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indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Ramin Bahrani, director of "Man Push Cart"

Director Ramin Bahrani's "Man Push Cart" follows the story of an immigrant push cart operator in New York City who moved from Pakistan where he was once a rock star. A solitary, quiet loner, Ahmad (with a terrific performance from newcomer Ahmad Razvi) strikes up slightly awkward friendships with No...

The Guardian Interview: Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz

Late afternoon in an upstairs ballroom in the Excelsior Hotel in Venice, and Darren Aronofsky is talking about his new film, "The Fountain." Two days on from its world premiere, the film has already divided audiences: at the press screening, it was booed; at its public screening the following evening, the film was given a 10-minute-long standing ovation. "'Requiem' got slaughtered by the press," Aronofsky cheerily recalls. "We had a 30-minute standing ovation in Cannes and the next day Variety said I should go into therapy instead of making movies. The New York Times trashed 'Pi.' I am totally used to it." It's not hard to see why "The Fount...

Beta Expands Toronto Sales Slate

Beta Cinema has added Bully Herbig's "Hui Buh" to its roster of German titles at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The story of "lovable, bumbling castle ghost," the film is doing well in its German release, and was a hit printed and audio book. Beta is also selling Chris Kraus' "Four Minutes", Hans Steinbichler's "Winter Journey" and "The Lives of Others" by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, a winner at the recent Locarno Film Festival that was acquired for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics in the States and was showcased over the weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. It has already been sold in 40 countries, inclu...

NYT: Coming to the Hamptons: The World, on the Big Screen

In the New York Times earlier this week a look at the upcoming Hamptons International Film Festival, and a few thoughts from artistic director Raj Roy about the fest's opening film, Philip Haas' "The Situation":Mr. Roy said he had chosen the film, which was directed by Philip Haas, to throw down the gauntlet and make a statement about the direction of American independent filmmaking. "This film's view of its subject is very complicated -- as is the world," he said in a telephone interview. "We want to encourage American filmmakers to tell stories that have a more encompassing, more cosmopolitan take on the world. It's time for them to move be...

ThinkFilm Clicks with "10 Items"

With the world premiere of Brad Silberling's "10 Items or Less" approaching at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, ThinkFilm has announced a deal to release the movie in North America. The film, written and director by Silberling, stars Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega in a comedy about a big time movie star (Freeman) who is exploring a potential as a supermarket manager when he meets a woman (Vega) who helps him discover what drew him to acting in the first place. Just weeks after the theatrical release, the movie will have its broadband premiere on ClickStar, a new online movie download service backed, in part, by Freeman. [Eugene H...

Paper Dolls opens at the Film Forum

Poland Schwings

BBC: Director vows to defy filming ban

A director has said he will defy a ban on him making films imposed by the government in his native China. The ruling was prompted by Lou Ye's decision to screen a movie at the Cannes Film Festival before it was cleared by Chinese censors. He told Associated Press the five-year ban was "ridiculous," ...

SNEAK PREVIEW: Babel