ITV

Category: International

  • Great Gatsby to open Cannes Film Festival

    Great Gatsby to open Cannes Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s account of Roaring Twenties America, will open the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

    The film combines serious literary heritage and A-list star power with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.

    For the first time since 2007, DiCaprio will put in an appearance at the festival. The opening gala, preceded by a glitzy red carpet fashion parade and followed by parties along the palm-lined Riviera will also be attended by megastar Amitabh Bachchan and US rapper Jay-Z. The festival runs from 15 to 26 May.

    "It is a great honour for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes film festival," Luhrmann said in a statement. “F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael," he added.

    DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby in the 3D movie, Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire is Nick Carraway, the narrator. The film also has Amitabh Bachchan in a important role.

  • Indian Film Festival of Melbourne next month to feature gems of Indian cinema

    Indian Film Festival of Melbourne next month to feature gems of Indian cinema

    MUMBAI: The 2013 Festival programme of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has been launched here by Australian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher and actor Vidya Balan, ambassador of the Festival.

    “The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is a wonderful demonstration of our growing cultural links and shows the creativity and innovations that Melbourne and Mumbai are both famous for.” Ms Asher said.

    Speaking at the event, Balan said she was delighted to be the ambassador for such a vibrant and exciting festival showcasing the best that Indian Cinema has to offer. “Kolkata is my first home and Melbourne is like a second home to me and I look forward to being back, and watch some interesting cinema. I certainly do not want to miss Raja Harishchandra (1913) on the big screen.”

    On a lighter note, she pointed out that she would be more than willing to accept if she were to be made lifetime Ambassador for the festival in Melbourne. “This would provide me even more opportunities to visit Melbourne,” the actress quipped.

    To be held in April 2013, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne will showcase the diversity of Indian film culture to Victorian audiences through some choice films.

    The industry event also remembered legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, with the Minister announcing that the Festival will pay a rich tribute to the veteran filmmaker next year.

    “Mr Chopra had a deep relationship with Victoria as he was a Patron of the Festival and he shot two of his blockbusters — Salaam Namaste and Chak De India – in Victoria. The Festival is honoured to be showcasing Mr Chopra’s masterpieces,” Ms Asher added.

  • Nine Ray films to be screened in Spain as part of special retrospective

    Nine Ray films to be screened in Spain as part of special retrospective

    MUMBAI: Nine films of cine craftsman Satyajit Ray are to be screened by the Filmoteca de Catalunya, a film archive in Spain, in collaboration with ImagineIndia and the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals.

    The retrospective of Ray includes Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apur Sansar), Charulata, Shatranj Ke Khilari, Jalsaghar, Sadgati, Bala, Mahanagar and Satyajit Ray, a biopic on Ray by Shyam Benegal.

    The ten day programme which is a part of a sixteen-day festival will celebrate Ray’s depiction of “the modern ideals of a society that was also a colonized country. A filmmaker (Ray) who should be visited from time-to-time so as to not lose sight of what is essential,” the Filmoteca de Catalunya website says.

    The screenings that will take place at the Cinematheque de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain will go on from 18 to 28 March.

  • Sony Pictures unites sound, digital mastering departments

    Sony Pictures unites sound, digital mastering departments

    MUMBAI: With production underway on Sony Pictures Animation‘s ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2‘ and post-production continuing on ‘The Smurfs 2‘, Sony Pictures Digital Productions (SPDP) have announced it is bringing the studio‘s Sound Department and Colorworks, the studio‘s digital intermediate facility, under its umbrella.

    SPDP will now offer a host of post-production services to the professional community, including visual effects and computer animation, sound mixing and editorial and digital mastering, color grading, and film restoration.

    The announcement was made by Sony Pictures Digital Productions president Bob Osher. Commenting on the announcement, Osher said, “These changes to the production organisation will help us continue to provide our partners with the same world class suite of facilities and services they have come to expect from Sony Pictures Studios over the years, and I am thrilled to welcome the expertise of Colorworks and the studio‘s Sound Department, with their incredible teams of experienced professionals, to Sony Pictures Digital Productions.”

