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Category: Movies

  • American Film Market sets new records in 35th edition with footfall of over 7,900

    American Film Market sets new records in 35th edition with footfall of over 7,900

    NEW DELHI: The 2014 American Film Market (AFM) saw a footfall of 7,946 in its eight-day 35th edition that concluded at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica.

    The AFM saw 1,670 buyers coming from over 70 different countries. Of the 794 registered buyer companies, 90 were new to the AFM. The market saw a 3 per cent increase and an uptick in overall buyers from last year, with a notable growth in buyers from Latin America (up 34 per cent) and Asia (up 8 per cent).

    Overall exhibitor attendance was up 1 per cent from last year with 2,825 executives from exhibiting companies from over 40 countries, with the largest number of exhibitors coming from the United Kingdom, France and Japan, after the United States.

    Overall industry attendees, the non-buyers and sellers that include Attorneys, Bankers, Festivals, Film Commissions, Filmmakers, Financiers, Post Production Facilities, Producers, Studio Facilities, and Writers finished at 2,624, up 1 per cent from last year’s numbers.

    The repetition of strong attendance reflects the AFM’s expanded programs for production community including the Conference Series, Roundtables, Conversations, and Producers Forums. The AFM screened 432 films with 352 Market Premieres, 85 World Premieres and a total of 654 screenings across the AFM Campus in Santa Monica.

    The five-day AFM Conference Series showcasing sessions on Financing, Pitching, Production, Marketing and Distribution featured global industry leaders including: Brett Ratner (producer), Cassian Elwes (Independent Producer), Tobin Ambrust (Exclusive), Mark Damon (Foresight Unlimited), Mark Gill (Millennium), Rena Ronson (UTA), Emanuel Nunez (Paradigm), Russell Schwartz (Relativity), John Sloss (Cinetic), and Nicolas Gonda (Tugg). The AFM Conference Series, which launched four years ago, hosted international audiences of more than 700 daily.

     

  • “Cinema has evolved with technology as a more democratic medium”: Govind Nihalani

    “Cinema has evolved with technology as a more democratic medium”: Govind Nihalani

    KOLKATA: Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer Govind Nihalani, who has proved the power of his cinema through his television series ‘Tamas’, vehemently believes that cinema has evolved with technology as a more democratic medium.

     

    “Cinema is a very powerful medium. It acts as a dialogue between the filmmaker and his viewers. It can convince you to pick up a gun and kill someone,” Nihalani said, on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th Kolkata International Film Festival.

     

    ‘Tamas’ is not a daily soap. It deals with the issue of national importance. The emphasis is on the characters and evoking of the period when the partition took place, makes it different from other soaps. “I think it will have a small relevance even today. These programmes are not even being made today,” he said.

     

    “In these times of hope and convictions, cinema will never die because it has tremendous possibility of creating magic, poetry and change,” he further added.

     

    On the context of shifting from his usual “serious” content to an animated movie, he mentioned that one should always keep expanding one’s horizon. With reference to digital technology taking over celluloid and the advantages it provides he said, “Technology is all that you want and it will get better with time.” He appreciated Japanese animation as an ingenious art form, but added that it will be sometime before India embraces such content in animation.

     

    Nihalani has been the recipient of six national film awards (India). His first directorial venture was Aakrosh starring Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, the late Smita Patil and the late Amrish Puri. The film is scripted by Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar. The film shared the Golden Peacock for best film at the International Film Festival of India held in New Delhi in 1981. He then directed Ardh Satya, based on a story by S. D. Panwalkar. The film has received critical reception for depicting the police-politician-criminal nexus. In 1997, he adapted Bengali novelist, Mahasweta Devi’s acclaimed novel by the same name to Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa.

     

    While interacting with movie lovers, Nihalani flashed upon his memories of a chat session with Sandeeep Ray (son of famous film-maker Satyajit Ray) on Mahasweta Devi’s novel.

     

    “On a moment like this, I delve into my past when I first met Mr. Ray, two decades later I dared to call him Manik da,” he said.

     

    Nihalani put forth his initial days with the master and expressed his gratitude when Ray narrated Pikoo’s Diary to him from the very first shot to the last. “It’s very important for a filmmaker to remain relevant to his times and be connected to his reality, his harsh reality,” he concluded by echoing Ray’s words.

  • Taiwanese director Liang to release movies at art museums

    Taiwanese director Liang to release movies at art museums

    KOLKATA:  Taiwanese director, Tsai Ming Liang, who participated in the 20th Kolkata International Film Festival that kicked off last Monday, declared that his movies going forward will be screened in art museums where it would not compete with commercial and Hollywood movies.

     

    Also, the director talking about the freedom of film makers said that a movie is majorly controlled by financers, distributors and the demands of the viewers, leaving the director with no independence.

