Screendaily movie news 4/23/03
Jaime Jeske
Staff reporters in London 23 April 2003
Chief selector Thierry Fremaux's selection is a robust and wide-ranging
mixture of familiar art-house names and Cannes favourites (Blier,
Sokurov, Techine, Eastwood, Van Sant and Von Trier) mixed with a few
newcomers such as Japan's Naomi Kawase and Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan in
competition. The Un Certain Regard sidebar as usual takes on a slightly
more experimental flavour.
The line-up underlines the ongoing strength in depth of French cinema.
An astonishing 85 French films were submitted for the usual four places
in competition, prompting the selectors to increase to this to five and
berth three more films in Un Certain Regard. A further two get out of
competition screenings.
Although there are no Korean pictures this time, Asian cinema is
represented by two Japanese films in competition and the spectacular
Chinese period piece Purple Butterfly, by Lu Ye. There are a further
four in Un Certain Regard and Special Screenings.
The line-up also debunked a couple of myths that have been circulating
widely, namely that there are no US or UK films. Fremaux finds room for
three American pictures (Brown Bunny, Elephant and Mystic River) and one
from British director Peter Greenaway in competition, plus two more UK
films in Un Certain Regard.
But if the selectors were indeed screening films until last night as was
suggested, they were probably going the extra mile to make up for the
unavailability of many of the biggest name auteur directors. Films by
Emir Kusturica, Wong Kar Wai, Quentin Tarantino, Theo Angelopoulos, Jane
Campion, the Coen brothers, Ingmar Bergman and Bernardo Bertolucci were
not completed in time.
Among those hot films which were ready but did not make the Official
Selection are Bruno Dumont's 29 Palms, Lee Yoon-taek's Ogu and Kim Ki
Duk's Spring Summer Fall Winter Spring.
In Competition
Dogville (Pictured)- Lars Von Trier
Les Invasions Barbares - Denys Arcand
Il Cuore Altrove - Pupi Avati
Carandiru - Hector Babenco
Uzak - Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Mystic River - Clint Eastwood
The Brown Bunny - Vincent Gallo
The Moab Story - The Tulse Luper Suitcases Pt 1 - Peter Greenaway
Tiresia - Bertrand Bonello
Shara - Kawase Naomi
Bright Future (Akarui Mirai) - Kiyoski Kurosawa
A Cinq Heures De L'Apres Midi - Samira Makhmalbaf
Ce Jour La - Raoul Ruiz
Father And Son - Alexander Sokurov
Elephant - Gus Van Sant
Swimming Pool - Francois Ozon
Les Cotelettes - Bertrand Blier
La Petite Lili - Claude Miller
Strayed (Les Egares) - Andre Techine
Purple Butterfly (Pictured) - Liu Ye
Out of competition
Fanfan La Tulipe - Gerard Krawczyk - Opening film
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin - Closing film
Mansion By The Lake - Lester James Peries
Les Triplettes De Belleville - Sylvain Chomet
Qui A Tue Bambi - Gilles Marchand
Le Temps Du Loup - Michael Haneke
Va Et Vient - Joao Monteiro
The Matrix Reloaded - Wachowski Brothers
Special Screenings
Charlie: The Life & Death Of Charlie Chaplin- Richard Schickel
Il Grido D'Angoscia Dell' Uccello Predatore 20 Tagli D'Aprile - Nanni
Moretti
S-21, La Machine De Mort Khmer Rouge - Rithy Panh
The Fog Of War - Errol Morris
The Last Customer - Nanni Moretti
The Soul Of A Man - Wim Wenders
Short Films in competition
A Janela Aberta - Philippe Barcinski
Cracker Bag - Glendyn Ivin
Fast Film - Virgil Widrich
Ik Ontspruit - Esther Rots
L'homme Sans Tete - Juan Solanas
My Blind Brother - Sophie Goodhart
Novembersno - Karolina Jonsson
The Most Beautiful Man In The World - Alicia Duffy
To Tameno - Marsa Makris
Un Certain Regard
En Jouant 'Dans La Compagnie Des Hommes' - Arnaud Desplechin - Opening
A Story That Begins At The End - Murali Nair
A Thousand Months - Faouzi Bensaidi
All Tomorrow's Parties - Yu Lik Wai
American Splendor - Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Crimson Gold - Jaffar Panahi
Drifters - Wang Xiaoshuai
Hoy Y Manana - Alejandro Chomski
Japanese Story - Sue Brooks
Kiss Of Life - Emily Young
Giordana La Meglio Gioventu - Marco Tullio
Les Mains Vides - Marc Recha
Robinson's Crusoe - Lin Cheng-Sheng
September - Max Faerberbock
Stormy Weather - Solveig Anspach
Struggle - Ruth Mader
Young Adam - David Mackenzie
***
Verhoeven eyes biopic of Dutch artist
Ab Zagt in Amsterdam 23 April 2003
Paul Verhoeven is planning to shoot his first Dutch movie since1984's
The Fourth Man.
