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Category: Movies

  • Documentary on Obama’s late mother in the offing

    MUMBAI: Aloe Entertainment, in association with IMG and Schroeder-Ptacek Productions, will soon produce a documentary on US President Barack Obama‘s late mother Dunham titled Stanley Ann Dunham: A Most Generous Spirit.

    The documentary will delve into Dunham‘s work in micro-finance and explore her decision to send her 10-year-old son from Indonesia to live in Hawaii with her parents out of fear that her politically-sensitive work might endanger his life.


    Charles Burnett who had earlier directed Killer of Sheep and Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding among others has been signed to direct the feature.


    Said executive producer Mary Aloe, “She gave a lot of the backbone to our current president and his compassion to the people. With these small-scale economies, she took a concept that was emerging just as women were getting their rights and got them to think outside the box. She is a fascinating woman, and she was ahead of her time.”


    The project will begin shooting in Indonesia, Hawaii and Washington early next year. It is being said that efforts are on to get President Obama involved in the project.

  • Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Janala to be premiered at Toronto Intl Film Fest

    MUMBAI: Janala, filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta‘s latest, is slated to be premiered in the Masters of World Cinema section at the Toronto International Film Festival to be held from 10 to 19 September.

    Produced by Big Pictures, the film touches on the nostalgia of childhood and the quest to get back to roots while struggling to keep one‘s neck above the waters of the present day muck.


    Janala, the sixth Dasgupta film to be showcased at the Festival, will be premiered in the masters of World Cinema section on 11, 12 and 13 September.


    “I am glad that my film based on a simple dream of a not-conventionally-successful man has found a coveted space in the Masters of World Cinema section of the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Janala is an attempt to be a reminiscent of the times when we sometimes try to make a simple dream come true, but the cogs of destiny leave us feeling unfulfilled,” said Dasgupta.


    According to Big Pictures COO Mahesh Ramanathan, “This is a momentous first entry for Big Pictures in the biggest film festival in North America. We are delighted Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Big Pictures will rub shoulders with the world‘s best cinema talent at Toronto.”


    Other films of Dasgupta that have been showcased earlier at the film festival are Uttara in 2000, Mondo Meyer Upakhyan in 2002, Swapner Din in 2004, Kaalpurush in 2005 and Ami, Yasin Aar Amar Madhubala in 2007.



  • Shemaroo, MoMedia sign five-year deal with BT Vision


    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment and MoMedia International, a leading digital distributor and manager of video-on-demand (VoD) services backed by Endemol, have concluded an exclusive five-year deal with British Telecom‘s IPTV platform BT Vision to create and manage ‘Bolly & Beyond‘, its brand new South Asian VoD service in the UK. Shemaroo and MoMedia will manage and market ‘Bolly & Beyond‘, a subscription service that is scheduled to be launched later in September on the platform.

    The service that will target South Asian communities in the UK with a mix of Bollywood movies, music and television shows will be available to subscribers for ?6.85 per month.


    Commenting on the deal, Shemaroo Entertainment DirectorJai Maroo said, “We are delighted to be working exclusively with BT Vision on this brand new VoD service. With our large and diverse library of content and our strong relations with all the major content producers in India, we are excited to be providing a unique entertainment package to the South Asian communities residing in the UK. As a major content company, we strive to innovate in the digital space.”

    BT Vision CEO Marc Watson said, “Bollywood fans can now choose from an extensive library of TV and Film and watch what they want, when they want it. This is a great addition to what is already the UK‘s biggest on demand service for TV, film, kids, music and replay programmes.”



     

  • MPAA, plexes join hands against camcorder piracy

    MUMBAI: More than 90 per cent of newly released films around the world that end up appearing illegally on the streets and on internet sites originate from illegal copies made in cinema halls.

    In a joint initiative, the Motion Picture Association of America, PVR and Adlabs decided to come down heavily against the major source of piracy and launched a campaign to this effect.


