ITV

Category: Movies

  • Curtains of Pune Film Festival will go up on 7 January

    MUMBAI: The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) will be held from 7 to 14 January. With this edition is set to become the state‘s official festival.


    Screenings will be at E-Square, Inox, Fame multiplex in Fatimanagar, City Pride in Kothrud, National Film Archives of India (NFAI) and NFAI‘s new auditorium on Paud Road.


    The PIFF was first held in 2002 and now with the backdrop seven eventful editions, the 8th version of PIFF promises more variety, more movies and greater insight and entertainment into the international cinematic world.


    Every year, PIFF attracts dignitaries from the national and international film fraternity. The festival that attracts worldwide attention, will screen films under the Country Focus, World Cinema, Retrospectives, Indian Panorama, Music ‘n‘ sound, NFAI, Tributes categories.


    The fest will be presided over by Suresh Kalmadi, MP, and director-PIFF and eminent filmmaker, Jabbar Patel.


    For the first time, the Sachin Dev Burman International Award for creative music and sound is being introduced this time and so will be a scriptwriting workshop.


    The PIFF, organised jointly by the Pune Film Foundation and the Government of Maharashtra will feature 150 films from 42 countries.


    The festival will be inaugurated at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on 7 January
    and the concluding ceremony will also be at the same venue.


    The Pune International Film Festival was launched in 2002, with an idea of attracting the best in celluloid to Pune. The first “International Film Festival” received a response brimming with success. Slowly, event by event, PIFF has evolved into a major annual event.


    Delegates can register their films from December 25.

  • Benegal elected NFA upgradation committee chairperson

    NEW DELHI: Eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal was unanimously elected as chairman of the Expert Committee for upgradation of the National Film Awards.


    Speaking to the Committee members, I & B Minister Ambika Soni suggested that every effort should be made to ensure that the recommendations should be proper, democratic and transparent to minimise litigation. She also wanted that a time schedule should be set up for the National Film Awards (NFA) so that these become an annual feature in the film calendar of all film buffs.


    Replying to her suggestions, the committee said that it would submit its recommendations by 15 March next year to be able to make qualitative changes for NFA 2009.


    The committee will also make recommendations regarding upgradation of National Film Awards for feature, non-feature and best writing on cinema and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the resultant changes to be made in the Regulations.


    The members acknowledged that National Film Awards carry a dignity and importance unrivalled by any other Awards in the industry, purely because National Film Awards give due recognition to the pan-Indian cinema in the country.


    However, the members suggested that newer formats such as digital and newer media should be recognised, keeping in view the technological advancements. The Members were also of the view that a two-tier juries – regional and national – should be appointed to do justice to the language nuances/regional significance.


    Members also suggested that in keeping with the earlier recommendations of the Satyajit Ray Committee and Karanth Committee reports, a ‘Chalchitra Academy’ should be established.


    Increasing the cash components of the Awards and rationalizing the censorship procedures were also discussed.


    Among those who attended the meeting today were Benegal, Ashoke Vishwanathan, Jahnu Barua, Mohan Agashe, Nagesh Kukunoor, Rajiv Mehrotra, Shaji N Karun, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sai Paranjapye and Central Board of Film Certification Chairperson Sharmila Tagore. Senior officials of the Ministry and Directorate of Film Festivals were also present.
     

  • John Woo to receive Venice fest honour

    MUMBAI: Producer-director John Woo will be honoured by the Venice International Film Festival at its next year‘s edition when he will be awarded a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.


    The decision was taken by the Biennale di Venezia board chaired by Paolo Barattaa after Venice festival director Marco Mueller backed Woo for the honour.


    Oganisers of the festival say that Woo was an “innovator of the contemporary language of cinema” and plan to give him the honour during the 67th edition of the film festivals that will be underway from 1 to 11 September next year.


    Woo has made films like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Bullet in the Head in the Far East and Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2, in the US.


    He has also authored video games and graphic novels.
     

  • Canal Plus increases spend on European film production

    MUMBAI: Canal Plus has signed a new accord with the French film industry that will see the pay-TV giant invest more of its annual revenue in film production.


    The deal sees Canal increase its investment from 12 to 12.5 per cent of its annual revenues into European film production. Of that amount, Canal will invest 10 per cent in French films for an increase of 1 per cent annually. 


    There will also be a bonus 0.5 per cent given to films that attract more than 500,000 ticket buyers during their theatrical run.


    In a press release, Canal said it has signed the new deal with the BLOC, a group that represents a large part of the independent sector as well as the French producers union and the authors-directors-producers organisation, ARP.


    Canal also announced that it would create new service that will be charged with bringing financial aid to independent film exhibition and distribution.


    In doing so, the company said that it will contribute to the development, exhibition and showcasing of cultural works and those that spotlight French heritage.
     

  • Lorber Films acquires US rights of Videocracy

    MUMBAI: Lorber Films, the theatrical distribution arm of Kino Lorber has acquired the entire US rights of Erik Gandini‘s Videocracy.