The filmmaker, who has lived for nearly 20 years in Los Angeles, has
expressed interest in a biopic on the Dutch artist Jan Montyn.
The movie will be based on the novel Montyn, written in 1982 by Dutch
writer Dirk Ayelt Kooiman that was published in England and the US as A
Lamb To The Slaughter.
Verhoeven has already spoken to Montyn about the upcoming biopic. The
screenplay will be written by Edwin de Vries (Left Luggage, The
Discovery Of Heaven). The film will be produced by Volkert Struycken and
Errol Nayci's Get Reel Productions, which co-produced the Belgian
Oscar-contender Everybody Famous! by Dominique Deruddere.
***
Bruno Ganz cast as Hitler in Eichinger drama
Martin Blaney in Berlin 23 April 2003
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz, known internationally for his roles in such
films as Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire and The American Friend, will play
the part of Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Euros 13.5m feature Der
Untergang - Hitler Und Das Ende Des Dritten Reiches which will begin
shooting in St Petersburg and Munich from August 12.
Producer and screenwriter Bernd Eichinger and Hirschbiegel announced
last week that Ganz will be joined by Juliane Koehler (Nowhere In
Africa) as Eva Braun and Corinna Harfouch (Bibi Blocksberg) as Magda
Goebbels.
Hitler's personal secretary Traudl Junge, whose memoirs formed the basis
for Eichinger's screenplay along with historian Joachim Fest's
bestseller Der Untergang, will be played by Alexandra Maria Lara
(Nackt).
Other key roles in the prestige German-language production have been
cast with Daniel Bruehl (Good Bye, Lenin!), Ulrich Noethen (Das Sams),
Birgit Minichmayr (Taking Sides), Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist) and
Justus von Dohnanyi (The Experiment).
EOS- Events On Screen will handle international sales for the project
which will also be produced as a TV two-parter with co-producing
broadcaster ARD in addition to the theatrical version
***
Zwart quits MGM's Cody Banks sequel
Osman Kibar in Oslo 23 April 2003
Norwegian director Harald Zwart says he has left MGM's sequel to Agent
Cody Banks, according to local paper Dagbladet.
MGM had planned to begin production on Agent Cody Banks 2 in London in
June, with teen heartthrob Frankie Muniz repeating his teen 007 role in
the second instalment of the spy adventure from Bond studio MGM and
German-owned independent Splendid Pictures. The first film has so far
cashed in $44.6mm in US alone since its premiere five weeks ago.
After the $15m opening weekend, MGM set sequel deals for both director
Harald Zwart and Muniz.
"I have quit the project because of budgetary disagreements between
myself and the studio. I will let someone else do the job of making a
sequel", Zwart told the Norwegian daily Dagbladet. According to Zwart,
MGM's budget for the sequel is $26m - a price tag the director claims is
too low. The first film also had a budget of around $25m
As a director, I have one area to defend and that is the quality of the
film. The studio, on the other hand, is naturally enough concerned about
the figures. If the commercial and the creative sides cannot meet, I
think it is best to abandon the whole thing, Zwart said.
Zwart previously directed One Night At McCools, starring Liv Tyler and
Matt Dillon for USA Films. He came to international attention with
Swedish production Hamilton starring Peter Stormare, Mark Hamill and
Lena Olin. The film, produced by Sweden's Moviola and TV4 and Norway's
Yellow Cottage, was distributed by Buena Vista in the US and
Scandinavia.
