Category: International

MUMBAI: The tenth edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus will take place at the Hebbel am Ufer Theatre in Berlin from 11 to 16 February next year.

Changing Perspectives is the thematic focus of the 2012 Campus, to which 350 up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world will be invited during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.
 
Emerging filmmakers will play an increasingly essential role in this film industry, where shifting paradigms strongly affect how films are presented and reach audiences.

“Changing perspectives is a process that requires active participation: sharing ideas and experiences, approaching filmmaking in a transdisciplinary way, getting inspired by visionary pioneers and being open to the unexpected along the way.
 
This doesn’t just happen by coincidence”, says Campus programme manager Matthijs Wouter Knol..

The Berlinale Talent Campus brings emerging filmmakers and seasoned film professionals together and offers them a platform to refresh their views, discover new horizons, find fellow filmmaking collaborators and discuss new trends and developments in contemporary cinema and media.

MUMBAI: Imax Corporation, in association with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release action-adventure film John Carter Stanton in Imax theatres simultaneously with the film‘s worldwide release on 9 March next year.

John Carter, set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars), is the story of war-weary former military captain John Carter. He is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions among the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas, and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris.
 
In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Said Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures executive vice president – theatrical exhibition sales and distribution Dave Hollis, “Audiences will immediately feel transported in the epic adventure of John Carter.

Andrew Stanton has envisioned this vast landscape in a way that‘s not been seen before, and we‘re thrilled to be able to offer our viewers this film in the immersive Imax 3D format.”

John Carter stars Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe and Lynn Collins

MUMBAI: Canadian film distributor Alliance Films has acquired Maple Pictures from Lionsgate Entertainment for $38.5 million.

Confirming the acquisition, Alliance Films chairman and CEO Victor Loewy said, “If you look around, there‘s very few indie companies operating in the U.S. and Lionsgate is the biggest one.”
 
Loewy added job losses at Maple Pictures should be kept to a minimum after the rival distributor joins the Alliance Films fold.

“There will be a surprisingly high number of people that we‘re keeping,” he said.
 
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a Wednesday morning analyst call reiterated the Maple Pictures sale was part of an ongoing strategy by the mini-major to sell off non-core assets.

The possible sale of Maple Pictures, which was launched in 2005 by co-presidents Laurie May and Brad Pelman was first reported in April last.

MUMBAI: Comedian and actor Russell Brand has launched his own film production company.

To be based in Hollywood, Branded Films, that Brand has set up with his business partner Nik Linnen, will function from the Warner Bros studios in Burbank at California.The company will primarily work on developing films for Brand to star in.
 
“We at the newly founded Branded Films are very excited to announce our new company and the opportunity for puns that it affords us,” the 36-year-old actor said in a statement.

Brand is the latest actor to get into a producing deal with Warner Bros that also has arrangements with Robert Downey Jr, Zac Efron, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

MUMBAI: Though he hasn‘t passed any official comment on the word going around that he should be the next US president, people from the film industry have started airing their views on Matt Damon being the next president.

Last weekend, documentary maker Michael Moore, participating in a panel discussion, aired his thoughts on the Bourne star as a likely candidate for the White House. “I think that he has been very courageous in not caring about who he offends by saying the things that need to be said here,” the filmmaker said.
 
Talking upon Damon‘s likely presidentisl candidature, Moore said, “Republicans have shown the way in the presidential campaign trail. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win. And I guess I only throw his name out there because I‘d like us to start thinking that way.”

Though many who have seen Damon in the Bourne trilogy, may not doubt his commitment to the cause, but the actor is long known for his political activism.During the 2008 US presidential campaign he backed Barack Obama and dismissed Sarah Palin‘s story as “a bad Disney movie”.

But in recent times Damon has spoken of Obama, stating that the President has “misinterpreted his mandate” and “doubled down on a lot of things” including education.

Matt Damon has made no official comment on whether he would run for the presidency or not.

MUMBAI: Harrison Ford was surprised when he was handed the Golden Leopard award for lifetime achievement at the 64th Locarno International Film Festival.
 
Incidentally, the fest hosted the European premiere of his latest film Cowboys & Aliens.

“I‘m very grateful for this. It reminds me of my enormous luck in my career to work with so many talented directors, actors, crew, writers, producers. And I appreciate the fact that I still have the opportunity from time to time to make movies,” Ford hs been quoted to have said.
 
Ford made himself present at the bash when he took a helicopter along with his director Jon Favreau and co-stars Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde, all at the organizers expense.
The festival ends on Saturda