ITV

Category: Movies

  • Dubai International Film Fest to screen 179 films

    MUMBAI: The fifth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival, which kicked off on 11 December with the screening of the political biography film “W” about US President George Bush, will showcase 179 films from approximately 60 countries. These include features, documentaries and short films.

    The eight-day festival, which aims to act as a platform for showcasing good Arab films, will see 38 Arab films and 41 films from Asia and Africa compete for the Muhr Awards in the categories of features, shorts and documentaries.



    In 2006 the organizers introduced The Muhr Awards for Excellence in Cinema with an aim to recognize Arab filmmakers both regionally and internationally.



    Additionally, the festival will give away its lifetime achievement award to three directors – Terry Gilliam from the United States, Tsui Hark from Hong Kong and Rachid Bouchareb from France.

  • Firaaq wins best film award at Asian Festival of 1st Films

    MUMBAI: Actress Nandita Das’ first directorial venture Firaaq, which talks about sectarian violence in Gujarat, has bagged the best film award at the Asian Festival of 1st Films in Singapore.


    The film, co-written by Nandita Das, also won the best screenplay and Foreign Correspondents Association Purple Orchid award.








    Dante Nico Garcia swept away the best director award for Ploning. China‘s Jia Xuhua took away the best actress award for The Mountain and the Song while Bosco Francis was named best actor for playing a magician in My Magic.



    The Asian Festival of 1st Films showcases first time documentaries and films across award categories including producers, directors, actors, screenplay writers and technicians.

  • Delhi’s Japanese film fest to screen ‘Summer Days With Coo’

    NEW DELHI: The Japanese Film Festival, which commenced as a part of the Second Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF), is set to screen children’s film Summer Days with Coo, directed by Hara Keiichi.

    The film is about a mythological character in Japanese folk tales.


    The other films that are to be screened during the festival include The Village Album by Mihara Mitsuhiro, The Professor and His Beloved Equation by Koizumi Takashi, Memories of Tomorrow by Tsutsumi Yukihiko, What The Snow Brings by Negishi Kichitaro, and Heaven Can Wait, Maybe… by Toki Yoshitaka.


    The Japanese film festival, which opened with the screening of I just didn’t do it by Suo Masayuki, will be followed by two festivals from 11 December – the much awaited screening of the 26 features in the Indian Panorama screened recently at Goa, and the ‘Twilight’ Competitive Film Festival of student and professional films, and a three-day Children’s Film Festival from 22 December.


    The Indian Panorama has been organised by the DIAF in association with the Directorate of Film Festivals. Opening with the screening of ‘Little Zizou’, the inauguration will have director Sooni Taraporevala, actor Imad Shah and Shernaz Patel.









    Simultaneously, the Twilight Film Festival, organised by the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication exclusively meant for short films in India, will open at the India Islamic Culture Centre in Delhi. The festival will close on 15 December with the eminent Shyam Benegal giving away the prizes for the competitions of students’ films and professionals’ films. The screenings of around 60 films are being held in Alliance Francaise.



    The film segment of the DIAF concludes with the screening of six children’s films at Sirifort II from 22 to 24 December. This is DIAF’s outreach programme for schools and children including street-children. Children will have an opportunity to interact with the directors and filmmakers.




    Apart from the Film Festivals being held as part of the DIAF, the 4th India International Women Film Festival started from 7 December and will continue till 14 December with films and seminars on the subject of women empowerment, women behind the camera, and portrayal of women on screen.


    The Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) was started last year to highlight the “rich and diverse cultural heritage” of the national capital.

  • LAFCA names Wall-E best film of the year

    MUMBAI: The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) has selected Disney’s Wall-E as the best movie of 2008. It has also picked The Dark Knight as runner-up. The LAFCA awards will be given out on 12 January.


    Wall-E has garnered approximately $490 million at the worldwide box offices while The Dark Knight has made about $1 billion globally.



    Also, LAFCA has named Sean Penn the best actor of the year for his role in Milk and Briton Sally Hawkins bagged the best actress title for her role in Happy-Go-Lucky.









    Danny Boyle has been named best director for Slumdog Millionaire, which is about a young Indian man on a television game show.



    Heath Ledger, who played the villainous Joker in The Dark Knight, was named best supporting actor. Penelope Cruz was named best supporting actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy.



    Earlier, the Broadcast Film Critics Association had announced the entrant for top movies and performances with Milk, Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Changeling, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and Wall-E.



    While BFCA Best has nominated Angelina Jolie for Changeling, Cate Blanchett for Benjamin Button and Meryl Streep for Doubt in the best actress category, the body has selected Penn for Milk, Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon, Pitt for Benjamin Button and Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler in the best actor category.



    The BFCA awards will be given out on 8 January.

  • NDTV Imagine Film Company partners with Wide Angle Creations to produce Tamil film

    NEW DELHI: NDTV Imagine Film Company has joined hands with South-based production house Wide Angle Creations to produce a Tamil action film ‘Madhurai Sambhavam’.


    In addition, NDTV Imagine Film Company has partnered with various other film makers and currently has over 30 projects in various stages of development. The film company also plans to produce and release six to eight films in a year.


    NDTV Imagine Film Company director Sameer Nair, “Film making is a collaborative effort, we are extremely happy to have partnered with Wide Angle Creations to mark our foray in the Tamil Film Industry. The team at Wide Angle Creations has created some very good and award winning films in the past, and we are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship.”


    Currently in the production stage, the film stars actors like Harikumar, Anuya Bhagwat and Karthika in the lead.








    The action-based film is being shot in the city of Madurai and is being directed by Youreka who has also written the story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics of the movie. The music of the film has been composed by John Peter.