***
KWA takes international sales on Carmen
Jennifer Green in Madrid 23 April 2003
Madrid-based sales house Kevin Williams Associates (KWA) has picked up
Vicente Aranda's ambitious Carmen for international sales, and will give
the film its market debut next month at Cannes.
Billed as the biggest-budgeted European erotic production of the last
ten years, Carmen is produced by Juan Alexander for Spain's Star Line
Productions, in co-production with the UK's Parallel Pictures and Italy'
s Planet Pictures. Sale and leaseback was secured with Featurefilm in
the UK.
Carmen has elicited much interest since it began shooting in Andalusia
last September. It stars hot up-and-comers Paz Vega (Sex And Lucia) and
Leonardo Sbaraglia (Intact), both previous best new actor Goya Award
winners, in a new adaptation of the 19th century novel by Merimee.
Aranda and Joaquin Jorda co-wrote the script. The film premieres in
Spain next autumn.
Also on KWA's line-up for Cannes, where the company celebrates its sixth
anniversary, are, among other titles: the international premiere of
Cuba-set, Brazil-shot romantic farce Sex Changes Everything! (Viva
Sapato!); Berlin Panorama entry The Suit (El Traje); Spanish thriller
The Impatient Alchemist (El Alquimista Impaciente); and Mexican
productions Dark Cities (Ciudades Oscuras) and The Blue Room (La
Habitacion Azul), both of which were nominated this year for Mexico's
top Ariel Award for best adapted screenplay.
Copyright Screen International 2003.
Jaime
Jaime Jeske
Jennifer Green in Madrid 23 April 2003
Spain's leading film festival, the San Sebastian International Film
Festival, has added a new competitive section devoted to Latin American
cinema, further strengthening its position as a key showcase for Spanish
and Latin American product and talent.
Dubbed Horizontes Latinos, the new section will run alongside the
festival's existing Official and Zabaltegi sections. Films entirely or
partially produced in Latin America, directed by filmmakers of Latin
origin or inspired by Latin culture will be eligible. An international
jury will confer a prize worth Euros 18,000.
San Sebastian already offers a Made In Spain section to present a
showcase of the year's most interesting Spanish productions, and
co-hosts the Films in Progress (Cine en Construccion) initiative with
the Latin American Screenings of Toulouse to help attach financiers to
unfinished Latin American and Spanish films.
The festival plans to publish a book about Latin American cinema in
tandem with the launch of Horizontes Latinos at its upcoming 51st
edition next September 18-27. Last year, Spain's Mondays In The Sun won
the festival's top Golden Shell prize for best film.
Meanwhile, the festival recently signed on as one of the founding
members of the City of San Sebastian's newly launched Film Commission.
Intended to serve national and foreign productions wishing to shoot on
the northern coastal town, the Commission is also supported by the City
and Basque Producers' Associations EPE-APV and IBAIA.
***
Paris to get new film festival this summer
Nancy Tartaglione in Paris 23 April 2003
In conjunction with the municipal government, the city of Paris will
inaugurate a new film festival this summer entitled Paris Cinema.
The event will run from July 2 - 15 in cinemas throughout the French
capital.
Director Costa Gavras will serve as President of the organisational
board while former Cannes Director's Fortnight programmer Marie-Pierre
Macia will head up the artistic direction of the festival.
Some 20 films will premiere during the festival which will incorporate
an official competition, sidebars, workshops and tributes.
The major awards categories are: The audience award, voted on by
spectators and carrying a purse of Euros 18,000. Franco-German channel
Arte will also grant an award via a purchase of TV rights. A press jury
will award a novice producer with a prize and a jury of students from
local universities will also vote.
Women receiving tributes include Susan Sarandon and Delphine Seyrid.
Daniel Toscan du Plantier and Maurice Pialat, both of whom passed away
in the last year, will also be honoured.
Various other activities such as outdoor screenings and workshops will
also be on offer. Workshop topics include: cinema's place in the
European constitution, French and European film financing and cinema's
relationship to urban development.
As the festival will be open to the public, low-price tickets are to be
offered to encourage attendance.
