Category: International

MUMBAI: Oscar-winning producer and director Joe Strick breathed his last after succumbing to congestive heart failure in a hospital in Paris. He was 86.

Strick is best known as the producer, director and co-writer of the 1967 film adaptation of the James Joyce novel Ulysses for which he was nominated with Fred Haines in the adapted screenplay category. 

Strick won his Academy Award for the 1971 short documentary Interviews With My Lai Veterans that featured US soldiers present at the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Strick also wrote and directed wrote the 1960 film The Savage Eye with Ben Maddow and Sidney Meyers. The film earned BAFTA‘s Robert J. Flaherty Award for best documentary.

Strick also co-produced the 1983 film Never Cry Wolf with Lewis Allen and Jack Couffer and also the BBC documentary The Hecklers in 1996.

Strick is survived by his his wife Martine, five children Jeremy Strick, Betsy Strick, David Strick, Terence Strick and Helene Strick-Marchand and six grandchildren.
 

MUMBAI: Looks like many Japanese do not agree with the ongoing dolphin hunts. Angry protesters with loudspeakers in their hands were the cause of two more theatres cancel screenings of The Cove in Japan.

The cancellations were made in the cities of Osaka and Tokyo when theatres showing the film downed their shutters after receiving angry phone calls. 

Unplugged, the distributor of the film, said that they were worried about protecting the safety of businesses nearby as well as of movie-going public.

The Academy Award-winning documentary depicts a dolphin hunt in a Japanese village.

Though The Cove has yet not been shown to the public, it has been shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival and other smaller screening opportunities.

MUMBAI: Australian film Red Hill will be among four films from the country to screen at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) slated for the later part this month. The festival, that runs from 16 to 27 June will screen more than 100 features and have 22 world premieres.

South Australian director Patrick Hughes‘s debut feature, the thriller stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood fame) was shot in the picturesque town of Omeo.

The second Aussie film to feature at the festival is Matthew Bate‘s documentary The Mystery Of Flying Kicks that uncovers the mystery behind sneakers hanging on telephone lines. Short film Siberia, a short film directed by Andrew G Taylor and a comedy film Franswa Sharl directed by Hannah Hilliard will also feature in the festival.

Festival patrons Sean Connery, Tilda Swinton and Seamus McGarvey are likely to put in an appearance during the 12-day celebration.

Other films to feature in the festival include Werner Herzog‘s My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? and Steven Soderburgh‘s And Everything Is Going Fine. Sylvain Chomet‘s The Illusionist will open the festival.
 

MUMBAI: This year‘s Tunis International Film Festival, that was held between 27 to 30 May, handed over the best film award of $5000 to German director Andrea Schorr for his film Im Anhang Lebenslauf took the top prize while Hallee Hirsh was named best actress for her role in the US director Becky Smith‘s film 16 to Life.

The festival, now in its fourth year had the words ‘Women, I Love You as its slogan and strove to honour women for their role in the film industry and in all walks of life. The event that was first launched in 2007 has always upheld the same slogan. 

Besides Tunisia, more than 12 countries took part in the festival, including Japan, Mexico and the United States. All films featured were categorised as writers‘ films or films belonging to the independent cinema as opposed to commercial films.

Tunisia was represented by a film titled Samt al-Kosoor (The Silence of Castles) directed by Moufida Tletli.

The official competition comprised of six films including works from the US, Germany, Spain and Hungary as well as a British-Indian co-production.
A number of acclaimed figures like Claudia Cardinale, Yamina Ben Kiki and Tunisian actress Dora Zarrouk have earlier graced the festival.
 

MUMBAI: A preliminary injunction preventing the US release of I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor has been issued by a California District Court.

The film, about a married man who gets into a car crash, discovers he‘s gay and goes on a crime spree that eventually lands him in jail, has been produced by French movie studio EuropaCorp.

After the film premiered in 2009 at Sundance Film Festival, Consolidated lapped up its US rights. Initially planned to release in February, the film got delayed and was to finally release in July.

However, EuropaCorp never got the full $3 million advance that Consolidated agreed to pay last year. An agreement between Europa Corp and Consolidated was amended in February to allow Consolidated pay in three instalments, but according to EuropaCorp, it still didn‘t receive any money.

In April, EuropaCorp rescinded its distribution agreement and filed a lawsuit against Consolidated alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement. The studio demanded the return of the film and marketing materials.

