don‘t know what to say,” Frears said on getting the news.


    Having already received various awards like the Spanish Goya, the French César and the British Bafta, he said, “Well, they‘re always nice – if you get them,” and added: “But I‘m very grateful, it‘s very nice to be complimented by Europe.”


    The director remembered his long relationship with the European Film Academy: “I was there when it was founded; I came flying back from the Oscars to get there.”


    “Of course, I‘m never quite sure whether England is part of Europe. We‘re divided about this and have complicated feelings,” he said, adding: “But what matters is to keep European film going! And I‘m totally committed to that. Nothing else matters. If the films are good, then people will go and see them.”


    Frears will be an honorary guest at the 24th European Film Awards Ceremony on 3 December 2011 in Berlin.


    Having begun his career in British television, Frears made his breakthrough in 1985 with My Beautiful Launderette. Earning him nominations for the Oscar and Bafta, the film was based on a screenplay by Hanif Kureish with whom he collaborated again in 1987 for Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. Frears then made the Joe Orton biopic Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988), which won three Oscars, two Bafta and a French César for the director.


    Among his other films are The Grifters (1990), Mary Reilly (1996), The Hi-Lo Country (1998), High Fidelity (2000), Dirty Pretty Things (2003), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), and Tamara Drewe (2010). His film The Queen (2006) was a major international success; it was nominated for virtually every award there is and won the Spanish Goya as well as an Oscar, Golden Globe and European Film Award for Helen Mirren.

  • European Film Academy and Asia Pacific Screen Academy to work together

    European Film Academy and Asia Pacific Screen Academy to work together

    NEW DELHI: The European Film Academy (EFA) and the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (APSA) have announced an alliance between the two organisations and the first event will be the participation on the 2011 APSA International Jury by Israeli director Samuel Maoz, member of the European Film Academy and the Asia Pacific Screen Academy.


    EFA Director Marion Doering said: “The EFA and APSA share remarkably similar ambitions and ideals including our determination to actively promote the films and filmmakers of our culturally diverse territories to a worldwide audience. We each embrace a multiplicity of languages and cultures within our memberships. We therefore very much enjoy having found in APSA a partner facing similar challenges and joys that
    such initiatives bring. We wish Des and his team a very successful 5th Awards Ceremony in November!”


    APSA Chairman Des Power said today that he was delighted that Samuel Maoz would join the APSA International Jury in 2011: “We are deeply indebted to Marion Doering and the EFA. When we first contemplated APSA some seven years ago, the European Film Academy had been in existence for almost two decades and we looked to it for advice. Marion generously shared her knowledge built over 20 years of
    experience in developing an Academy and in presenting a major Awards program and ceremony to acclaim the work of filmmakers from a culturally diverse region.”


    Both academies are discussing possibilities to develop screening programmes whereby APSA-winning films, such as the Best Feature film or Jury Grand Prize winner, would screen at special presentations in Europe hosted by the EFA and vice versa.


    The 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be held on Australia‘s Gold Coast on 24 November; the 24th European Film Awards will be held in Berlin on 3 December..

  • South East Asian filmmakers feel need for more skills training

    South East Asian filmmakers feel need for more skills training

    MUMBAI: Delegates from several South East Asian countries have suggested government intent to develop the sector and an interest in working with the Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) and the inter-governmental body Asean.


    The development potential of South East Asia and the changes underway within Asia‘s Film Commissions were put in the spotlight at two seminars during Busan‘s Asian Film Policy Forum held during the Festival that concluded over the weekend.


    Presentations by government officials from Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia showed countries with vastly different stages of film industry development. Indonesia said it would produce 100 films this year, but Laos expected only six films; there is a common need for more cinemas and more skills training.


    Bounchao Phichit, director general from the Laos‘ culture ministry‘s department of cinema, charted a decline in theatre numbers between 1985 and 2005 and said that the government has kick-started film-making and acts variously as regulator, producer, distributor and cheerleader. He said he was happy to see that of this year‘s crop of films five were produced by private-sector firms.


    Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise managing director Aung Myo Myint said that he has a “burning desire” to cultivate the skills of film artists and technicians through regional training courses and through visiting international productions. He also hinted at a surprising vibrancy; Myanmar produced 16 feature films, but also 581 video films in 2010.


    Do Duy An suggested that even in the absence of financial incentives the number of co-produced films is rising. They climbed from just 2 in 2006 to 5 in 2008.


    Syamsul ‘Sam‘ Lussa said that the government intends to develop cinema for both cultural and industrial reasons. But he spoke of a shortage of cinema screens that is restricting growth – there are only some 650 screens in 55 towns and cities for a population of 239 million – and a need for skills training. He also said that film needs to be removed
    from the country‘s ‘negative list,‘ a list of industries in which
    foreign investment is restricted or banned.


    A day earlier, film commissioners described how they are increasingly taking a developmental role in addition to their traditional function of ‘production attraction‘.


    Wellington Fung said that Hong Kong‘s Film Development Council is now funding technical training schemes (for assistant directors, production managers, editors and martial artists) through the new Film Academy set up at HK Baptist University.Filmmaker and actor Inoue Toshihiko said that the Sapporo Hokkaido Contents Strategy Organisation no longer simply matched locations with productions but also takes on investment matching and that his region is increasingly being used for shoots from Singapore, Thailand and India.


    Oh Seok-gun, head of Busan‘s proactive Film Commission, said that Busan is now funding script development and that its budget for such incentives is set to rise to $255,000.