    The subject matter of the film is timely in the wake of the recent attack on Silvio Berlusconi as it explores the underbelly of Italy‘s media culture, a murky landscape in which the Italian prime minister is a major player.


    Kino Lorber co-president Richard Lorber negotiated the Videocracy deal with TrustNordisk Films head of sales Susan Wendt.


    The film will open at the IFC Center in New York on 12 February followed by a theatrical release across the US supported by High Five, the new funding programme of Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

  • ‘Mister Ed‘ star Connie Hines dies at 79

    MUMBAI: 79-year old Connie Hines, better known as Wilbur‘s wife of the popular 1960s television show Mister Ed is no more.


    Alan Young who co-starred with her in Mister Ed revealed that Hines died from complications of heart problems.


    Hines was best known for portraying Carol Post in the show that featured a talking horse. She wrote a book in 2007 entitled Mister Ed and Me and More.


    Born in Massachusetts, Hines also appeared in the 1960 film Thunder in Carolina and TV shows including The Millionaire, Johnny Ringo and Riverboat.

  • Task force set up on film, video, cable and music piracy

    NEW DELHI: A Task Force has been set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry under the chairman of the Special Secretary Uday Varma to recommend measures to combat film, video, cable and video piracy.


    The Task Force will have filmmaker Yash Chopra, Film & Television Producers’ Guild of India President Manmohan Shetty; former Film Federation of India President G. Adisheshagiri Rao; Indian Broadcasting Foundation President Jawahar Goel, and Association of Radion Operators’s of India member Prashant Pandey.


    The Task Force will hold consultations with State Governments as well as stakeholders before finalizing their recommendations and submit its report within a period of six months – before 18 June 2010.


    The decision to form the Task Force had been taken following the recommendations of the 27th State Information Ministers’ Conference (SIMCON) held here on 5 December 2009.
     

  • Gurinder Chadha film to premiere at Sundance Film fest

    MUMBAI: It‘s A Wonderful Afterlife (IAWA) directed by Gurinder Chadha will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival that will be underway from 21 to 31 January in Park City, Utah.


    Produced by Indian Films and Bend It Films, in association with Studio 18, IAWA stars Shabana Azmi with some well-known international talent; Goldy Notay, Sally Hawkins, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Zoe Wanamaker and Jimi Mistri, among others.


    Shot in London and billed as My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets Shaun Of The Dead, IAWA will be released in the UK by Icon on 2 April next and in India and Pakistan on 16 April by Studio 18.


    The film has already attracted a host of top-of-the-line mainstream distributors like Icon (Australia), Prokino (Germany), Lusomundo (Portugal), Central Partnership (Russia & CIS), Sterkinekor (South Africa), TF1 (France), Front Row (Middle East) and Odeon (Greece and Cyprus).
     


     

  • Rani Mukerji, Prakash Raj share acting honours at Shantaram awards

    MUMBAI: Rani Mukerji and Prakash Raj won the V Shantaram awards for best actress and best actor respectively for Dil Bole Haddipa and Kanchivaram.


    The awards were presented last night in the presence of yesteryears actress Sandhya, who was besotted with a lifetime achievement award. The yesteryear actress was making a public appearance after several years to commemorate the 50th year of her musical hit Navrang.


    Among prominent film personalities who graced the evening were Yash Chopra, Govind Nihalani, Kiran Shantaram, Sulochana, Pandit Jasraj, Jeetendra, Ram Mukerji and his wife Krishna Mukerji among others.


    National award-winner Kanchivaram received the best film Gold award. It beat films like Love Aaj Kal, New York, Bhramaram, Garibcha Paus and Harishchandrachi Factory while Priyadarshan bagged the best director Gold prize for the same film.


    Well-known cinematographer Thiru also won an award in the Best Cinematography category for Kanchivaram.


    Marathi film Gabhricha Paus and its director Satish Manwar bagged the Silver award for best film and director.

  • UTV busy promoting Phalke film at the Oscars

    MUMBAI: UTV, that has acquired the Paresh Mokashi-written and directed Hariaschandrachi Factory for distribution and is busy promoting and publicising the film that has been named as the country‘s official entry at the Oscars in the foreign language category.


    A film on the pioneer of films in India Dhundiraj Govind Phalke better known as Dadasaheb Phalke has been co-produced by Paparika Media and Mayasabha Production.


    Harischandrachi Factory recounts the trials and tribunals of Phalke, who gets interested in making films, against the approval of people staying with him in the same chawl.


    Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com as to what made them acquire the distribution rights of Harischandrachi Factory, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur said, ” We got interested in the film soon after we saw the rushes. Here was a film made on the pioneer of Indian films after which India, today, has become the highest film producing country in the world.


    “We are elated at the film being sent to the Oscars, we have chalked our campaign to popularize the film there and get in people to see it.”


    The film would be released with subtitles across the country sometime by end of December or January.