    These changes come following the announcement that Sony Pictures Studios president Gary Martin will be retiring this year. Martin was responsible for opening the lot‘s Barbara Streisand Scoring Stage and developing Sony Pictures Studios‘ Sound Department into a facility boasting a stable of Oscar winning sound mixers and sound supervisors.

    Along with Sony Pictures Technologies president, Chris Cookson, Martin opened the studio‘s digital intermediate facility, which introduced the industry‘s first fully-4K workflow. Osher and Sony Pictures Imageworks executive VP, GM Randy Lake will work closely with the sound department‘s Richard Branca and Tom McCarthy and Colorworks‘ Chris Holt in managing the studio‘s combined post-production operations.

    Sony Pictures Colorworks‘ 14,000 square foot facility, housed at Sony Pictures Studio‘s Stage 6, features colourists and technology offering real-time, 4K processing in a full digital workflow for top filmmakers from across the industry. The Sony Pictures Sound Department boasts some of the world‘s most sought-after sound facilities, and top sound editors with a combined six Oscar wins to the their credit, including this year‘s winner for Best Sound Editing, ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘.

    Sony Pictures Imageworks is the visual effects unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions known for live-action visual effects, CG animation, and 3D imagery.

  • ‘The Monuments Men’ commences production in Germany

    ‘The Monuments Men’ commences production in Germany

    MUMBAI: Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox have announced that ‘The Monuments Men‘, a Smokehouse production directed by and starring George Clooney, has started production in Berlin, Germany. The action-thriller is written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter. Clooney and Heslov also produce the film through their Smokehouse Productions. It is their first production since winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for their work on ‘Argo‘.

    Barbara A. Hall is executive producer. ‘The Monuments Men‘ is a co-production with Germany‘s Siebente Babelsberg Film, a subsidiary of Studio Babelsberg AG. Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter serve as co-producers. Sony Pictures will release the film domestically, with Twentieth Century Fox handling international territories.

    The film stars Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and John Goodman.

    Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, ‘The Monuments Men‘ focuses on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind‘s greatest achievements.

    Clooney‘s crew on ‘The Monuments Men‘ includes director of photography Phedon Papamichael, ASC, Oscar nominated production designer Jim Bissell, Academy Award winning editor Stephen Mirrione, A.C.E., costume designer Louise Frogley, and five-time Oscar nominated composer Alexandre Desplat.

    ‘The Monuments Men‘ films in Germany and the UK through the end of June. It is scheduled for release in the US on 18 December, 2013.

  • Ashton Kutcher’s biopic on Steve Jobs to release this summer

    Ashton Kutcher’s biopic on Steve Jobs to release this summer

    MUMBAI: Movie buffs will soon see Ashton Kutcher in the role of Apple visionary Steve Jobs in the film titled Jobs.
     
    Reports reveal that Kutcher took his role very seriously and wanted to get into the skin of the character. The talented actor went on a very strict diet which only included fruits; he also read and interacted extensively with Steve Jobs‘ friends and colleagues to understand his character better.
     
    Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, the film is a biopic on Jobs‘ life and revolves around how he became one of the largest entrepreneurs of the 20th Century.
     
    The film also stars Josh Gad, who will be seen playing the role of Steve Wozniak.
     
    To be distributed by PVR Pictures here in India, the film has already become the most awaited films of the year.
     
    The biopic will release this summer.

  • Surkhaab nominated to receive the prestigious REMI award at the 46th Annual WorldFest in Houston

    Surkhaab nominated to receive the prestigious REMI award at the 46th Annual WorldFest in Houston

    New Delhi: Canadian film-producer Tushar Unadkat’s film Surkhaab is an Official Selection for programming into The 46th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival in its TEXAS Premiere.

    He had been honoured with the prestigious Trailblazer Award at the 11th Annual ReelWorld Film Festival last year..

    WorldFest-Houston is one of the three original international film festivals in North America, after San Francisco and New York. It was founded in 1961 as Cinema Arts, an International Film Society. Houston will be presenting Surkhaab to the World, in the prime time of 20 April at the 30 Screen AMC.
     