Falling as it does in July, the festival could be a much needed shot in
the arm for local summer box-office.
***
Hukkle wins top prize at muted Hong Kong film fest
Liz Shackleton in Hong Kong 23 April 2003
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) continued with its
inaugural prize-giving ceremony last week, although SARS kept away
overseas jurors and award winners.
Local replacements were found for absent jury members and HKIFF director
Peter Tsi accepted awards on behalf of overseas directors.
The festival featured three new international competition sections this
year in addition to the annual FIPRESCI Award for new Asian directors.
The "Firebird Awards for Young Cinema" are for first or second efforts
from directors from anywhere in the world, while the "Asian DV
Competition" is open to digital films from Asian directors. The
"Humanitarian Awards for Documentaries" are for documentaries from all
over the world with social and aesthetic significance.
Hukkle, by Hungarian director Gyorgy Palfi, scooped the Golden Firebird
Award while the Silver Firebird went to Blind Shaft from mainland
director Li Yang.
The jury also gave a Special Mention to two films - Hotel Hibiscus from
Japan and Our Father from Chad-France.
In the Asian DV Competition, Doug Chan's Love Is Not A Sin picked up the
Golden DV Award and the Silver DV Award went to Andrew Cheng's Welcome
To Destination Shanghai.
The Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary went to Clown In Kabul by
Italian directors Enzo Balestrieri and Stefano Moser.
The FIPRESCI award went to mainland feature Chicken Poets, directed by
Meng Jinghui, while Thai film Mekhong Full Moon Party received a Special
Mention.
The festival wraps on April 23 with screenings of mainland movie Cala,
My Dog!, directed by Lu Xuechang, and Spike Jonze's Adaptation.
***
Kolodner & Melamede launch Salty Features
Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles 23 April 2003
Former Madstone Films production executives Eva Kolodner and Yael
Melamede have teamed up to launch New York-based production company
Salty Features, which has already boarded four projects aiming to
showcase "unique vision, strong storytelling and thought-provoking
subject matter."
The four titles in development include Bam Bam And Celeste, the first
fictional film vehicle for comedian Margaret Cho that was written by Cho
and will be produced in partnership with Cho/Taussig Productions and
Duopoly, and Valparaiso, based on the acclaimed play by Don DeLillo and
to be directed by Hal Brooks.
Jernigan and Signs Of Life complete the list. Jernigan was written and
will be directed by Jeff Roda and based on David Gates' Pulitzer Prize
nominee, and Signs Of Life, written and to be directed by Lisa Robinson.
Signs Of Life was the first recipient of NYU's $100,000 grant from the
Alfred P Sloan Foundation late last year.
"With four strong projects in active development and several more in the
pipeline, we are confident that we will build a winning combination of
meaningful and marketable films," Kolodner said in a statement.
"Our aim is to find distinctive material and extraordinary talent, and
to bring unique films to the marketplace," Melamede added. "Eva and I
are thrilled by the quality of the projects and creative talent that
have already found a home at Salty."
Kolodner produced the Oscar-winning Boys Don't Cry and was formerly head
of production at Madstone and director of development at Killer Films,
where she worked on such titles as Happiness, Kids and I Shot Andy
Warhol.
Melamede's credits include The Centre Of The World, Lulu On The Bridge
and Forever Mine. She was formerly production supervisor at Madstone
Films.
Jaime Jeske
Scott MacMillan in Prague 23 April 2003
Pupendo, the new comedy from Czech director Jan Hrebejk is on course to
challenge the country's local box-office crown.
Czech distributor Falcon and production house Total HelpArt T.H.A. are
celebrating the success of Pupendo, the latest effort from Jan Hrebejk
(Cosy Dens, Divided We Fall), which appears ready to top Jan Sverak's
Dark Blue World as the most lucrative Czech film of all time.
As of April 16, Pupendo had registered 346,000 admissions for a $1.3m
(CZK 37.7m) box office gross. "This has been generated after only three
weeks," said Jan Bradac, head of Falcon.
