DISPATCH FROM BRAZIL | Golden Bear Upset: A Look at the Controversy Behind "Tropa de Elite"

Shocking critics and industry insiders in a move that no one saw coming, the 58th Berlin International Film Festival awarded its top prize, the Golden Bear, to the Brazilian film "Elite Squad" (Tropa de Elite). The award was a remarkable coup for the film that made its international premiere with subtitle problems and that Variety had written off as "a one-note celebration of violence-for-good that plays like a recruitment film for fascist thugs." Yet, earlier this month the Berlin jury headed by Costa-Gavras, a renowned political filmmaker, defiantly gave the award in what they said was a unanimous decision. While it may seem like it came from nowhere, "Elite Squad"'s Golden Bear is far from the first time this provocative film has pushed buttons, nor will it be the last.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Berlin, Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

PARK CITY '08 | Don't Overlook the World: 10+ International Films to Watch at Sundance '08

Next week, the global film industry will turn to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. But does Sundance, in turn, look back at the rest of the globe? The answer, of course, is sort of. While press, paparazzi and moviegoers will be tracking the every movement of this year's American celebs (Josh Hartnett, Charlize Theron and Jack Black, just to name a few), Sundance has increasingly tried to boost its international competition sections, with more prizes and more prestige value for the festival's global entrants.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Trends, World Cinema ]

WORLD CINEMA | Gone Today; Here Tomorrow: Foreign Flicks Wait Out, Then Face Award Season Glut

Foreign cinema lovers are facing a severe drought in U.S. movie theaters. During the crowded rush of award-season, when both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have recently published stories titled, respectively, "Not Just Some Movies: This is A Glut of Cinema" and "Arthouse Depression," there's one type of non-studio film that's nearly absent from both theaters and the debate surrounding the packed release calendar: world cinema.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

World Cinema Column | French Revolution: Popular French Fare Finds U.S. Audiences

Bastille Day isn't the only reason the French have to celebrate this coming Saturday. The French film industry has been enjoying a box office resurgence of late, both at home and aboard. During the first quarter of 2007, French films took a robust 58.4% market share in France, well outpacing their own averages of 30%-40% in recent years and U.S. productions (only 38.6%). Popular titles have included the fourth installment of the French action franchise "Taxi" as well as Olivier Dahan's Edith Piaf bio-pic "La vie en rose" and Laurent Tirard's "Moliere," the latter of which will also soon be playing in the U.S., which has shown a steady taste for Gallic pictures over the last few months. Even Pixar's summer juggernaut "Ratatouille" has embraced its Parisian setting. Freedom fries, be damned.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

With Creation of Dreamachine, Foreign-Language Films Face Sleepless Nights Ahead

Foreign-language cinema got another vote of no confidence yesterday, with the announcement of Dreamachine, a new film company formed out of the merger of international sales outfit Celluloid Dreams with U.K.-based HanWay Films. While the fusion of the two entities creates a formidable global financing, producing and sales outfit, lead by two of the brightest cinephiles in the business (Celluloid Dream's Hengameh Panahi and HanWay's Jeremy Thomas, producer of "The Last Emperor," "Sexy Beast," and "Naked Lunch," among others), the union also signals a move away from the foreign art cinema that defined Celluloid, long a destination for both burgeoning and veteran auteurs, from Francois Ozon and Jia Zhang-Ke to Takeshi Kitano and Abbas Kiarostami.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Companies, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

Emerging Spectators: Cultivating the Art-House Audience in a Post-Auteur Culture

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music earlier this month, renowned critic Andrew Sarris--the man who helped cultivate the auteur theory in the U.S.--appeared at a panel with critics J. Hoberman and Dennis Lim to celebrate the publication of the Village Voice Film Guide and a screening of Robert Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar." But despite the overflowing crowd and cineastic fervor at this one-night event, the auteur model is fading, the Village Voice is a shell of its former self, and film culture is undergoing a radical shift.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 4 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

"Volver" and "Pan's Labyrinth" Prepare to Break Out of the Foreign Language Niche

The rich are getting richer; the poor are getting poorer. That's what the Democratic Congress will inherit when they officially take control of the country's legislature in January. The same state of affairs applies to foreign-language films in the United States. While there are a handful of films that break through to higher levels of popularity and ticket sales, the vast majority of features produced overseas continue to face overwhelming challenges at the U.S. box office.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 1 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

WORLD CINEMA: Sure-Fire Contenders and New Rules Face Off in Foreign Oscar Race

For Hollywood, the Oscar race is just getting started. But for nations around the world, the competition kicked off last Monday -- the deadline to submit paperwork for the Best Foreign Language Award category. In just two weeks, the complete official list of eligible films will be announced, and the initial whittling down of the titles will have already begun by the Academy's Foreign Language Film screening committee.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Awards Season, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

WORLD CINEMA: French Films x 3: Bastille Day Creates Gallic Cinema Crowding

France may have lost the World Cup, but Francophiles can seek solace in a number of new French films hitting U.S. screens. No less than six Gallic features have suddenly hit Gotham art-houses. In addition to the two ("Russian Dolls," "District 13") already playing, Laurent Cantet's probing Haitian-set tale of female desire "Heading South" debuted last weekend, while this Friday, three excellent new films will open from auteurs Francois Ozon ("Time to Leave"), Patrice Chereau ("Gabrielle") and Andre Techine ("Changing Times"). A couple weeks later, Claude Chabrol's 2004 domestic thriller "The Bridesmaid" will also be released.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 1 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