    Motion Picture Association of America CEO and Chairman Dan Glickman, PVR Cinemas CEO Amitabh Vardhan and Adlabs COO Tushar Dhingra attended the meet at Adlabs‘ Odeon Big Cinemas multiplex in Delhi where the announcement was made.

    Called the ‘Make a Difference‘ campaign, the initiative sets up a series of anti-camcord training sessions for theatre employees across the country.


    “With the advancement of technology, piracy is getting a boost but the same technology can also be used in order to curb the spread.


    “The Big Cinemas team firmly stands behind this MPAA initiative which takes proactive action to curb camcord piracy and we hope that the anti-piracy laws are more steadfastly enforced in India,” said Dhingra.

    Remarked Vardhan, “Like every business, the motion picture industry relies on its profits to invest in future projects. Piracy results in fewer films being financed, which means jobs are not created and local goods and services – such as cinema tickets – are not purchased.


    Fame Adlabs, Fun Republic and other cinemas will also be part of this nationwide training initiative to raise awareness of unauthorised recordings in cinemas.

  • Tamil film Kanchivaram tops at National Film Awards

    NEW DELHI: Films from the South have romped in major awards at the 55th National Awards, but Hindi cinema dominated the 55th National Film Awards with as many as 17 honours.

    While Priyadarshan‘s offbeat Tamil film Kanchivaram walked away with the best feature film, director Adoor Gopalakrishnan was adjudged the best director for Malayalam film Naalu Pennungal.


    Malayalam films, in fact, won six awards, Tamil films five awards, and Kannada, English, Marathi and Bengali films bagged two honours each.


    Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India got the award for Best Popular film providing wholesome entertainment, while Frozen by Shivajee Chandrabhushan shot in Ladakh received the Indira Gandhi Award for the Best First film of a Director.


    The Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration went to the Hindi film Dharm by Bhavna Talwar. Taare Zameen Par, by producer-director Aamir Khan, received three awards – the best film on family welfare, male playback singer Shankar Mahadevan for the song Meri Maa , and the best lyric award for Prasoon Joshi.


    Prakash Raj of Kanchivaram and Umashree of Gulabi Talkies (directed by Girish Kasarvalli) received the best artiste awards in the male and female category, while Sharad Goekar from the Marathi film Tingya got the best child actor award. Darshan Jariwala in Gandhi My Father and Shefali Shah in the English film The Last Lear got the best supporting artiste awards.


    Hindi film Jab We Met won awards for best female singer Shreya Ghoshal and the choreography award for Yeh Ishk Hai.


    Gandhi My Father, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan and produced by Anil Kapoor, also received the Special Jury Award and the best screenplay award for the director.


    Sushil Rajpal‘s Hindi film Antardwandwa got the award for best film on social issues such as women and child welfare. The film dealt with the marriages for sale racket. Foto by Virendra Saini in Hindi for the Children‘s Film Society, India, was awarded the best children film award while Inimey Naangathaan in Tamil by S venky Baboo got the best animation film award.


    Frozen also received the award for best cinematography for Shanker Raman, while the editing award went to Naalu Pennungal. The Shah Rukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om also received the award for art director for Sabu Cyril.


    While Sai Paranjpye headed the 14-member jury, Ashoke Viswanathan was chairman of the six-member non-feature film jury and author Namita Gokhale headed the writing jury.

  • Disney to re-release both Toy Story films in 3D

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney Co. is in plans to re-release its popular animated films

    Toy Story and Toy Story 2 as a double feature introducing a new generation of kids to Woody, BuzzLight year and pals and taking them “to infinity and beyond.”

    But the main surprise of the re-release is that it will be in 3-D. The double feature is scheduled to hit theatres on 2 October.

    The purpose of the re-package is to set the stage for the release of the third instalment of the Toy Story series, Toy Story 3 that is expected to hot the theatres next year.
    With Toy Story 3 releasing next summer, the double feature provides a good launching pad to reintroduce the characters,” comments Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook.

    Sources say that Disney expects the third in the series of its Toy Story franchise to be its most profitable film in years. The first two editions together garnered $847 million worldwide.