The bittersweet comedy, set in the 1980s, when Czech society stagnated
under the Communist regime, has struck a chord with local audiences. It
stars the popular Czech comic actor Boleslav Polivka (pictured) (Cosy
Dens, The Jester And The Queen) as a Prague artist whose work is ignored
for political reasons.
Neil Friedman of Menemsha Films is handling worldwide sales and appears
confident that Pupendo can follow in the footsteps of 2000's World War
II drama Divided We Fall, the previous collaboration between director
Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky.
Divided We Fall enjoyed international success - a rarity for a Czech
film - selling in 25 countries. "With the tremendous success of Divided
We Fall, certain countries are now buying Cozy Dens because they want
more of these guys' films," said Friedman.
In its first week, Pupendo grossed $418,800 (CZK 12m), beating Dark Blue
World's first-week box office take of $405,500 (CZK11.7m).
Given ticket price inflation since the previous local successes, Pupendo
should manage to take the box-office crown, if not the record for
admissions.
With nearly 1.2 million admissions and $3.1m (CZK 88.9m) at the box
office, 2001's Dark Blue World is the most lucrative Czech movie of
time - although in terms of admissions, Jan Sverak's 1996 Oscar-winner
Kolya takes the top spot with 1.3 million admissions.
***
Hong Kong warms to English, but gives Monk cool reception
Liz Shackleton in Hong Kong 23 April 2003
Johnny English lured SARS-wary Hong Kong audiences back into cinemas
over the Easter holiday, grossing $579,000 from 31 sites over the
four-day weekend. However, Golden Harvest was disappointed with the
performance of its other Easter release -Bulletproof Monk - which
grossed $229,500.
According to Golden Harvest distribution chief, Teerachai
Triwongwaranat, Bulletproof Monk was hurt by the day-and-date release of
the official DVD and VCD on the mainland, which gave rise to parallel
imports and pirated copies. "We're very disappointed," Triwongwaranat
said. "The film should have been given a theatrical window across the
region."
Pirated copies of Bulletproof Monk have been available in Asia since
January but were of inferior quality and missing the beginning and
ending of the film. It is believed an illegal copy was made during a
test screening in the US, marking one of the worst cases of copyright
theft in the region.
Of the other new releases, Johnnie To's cop thriller PTU grossed
$156,420 over the four days, while China Star's Why Me, Sweetie?, now in
its second week, took with $215,400. Its cumulative gross stands at an
encouraging $1m.
According to industry body, the Motion Picture Industry Association,
overall takings for the weekend were "better than expected" but still
40% lower than last Easter.
"The figures were not as bad as we thought they might be - probably
because people didn't travel over the holiday and needed entertainment,"
said MPIA CEO Woody Tsung.
***
Spain's Grupo PI adds two to its international slate
Jennifer Green in Madrid 23 April 2003
Spanish sales house Grupo PI has added two new titles to its
international slate, box office hit Moscow Gold and Danube Hotel, which
premieres in competition at next week's Spanish Film Festival of Malaga
(April 25-May 3).
Both titles will make their market debut at the Spanish Film Screenings
(May 1-3), a sidebar to the Malaga festival which kicks off this Friday
with Pedro Olea's Tiempo De Tormenta from Lolafilms.
Directed by Antonio Gimenez-Rico, drama Danube Hotel (Hotel Danubio)
turns on the love triangle between a failed writer, his son and an
ambitious young woman. It is a co-production between Enrique Cerezo PC,
Oscar-winning director Jose Luis Garci's Madrid-based Nickel Odeon SA,
and PC 29 SA.
Moscow Gold (El Oro De Moscu) had taken in $3.9m as of April 14 after
opening as the fifth top first weekend ever for a local title.
A slapstick comedy starring a slew of local actors, including debut
director Jesus Bonilla and Torrente mastermind Santiago Segura, the film
was co-produced by Enrirque Cerezo PC, Segura's Amiguetes Entertainment
and Arriabala SL.
In the Spanish Film Screenings, Grupo PI will also screen Berlin
Panorama and Malaga competition entry Bulgarian Lovers (Los Novios
Bulgaros), which was picked up by TLA Releasing for all rights in the
USA, and Mar del Plata best director winner You'll Be Back (Volveras) by
Antonio Chavarrias.