     

    “Henceforth I shall release my movies at art museums where they won’t have to compete with commercial and Hollywood movies,” said Liang, talking about his films and cinema in general in front of a heavily packed auditorium.

     

    He nostalgically also shared experiences of his childhood and mentioned how the political situation in Malaysia did not allow him to watch European films. It was only possible once he migrated to Taiwan which became a democratic nation at around the same time.

     

    With such a change in political climate, several international film festivals were arranged which introduced him to directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut.

     

    To him, the final frozen frame of ‘The 400 Blows’ raised more questions than it answered and was a major cinematic moment in his life, he added.

     

    While talking about filmmaking as a practice, he said that the foremost question a filmmaker should ask is, “why am I making films?” When asked about the long duration of his shots, he defended them by saying that they are a representation of his own time. In most films objectification of the subject obliterates time.

     

    However, he wants to remove the object so the viewer is aware of the flow of time.

     

    When speaking about the casting of his films, he mentioned that he always casts an individual and not an actor. He discovers his actors in their moments of solitude. He found Lee Kang Sheng when he was riding his bike, he concluded.

  • ‘Gulabi Gang’, ‘Unravel’ win awards at Aljazeera Filmfest

    ‘Gulabi Gang’, ‘Unravel’ win awards at Aljazeera Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Two Indian films won awards at the recently-concluded 10th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival in Doha.

     

    Unravel directed by Meghna Gupta won the Jury award in the short film category. The film is an interesting look at how discarded clothes from the western world find their way to a textile recycling factory in Panipat in Punjab where inquisitive factory worker Reshma and her co-workers use both their imagination and rumours that travel with the discarded garments. The film has earlier been screened at Sydney and Raindance film festivals among others.

     

    The Public Liberty and Human Rights Award went to the multiple award-winning documentary Gulabi Gang by Nishtha Jain in the long film category. The film is based on the true story of women wearing pink saris attempting to empower themselves in Bundelkhand in India and fight against gender violence, corruption and for the rights of poor and the lower classes.

     

    The film has won the Best Film award in Muhr Asia-Africa documentary section at Dubai International Film Festival and Amnesty Award at the Planete+ Doc Film Festival in Poland, among others.

  • Dull week at the BO

    Dull week at the BO

    MUMBAI: The week’s major release was Yash Raj’s Kill/ Dil, a very average fare which opened to poor response. Looks like the film may do its best only during the opening weekend with its solo release status being an advantage and not sustain thereafter. The film has managed to collect Rs 20.18 crore for its first three days.

    Chaar Sahibzaade (animation) has done very well in Punjab and has collected Rs 3.75 crore in its first week.

    Last week’s release, The Shaukeens, has not been able to fare well.  A disappointing remake of the 1982 classic by Basu Chatterjee, Shaukeen, and the film falls flat because of poor transcribing and adaption. The film manages about Rs 18.5 crore for its first week.

    Rang Rasiya has not been able to sell its erotica and nudity in the name of the life story of Raja Ravi Varma. The film falls flat at the box office and manages to collect just about Rs 3.95 crore for its opening week.

    Super Nani is the end of the story by its week two. The film manages to collect Rs 10 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 2.85 crore.

    Happy New Year has added Rs 7.4 crore in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 169.8 crore.

     

  • Mukta A2 Cinemas launches first property in Bhopal

    Mukta A2 Cinemas launches first property in Bhopal

    MUMBAI: Mukta Arts has launched its 10th high tech multiplex in Bhopal on 14 November at People’s Mall.

    Commenting on the launch, Mukta Arts chairman Subhash Ghai said, “My hearty congratulations to our brilliant team of Mukta A2 Cinemas on the opening its 10th high tech multiplex in Bhopal on November 14, 204. This year, Mukta Arts has recently celebrated its 37th anniversary in show business of India and its feels great that Mukta A2 Cinemas is launching its 10th property in the same year.”

    Spread across 23,000 square feet with four screens and a seating capacity of 775, the theatre boasts of comfortable recliner seats at affordable prices, which is an exclusive offering to the movie going audience in Bhopal. The property also offers state-of-the-art technology with Dolby digital sound complimented by a soothing ambience with comfortable seating and an exciting variety of F&B options.
    In terms of marketing, the brand is reaching out to movie lovers by means of hoardings, bus branding, television tickers and newspaper advertisements.

    Speaking about the launch, Mukta Arts MD Rahul Puri commented, “It’s with great pleasure that Mukta A2 Cinemas opens its 10th property in the wonderful city of Bhopal. The people of this terrific city can now enjoy great movies in the comfort of a world class theatre at extremely competitive prices. The theatre is also in the heart of the City – People’s Mall, poised to be on the city’s retail hotspots.”