    “The Tamil film industry is seeing an increased level of participation from corporates who bring with them a much broader platform via which our movies are presented. In NDTV Imagine we saw a likeminded partner who not only understood the sensibilities but is equally passionate about cinema. As we get into action with ‘Madhurai Sambhavam’ we have simultaneously started nurturing high concept entertainers with NDTV Imagine. We could hope to see an interesting bouquet of movies rolling out in time to come,” said Wide Angle Creations partner George Pius.


    South-based production house Wide Angle Creations is managed by two partners, Suresh Balaje and George Pius.

  • Warner Bros unveils slate of four Bollywood films

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros is pumping up its movie business in India. In a fresh deal aimed at increasing the Bollywood slate, the company has inked a three-film production and distribution deal with People Tree Films, a production house set up by Mukesh Talreja (producer of Tere Naam) and Nikhil Advani (director of Kal Ho Na Ho).


    Warner Bros Pictures India‘s pact is for the films titled Jaane Kahaa Se Aayi Hai, Chandbhai and Basra.


    “We will not only co-produce the films but also distribute and market them in India and overseas,” says a Warner Bros spokesperson.


    Warner Bros has also signed a film with Vinay Pathak and Rituparna Sengupta. The film, titled SRK, is currently under production.


    Jaane Kahaa Se Aayi Hai, directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, stars Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ruslaan Mumtaz. A romantic comedy about a woman from Venus who crash-lands on earth looking for love, the film is slated for a 2009 summer release. The music of the film has been composed by Sajid & Wajid.


    Chandbhai is Nikhil Advani‘s second directorial venture with Warner Bros. after Chandni Chowk to China. The film, which casts Akshay Khanna and Vidya Balan as the lead protagonists, tells the story of two characters who change their lives by facing their inner demons and embracing life and happiness in the process. Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy are the music directors of the film.


    Directed by Navdeep Singh, Basra revolves around the lives of a spy and a cop. The film stars Akshaye Khanna as the central figure.


    Says Talreja, “We are looking at releasing Jaane Kahaa Se Aayi Hai in the summer of 2009, Chandbhai during Diwali 2009 and Basra will hit the cinemas by 2009-end.”









    Warner Bros forayed into Bollywood film production with Saas bahu Aur Sensex. Chandni Chowk to China, a $12 million budget film which is slated for release on 16 January, is Warner Bros Pictures‘ second Bollywood film.


    Earlier this year, Warner Bros Pictures India had inked a multi-movie deal with Soundarya Rajnikanth‘s Ocher Studios. The pact covered the production and distribution of South Indian language films to be released by Warner Bros.

  • Disney deepens ties with UTV, sources film distribution to Indian partner

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company is deepening its relationship with Indian partner UTV Software Communications where it holds equity stake. The global media major has allowed UTV to handle sales and distribution of all of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures‘ Hollywood releases in India, handing over the task which was earlier handled by Sony Pictures.


    The deal with UTV will be effective 1 January, 2009. Disney, however, will continue handling its own marketing.


    UTV, which has a rich film production pipeline, will now be able to strengthen its distribution business.


    Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “The combined offering of UTV and Disney content will offer Indian exhibitors and viewers a tremendously diverse range of movies across languages and genres. This further strengthens our synergies with Disney and we look forward to more such collaborations in the future.”










    Adds The Walt Disney Company India senior VP and MD Mahesh Samat, “UTV‘s leadership in India‘s rapidly growing film production and distribution space will strengthen our initiatives to build a family entertainment brand in the country by increasing the reach of our Hollywood films here.”

  • Warner Bros to re-release ‘The Dark Knight’ in January

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros is set to re-release The Dark Knight across the US theatres on 23 January with an aim to take its box office collection past the $1 billion mark.

    Warner Bros Pictures domestic distribution president Dan Fellman says, “The Dark Knight is a crowning achievement in every sense of the word. We wanted to provide one more opportunity to moviegoers to experience it on the big screen as it was meant to be seen.”


    The sequel to Batman Begins, which was named as one of the top 10 films of the year by The National Film Review Board, became the second-highest grossing movie in the US, earning $529.1 million. The film‘s gross collection is just behind Titanic, which became the highest grossing movie in the US, earning $600.8 million.

  • DIFF rolls out two new awards for Dubai Film Connection

    MUMBAI: The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has introduced two new awards for its Dubai Film Connection co-production market that aims to provide a platform for collaboration between Arab and international film industry professionals.


    While the $10,000 Bahrain Film Production Company DIFF Development Award will assist filmmakers in developing their projects, the $25,000 Desert Door DIFF Works in Progress Award will assist films already in production to reach completion.



    The Bahrain Film Production company was set up in 2006 to generate support and infrastructure for regional filmmakers. Desert Door productions is an independent film production company based in Dubai that develops, produces and invests in socially relevant television, film and commercial projects throughout the Middle East, United States and Europe.









    DIFF managing director Shivani Pandya said, “Our success rate from the first year of the Dubai Film Connection – half of our projects are in various stages of production, and one is competing in the Muhr Awards this year – is phenomenal, and a sign that the programme is filling an important niche in this region.”



    According to DIFF, two out of the three projects that participated in Dubai Film Connection 2007 have already been shortlisted for the first annual Desert Door DIFF Work in Progress Award. These projects include Amreeka, directed by Cherien Dabis, and Everyday is a Holiday, directed by Dima el Horr.

  • Four Christmases tops in US for 2nd week with $18 mn

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros’ Four Christmases, a comedy flick that was released on 26 November, has garnered an estimated amount of $18.2 million in its second week at the US box office.

    The film, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, had earned approximately $31.1 million during the first week at the box office.



    Four Christmases, made at a production budget of $80 million, talks about the story of a couple who struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas day.