IFC Gets Two Argentine Films For First Take

Fabian Bielinsky's "The Aura" and Daniel Burman's "Family Law," two acclaimed Argentine films, have been added to the slate of IFC First Take, the day and date distribution label launched this year by IFC Entertainment. The deal, with sales company Celluloid Dreams, follows the recent Cannes market acquisition of "Destricted" for the label that unveils films simultaneously in theaters and via VOD on cable television. The company is planning to release 24 films per year under the new banner.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Acquistions, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

Viva El Cine: Will Mexico and Spain Spur a Spanish-Language Revival?

"Vamonos!" cries one of the ads for "Duck Season," Fernando Eimbcke's slacker comedy about two 14-year-olds, a pizza delivery guy, pot brownies and the loneliness of growing up. But are people actually going?
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

Winter Market Doldrums at Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin; U.S. Buyers Wait for Cannes

"In a word, disappointing," says Strand Releasing co-president Jon Gerrans about this year's winter markets at Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin. "If you look at the number of films that were bought by U.S. companies, it's not much." "It's very frustrating and I'm getting nervous for the films for 2007, which is what these three markets would be providing," continues Gerrans. "So far, we only have one film out of those three [markets]." In the only U.S. theatrical buy that took place during the recently concluded Berlinale, Strand picked up "Broken Sky" (El Cielo Divido), the latest film from Julian Hernandez, whose "A Thousand Clouds of Peace. . ." was also distributed by Strand.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 1 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

With National Pride At Stake, Foreign Language Films Compete For Oscar Glory

Think it's Oscar season? For foreign language films, the campaigning actually began months ago -- when the deadline to submit paperwork for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar dropped October 3. Out of 91 entries, a record-breaking 58 countries made the cut (newbies include Costa Rica, Fiji and Iraq), all of which are anticipating with baited breath for the nominations on Jan. 31. With national pride on the line, not to mention increased value, the Academy's single award for foreign achievement raises significant anxiety overseas -- as well as here at home.

[ read more in Biz ]   [ 2 comments ]   [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

The Palestinian Invasion: Will "Paradise Now" Be the Biggest Arabic-Language Film Ever?

Two years ago, Hany Abu-Assad's "Rana's Wedding" -- a political comedy about a Palestinian woman's mishaps getting married in Ramallah -- debuted in U.S. theaters with favorable reviews and the hopes of capturing the art-house market and offering American audiences a uniquely Palestinian perspective. Sadly, the movie failed (grossing only around $45,000). But Abu-Assad is now back -- and with the backing of Time Warner subsidiary Warner Independent Pictures, his new film "Paradise Now" (opening next Friday) is poised to become the biggest Arabic-language film ever released in the United States.

[ read more in Biz ]   [ 5 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

Dispatch From Brazil: Beyond the Violence, Two Small Production Companies Look For Connections With Their Audience

Looking at two of Brazil's biggest blockbusters of the decade, Fernando Meirelles' "City of God" and Hector Babenco's "Carandiru," one might be tempted to stereotype contemporary Brazilian cinema as extremely violent. Both "City of God" and "Carandiru" followed the desperate, dangerous lives of slum dwellers and prisoners and were praised for their truthful and vibrant portrayal of the illnesses of Brazilian society. "Violence is a subject that all Brazilian films have in common," says Geórgia Costa Araújo, who produced 2003's confrontational "Contra Todos" ("Up Against Them All"), "but now we want to explore more themes." Filmmaker Laís Bodanzky ("Bicho de Sete Cabeças") believes that Brazilian cinema is too diverse to be defined by violence, but she points out that "the public chose to see these two films that look at violence in an intimate way."
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 2 comments ]   [ filed under Companies, World Cinema ]

Asian Films Caught Between U.S. Distribs and DVD-Seeking Fans

As Asian film fans know, Wong Kar Wai's sexy, sci-fi remembrance "2046" opened a couple of weeks ago in U.S. theaters, Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," the first in his sick and twisted revenge trilogy, debuts in Los Angeles and New York theaters this Friday, and coming out in October, Lions Gate Films will distribute "Three . . . Extremes," an omnibus horror trilogy from Asian auteurs Park Chan-Wook, Fruit Chan, and Takashi Miike. But as most Asian film fans also know, all three of these movies have been widely available on DVD well before their U.S. theatrical releases.
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Trends, World Cinema ]

De La Iglesia's "El Crimen Perfecto" Set for U.S. Release

Alex de la Iglesia's "El Crimen Perfecto" (Perfect Crime), formerly known as "El Crimen Ferpecto (Ferpect Crime), will kick-off its U.S. theatrical release later this week from Vitagraph Films. The film, from the director of "The Day of the Beast" and "Perdito Durango," is a black comedy that stars Guillermo Toledo as a Madrid department store clerk competing for a floor manager job while he has his way with any number of sexy store saleswomen. When the suave clerk gets involved with an inadvertent crime, he must plot to commit the "perfect crime."
[ read more in Biz ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Acquistions, Lead Story, World Cinema ]