In response, Consolidated stated that EuropaCorp hadn‘t delivered the film on time, had breached its agreement by entering into distribution agreements with Virgin Atlantic and other airlines and said that its failure to pay up wasn‘t a sufficient material breach.

Consolidated requested a stay so that it could hash out the dispute in an arbitration proceeding at the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA). In her decision, California District Court Judge Dale Fischer said that EuropaCorp was likely to succeed on the merits of its claims observing that the defendant‘s arguments were weak.

As a result, the judge granted EuropaCorp‘s request for an injunction provided it manages to put up a $500,000 bond pending the ultimate outcome of the case. The dispute will now head to the IFTA arbitration, hopefully within the next two months.

Regardless of the outcome, the film won‘t be in theatres next month as planned.
 

MUMBAI: Oscilloscope Laboratories has lapped up the North American rights of Yony Leyse‘s documentary William S. Burroughs: A Man Within. The film will now be released theatrically in the fall and also broadcast as part of PBS‘ “Independent Lens” series.

The documentary, narrated by Peter Weller features new archival footage of the beat writer, as well as interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg.

Josh Braun and Jason Janego of Submarine negotiated the deals with Fenkel on behalf of Oscilloscope while Lois Vossen did so on the behalf of Independent Lens.
 

MUMBAI: Lotus Productions and Integral Films will co-produce a 3D animated docu-fiction on the Dalai Lama that French director Jan Kounen will helm.

Initially titled The Secret History of the Dalai Lamas, the film has now been titled The Last Call. The film, based on a script by Jean-Claude Carriere, will be co-directed by Kounen and Anne Paris.
 

The Last Call that will focus on Tibetan culture and the history of the Dalai Lama through the times will feature real documentary footage and interviews with the current Dalai Lama plus fictionalised representations. The $4.9 million film will be shot in October and November this year.

Lotus Productions will also partner Integral Film on Heaven & Earth, the untold story of German pilot Erwin Dold, a prison camp commander of the Nazi Third Reich acquitted of charges after the war for his compassion for 5,000 prisoners.

Lotus is also in the pre-production stage on Capucine Henry‘s Shambhavi with Only Dreams India.

MUMBAI: The Maui Film Festival in Hawaii will honour teen heartthrob Zac Efron with its Shining Star Award later this month.

The star of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and 17 Again will be presented the award on 16 June, the festival‘s opening night.

Festival director Barry Rivers termed the 22-year-old Efron as an ‘exemplary shining star‘. This year‘s mantra is ‘Trust the Future‘ and Efron is an actor with an extraordinary career behind him and an even more brilliant one ahead of him, Rivers quips.
 

MUMBAI: Algerian film Masquerades that made a name in the international film circuit bringing much credence to Algerian cinema, is set to release in Dubai on 3 June. It will play till 16 July.

Produced and directed by Lyes Salem, the film was Algeria‘s official Oscar entry under the Best Foreign Film category. Masquerades, which premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in 2008, also won the Muhr Arab Award and the Fipresci Award under the category of ‘Best Film‘. 

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) artistic director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said that the screening of Masquerades in Dubai was arranged after a growing demand from discerning moviegoers for the internationally acclaimed cinema.

The film is the story of Mounir who lives with his family in the heart of the Algerian Aures. An arrogant man, he has only one dream: to finally be appreciated by his fellow citizens. He adores his sister Rym, who falls asleep anywhere and whom the village is convinced will end up a spinster. A Masquerades underscores the triumph of hope.

Incidentally Masquerades won the ‘Grand Prize‘ at the Fameca Festival; the Grand Prix at The Arabian Sights Film Festival of Washington DC; The Golden Hawk at the 9th Arab Film Festival Rotterdam; the ‘Special Jury Award‘ at the Beirut International Film Festival and the Grand Festival Prize for the Best Female Performance (Rym Takoucht) at the Festival Vues d‘Afrique Montreal, Canada.
 

MUMBAI: DreamWorks Animation‘s Shrek Forever After edged out Sex and the City 2 to cling on to the No. 1 spot at box-offices in the US. In its second weekend the film roped in $43.4 million till Sunday.

Box-office analysts were expecting Sex and the City 2 to take the No. 1 position, but it took the third place with an estimated haul of $37.1 million. On the other hand Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time took the No. 2 spot with a four-day haul of $37.7 million.

While Shrek Forever After was released by Paramount Pictures, Sex and the City 2 was distributed by Warner Bros. Prince of Persia was released by the film studio division of The Walt Disney Co.