    Mukta Arts is one of the leading players in the Indian film production and distribution industry. It has also ventured into launching its own brand of multiplex theatres, Mukta A2 Cinemas, which is spread across 28 screens in India. The existing screens located in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Gulbarga, Vishakapatnam, Banswara, Sailu, Hyderabad and Sangli has received a tremendous response and strengthened the company’s goal to provide an enriching movie-watching experience.

    As part of their impending plans, Mukta A2 Cinemas aims to launch in cities like Mumbai, Gurgaon, Dehradun and Aurangabad, promising the best movie experiences to movie lovers.

     

  • ‘Haider’ gets award in Rome, other Asian winner is a re-make of American film ’12 Angry Men’

    ‘Haider’ gets award in Rome, other Asian winner is a re-make of American film ’12 Angry Men’

    NEW DELHI: Haider, the third film in Vishal Bhardwaj’s trilogy of William Shakespeare adaptations has won the Mondo Genere programme at the 9th International Rome Film Festival.

    Set in Kashmir in 1995, the Hamlet reimagining is about a young man seeking revenge after his father was kidnapped by the Indian military.

     

    The other Asian film award went to Xu Ang’s 12 Citizens which won the award for the Cinema d’Oggi section. A remake of Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men, the Chinese drama is about 12 people from different walks of life deliberating on a murder case as the jury of a law school mock trial.

     

    The awards in Rome were determined by audiences who voted via a mobile application, the festival website or at physical voting stations placed in multiple venues.

     

    The BNL People’s Choice Award for the gala section went to Stephen Daldry’s Trash.

     

    Unlike previous edition, this year’s festival did not include an international competition. Instead, it expanded the audience award to give one prize for each programme in the official selection. The original award for Best First/Second film was also expanded to the Camera d’Oro Prize for Best Debut Film this year.

     

    This year’s Camera d’Oro prize went to Andrea Di Stefan for Paradise Lost (in gala), Laura Hastings-Smith for X+Y (in Alice nella citta) and a special mention award went to Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli’s Last Summer.

  • Carnaby finalises global ‘Heidi and the Magic Pool’ deal at AFM

    Carnaby finalises global ‘Heidi and the Magic Pool’ deal at AFM

    NEW DELHI: Carnaby International has cleared much of the world’s film sales territories for its new entry into the durable global Heidi franchise with the family adventure Heidi And The Magic Pool.

    In a deal with a major Hollywood Studio, the territories included in the one single deal are: the UK; Australia and New Zealand; France; Benelux; the Czech Republic; Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland; Greece; Portugal; Slovakia; Scandinavia; India, Israel, South Africa, Turkey; Hong Kong; Malaysia; Philippines; Singapore; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam; and all of Latin America. Sarra has also concluded deals with the Middle East (Gulf Film), Indonesia (PT Prima Cinema), Spain (Flins y Piniculas) and the countries of the former Yugoslavia (Discovery).

    Carnaby head of international sales Tania Sarra said at the American Film Market, “The robust response shows just how wide Heidi’s appeal is worldwide.”

    Written by Paul Watson, (IVCA Gold Award Winner, Assaulted Nuts, Puss In Boots), Heidi And The Magic Pool will be directed by BAFTA winner John Henderson (The Borrowers, Tales of the Riverbank, Loch Ness); and produced by Simon Wright (The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Lucky Jim).  Executive producers are Sean O’Kelly, Kirsty Bell and Andrew Loveday.

    Carnaby has also announced an April 2015 start for the film, a UK-Hungarian co-production filming in both those countries.  Heidi stars Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean, Underworld, Love Actually) Golden Globe nominee Anna Friel (Good People, Limitless, You Will Meet A Dark Stranger) and Greg Wise (Effie Gray, Walking on Sunshine, Sense and Sensibility).  Carnaby are in discussions with Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (Iris, Moulin Rouge, Gangs of New York).

    In this family-friendly tale, 12 year-old Heidi lives an idyllic life with her Grandpa in his remote mountain cabin. When the townsmen declare Grandpa an unsuitable guardian, Heidi must go to live as a companion to Clara – the daughter of a wealthy professor in the city. Heidi and Clara become instant friends, but the cruel Governess, who Heidi discovers is slowly poisoning Clara in order to marry the professor, spoils their fun. The girls manage to escape and seek refuge in a remote, ancient and mysterious grotto called the Magic Pool. With the Governess hunting the girls down, Heidi promises Clara they are safe, but fate has other plans.

    With two world premieres, eight films in production, as well as its first-ever major television series, Carnaby International is attending its second American Film Market this November with a high profile, varied line-up of exciting titles—and a growing reputation for pulling in A-list talent.