    Surkhaab is nominated to receive one of the prestigious REMI awards in its feature film categories at this year‘s WorldFest 2013. WorldFest awards are the Grand Award (Best of Category), REMI Special Jury Awards, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze REMI awards. The WorldFest REMI Award is named after the great Western Artist Frederick Remington, who captured the spirit of Texas and The American West with his remarkable paintings and sculptures.

    Unadkat shares, "Surkhaab is the name given to the Ruddy Shelduck (a type of bird) in India and Pakistan. This film is a story of a girl from India, her flight to Canada and the first 96 hours on the run! Barkha Madan, former Femina Miss India and Miss Tourism World Wide, who was seen in Bollywood‘s famous filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma‘s Bhoot and in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi with superstar Akshay Kumar, plays the lead in the film. I collaborated with Golden Gate Creations, a California based company, Executive Producer: Vivek Kumar and Director: Sanjay Talreja to produce Surkhaab. It is a Hinglish (Hindi + English) feature film scheduled for theatrical release this summer in the US, India and Canada."
     
    Asked about his journey as a filmmaker, he says, "It‘s been a wonderful journey and I have directed numerous shorts and features. I have had the opportunity to work with Oscar winning producers and editors, namely Fred Fuchs, Phil Svaboda and Frank Reynolds to name a few! I have also worked with the likes of Shabana Azmi and Girish Karnad."

  • Paramount, Warner Bros to co-produce and distribute Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’

    Paramount, Warner Bros to co-produce and distribute Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’

    MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures has said that writer/director Christopher Nolan‘s ‘Interstellar‘ will be co-produced and distributed by the two studios, with Paramount Pictures handling Domestic distribution and Warner Bros. Pictures distributing the film Internationally.
     
    ‘Interstellar‘ will be released beginning 7 November, 2014, in theaters and Imax.
     
    Directed and written by Academy Award-nominee Nolan, ‘Interstellar‘ is based on a script by Jonathan Nolan. The film will be produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan of Syncopy Films and Obst of Lynda Obst Productions. Kip Thorne will executive produce. The film will depict a heroic interstellar voyage to the furthest reaches of our scientific understanding.
     
    Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Brad Grey said, "As a filmmaker and storyteller, Chris has continuously entertained the world with his extraordinary and unparalleled talents. I am pleased beyond measure to welcome him to the Paramount Pictures family. Partnering with Chris, Emma, Lynda and Warner Bros. to release this original idea next November is the perfect way to start the Thanksgiving and holiday movie season for audiences around the world."
     
    Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov said, "Christopher Nolan is truly one of the great auteurs working in film today, and we‘re extremely proud of our successful and ongoing collaboration with him and Emma Thomas. We are excited to be teaming with Paramount, and look forward to working with the Nolans, and producer Lynda Obst, on this extraordinary new project."

  • Emma Stone and Naomi Watts to star in a dark comedy

    Emma Stone and Naomi Watts to star in a dark comedy

    MUMBAI: Alejandro Gonzalez has signed Emma Stone and Naomi Watts for a new dark comedy for the big screen titled Birdman.
     
    The two will star opposite Michael Keaton and Zach Galifianakis respectively. While Emma will play Keaton‘s daughter, Watts will portray a demanding diva, fresh out of rehab who takes the lead in the fictitious play.
     
    The film is about a man who attempts to stage a Broadway play to revamp his theatre career, it is understood.
     
    The film is set to go on floors in April next.

  • Disney plans sequel to Oz the Great and Powerful

    Disney plans sequel to Oz the Great and Powerful

    MUMBAI: Planning for sequels has slowly become the norm in Hollywood.
     
    Even before the release of the fantasy-adventure Oz the Great and Powerful, the makers have already planned a sequel. The film opens today in theatres worldwide.

    Expecting a box-office bonanza this weekend, Disney has taken this measure. In this connection the makers have hired Mitchell Kapner to write a script for the follow-up that would continue the adventures of Oz played by James Franco.
     
    It may be remembered that Kapner came up with the concept and ideas for the origin story of Oz that is based on the classic L Frank Baum books. He pitched the idea to producer Joe Roth who set it up at Disney.

    The film stars Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams.

    Before Oz, Kapner wrote The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, and also worked on the action movie Romeo Must Die.

    Planning for sequels has slowly become the norm in Hollywood.