  • Artistes rue Toronto spotlighting Israeli

    MUMBAI: The Toronto International Film Festival that presented a series of films spotlighting Israeli, a group of high-profile artistes and celebrities protested the move likening the programme to a celebration of apartheid-era in South Africa.

    A statement published online signed by more than 50 artistes, academics and filmmakers accused the festival of taking direction from the “Brand Israel” campaign, which seeks to improve the country‘s image and has focused on Toronto as a test city.

    Last week, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson pulled out his documentary Covered from the festival in protest. Earlier this year, the Ontario division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees passed a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions while Israeli Apartheid Week founded in Toronto in 2005, is held annually on several Canadian university campuses.

    Officials of the Israeli consulate in Toronto did not immediately want to comment on the outcry.
    The 34th edition of the festival will commence next Thursday.

  • Raya Martin dedicates film to two Filipino scribes

    MUMBAI: Filipino director, Raya Martin has dedicated the screening of Independencia at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to two of his slain friends, Filipino-Canadian Alexis Tioseco and Slovenian Nika Bohinc.Martin‘s film, a black and white film in English and Tagalog (language spoken in the Philippines by around 22 million people) chronicles the colonial occupation of the Philippines. The tragic tale revolves around three generations of a family and is in the classic style of Filipino melodrama, with an emphasis of folklore.

    The mourning Martin will not attend the festival and will remain in Manila to mourn the loss of his friends.

    Tioseco, a regular faculty member of the arts department of the University of Asia and the Pacific, was a regular contributor for men‘s magazine UNO and had written for top newspapers including the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Philippine Star. Bohinc was editor-in-chief of Ekran film magazine and a known personality in Slovenia.


  • Penny Wolf heads sales and distribution at Goldcrest

    MUMBAI: The Goldcrest Group has appointed industry veteran Penny Wolf as head of its sales and distribution business. The move comes as the company, one of the banner names in the British film industry, looks to strengthen its distribution activities.

    Wolf, who took over the role on 1 September will be responsible for assembling a slate of feature films for the international market. She will also oversee the company‘s various sales and distribution activities for new titles.

    Said Goldcrest executive director Nick Quested, “Penny‘s unquestionable experience, taste and contacts will provide the depth we need to rise to our distribution ambitions.”

    Wolf has been the former managing director of Peace Arch Entertainment Group. She later took the same role at HBO Films London. Titles she oversaw included Gus Van Sant‘s Palme d‘Or winner Elephant, the multi-Emmy and Golden Globe winner The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Maria Full of Grace.

    Most recently, she launched The Film Consultancy Partners, a London-based boutique practice providing distribution and finance advice for clients including Target Entertainment Group, Enlightenment Films, World 2000 and Uncommon Productions.

  • Reliance, Spielberg announce first list of films

    MUMBAI: Soon after tying up the funding, Reliance Big Entertainment and Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios are readying their film production pipeline.

    The first three movies to roll out are I Am Number 4, Pirate Latitudes and Harvey. They are a mix of adventure and play adaptations.


    “With the backing of Reliance, we are able to continue developing our slate and producing films for the worldwide movie-going audiences,” said DreamWorks Studios co-chairperson and CEO Stacey Snider.


    I Am Number 4 is based on an eponymous novel co-written by James Frey and Jobie Hughes, which might be helmed by Transformers director Michael Bay. Spielberg is planning to produce and direct Pirate Latitudes, developed out of a posthumously published novel by Michael Crichton. Spielberg had developed Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” into a movie.


    “Michael Crichton was one of our greatest storytellers who expanded all of our imaginations with his books, films, and television,” said Spielberg. “With the ‘E.R.’ series and Jurassic Park series, I enjoyed one of the best collaborations of my career. Now with “Pirate Latitudes,” I and all of us at DreamWorks have the chance to be excited about bringing this new Michael Crichton work to the screen.”


    As reported in Indiantelevision.com, DreamWorks and Reliance Big Entertainment have locked their first phase of financing, sealing an amount of $825 million that would allow the joint venture to make six films annually.