    Joint Carnaby co-CEOs Andrew Loveday and Sean O’Kelly, along with director of international sales Tania Sarra and head of acquisitions Alex Tate, are in Santa Monica for AFM this November.

     

  • International guests address narrative interactivity and international business at RioContenMarket 2015

    International guests address narrative interactivity and international business at RioContenMarket 2015

    MUMBAI: Esmeralda Producoes, content curator for RioContentMarket has just confirmed two big names for the 2015 edition of the event. Writer and games designer Steve Ince will attend the event as a keynote speaker and his presentation will address interactivity related aspects, as well as how this tool relates to narrative in games and other media. With over 20 years’ experience in the development of electronic games, Steve has games that were a hit and received positive criticism in his CV, like Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword and In Cold Blood. Working as a freelancer for several studios since 2004, he has worked for EA, CD Projekt Red and Wizarbox. In addition, he has been nominated for the BAFTA several times and has won awards like the Game of the Year from the Independent newspaper. He is also the author of the book Writing for Video Games.

    Kristin Jones is the executive in charge of international acquisitions, co-productions and format for the AMC channel. She will make an exclusive presentation about the channel for those attending the event. Among other things, she is in charge of developing and maintaining relationships with networks, subscription TV services and producers outside of the USA. Previously, she held the position of senior vice-president at Miramax and Buena Vista International.

    The fifth edition of RioContentMarket, the biggest audiovisual content production event in Latin America, open to the television and digital media industry, will take place from 25 to 27 February 2015 at the Hotel Windsor Barra, in Rio de Janeiro.  

     

  • ‘Kill/Dil’… Will too

    ‘Kill/Dil’… Will too

    MUMBAI: The stories of orphan children turning into juvenile delinquents who then graduate to hard core criminals have become rather commonplace. One of YRF’s own recent films, Gunday, is one such example. Here is another.

    Govinda, a don of some sort whose main business is to accept supari killing contracts, finds two tiny tots in a garbage bin. The boys grow up into Ranveer Singh and Ali Zafar. The boys get into petty crimes as soon as they learn to stand on their two feet. They are invincible. Nobody ever catches them or hits back. Soon they also become bullet proof as they take to guns becoming Govinda’s main shooters. 

    When they are not shooting down people out of the blue, they also have lot of fun. After all, they have never let Govinda down and he, on his part, has been generous with them. And, between the assignments they have nothing to do except spend that money. 

    Their home is Delhi and soon the Delhi culture brings them, especially Singh, face to face with his future romance, Parineeti Chopra. At this pub, the duo of Zafar and Singh are guzzling their alcohol when on the dance floor, someone makes a pass at Parineeti who in turn tells him off. The lad pulls a gun on Parineeti giving Singh a chance to save her and drive the villain off. 

     

    Producer: Aditya Chopra.

    Director: Shaad Ali.

    Cast: Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar, Parineeti Chopra, Govinda.

    Romance blossoms between Singh and Parineeti, which Singh knows Govinda won’t approve of. To add to that, for the first time ever, Singh fails to shoot a person he has been assigned to eliminate. While Govinda is livid, Singh’s conscience has caught up with him. He wants to change his ways and lead an honest life to be worthy of Parineeti. For her part, Parineeti has herself given up a career where she could have made enough money to instead take up the challenge of helping ex-convicts settle into a normal life away from crime. He even starts selling insurance policies. Unaware of Singh’s background, this is one more criminal she is helping turn honest. 

    When Govinda is sure Singh is now out of his control, he plays a double game. He asks one of his men to kill Singh while he warns Zafar what is about to happen and also tells Parineeti how she will soon know what Singh’s past is.

    Having found out about Singh, Parineeti now does not want anything to do with him. On his part, Govinda’s purpose has been served as Singh returns to the fold and is ready for his next assignment. But, with Parineeti on his mind, Singh draws his gun but does not manage to fire, giving his victim the chance to shoot at him and receiving a bullet in his back for his efforts. 

    However, not having got a chance to tell his story to Parineeti, Singh has made a disc of his life story and sent it to Parineeti who sobs as she watches it and wants Singh back. 

    Kill/Dil has a weak plot and shoddy script which starts bad and goes on deteriorating as it progresses. By the second half, it is a mess. Direction is lacklustre. Musically, this 127-minute film is crowded with nine songs, probably to make up for lack of content. Photography is not up to the mark. Performance wise, Govinda is good while Zafar is passable. Singh looks funny in his clean-shaven look sans moustache; there is nothing different about his acting from other films. Parineeti’s role is ill-defined.

    Kill/Dil, trying to be a thriller, a romance, and a comedy and fails to deliver on all fronts.