"Future of Food" and "Czech Dream" First Up For Spurlock DVD Label

Two popular docs, "The Future of Food" and "Czech Dream" are the first two titles set to be released under the new 'Morgan Spurlock Presents' feature doc video label from Hart Sharp Video. 4 - 6 titles per year are expected to be released under the new banner, according to Video Business Online. 
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Fabian Bielinsky Dead at 47

Fabian Bielinsky, director of "Nine Queens" and "El Aura" has died, according to media reports. Reuters indicated in a report Thursday that the Argentine filmmaker died in Sao Paulo of a heart attack. His latest feature ("El Aura") is scheduled to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival this weekend. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Los Angeles Film Festival, People ]

Toronto International Film Festival Group Reveal Board Moves

The Toronto International Film Festival Group announced that board member Paul Atkinson has been elected Vice-Chair and Chair Elect and that Irene Chu and David J. Kassie have been elected as members of the board. Mr. Atkinson will assume the full duties of Chair in June 2007. At that time, Allen Karp will step down from his current position as Chair, but remain a member of the board. TIFFG organizes the annual Toronto International Film Festival, taking place September 7 - 16. Other TIFFG programs include Cinematheque Ontario, Film Circuit, The Film Reference Library, Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, and Canada's Top Ten. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Industry Moves ]

"What Remains" and "Pope Dreams" Take 30th Atlanta Film Festival Prizes

IMAGE Film & Video Center's 30th annual Atlanta Film Festival capped off its event, taking place June 9 - 17 with its award presentation. Among the jury awarded prizes were Eric Lin's doc "What Remains," and "Pope Dreams" by Patrick Hogan, which took the best narrative nod."The Wraith of Cobble Hill" and "Closing Time" won best animated film and doc short respectively, while "A Supermarket Love Song" received the best narrative short award, which qualifies it for Oscar consideration. In audience prizes, Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg won the doc honor for "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," while "Quinceanera" received the audience prize in the narrative category. "Spin" won the audience award for best short. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

Slamdance Film Festival Accepting Entries for 2007 Event

The 13th annual Slamdance Film Festival, scheduled to take place, January 18 - 27, 2007 in Park City, Utah, has launched its call for entries. 26 features in the narrative and documentary feature categories combined, will make it into the main competition, which is strictly devoted to films without domestic theatrical distribution, from first-time feature directors, working with relatively low budgets. Entry forms and application information are available through the Slamdance website. All film selections will be announced the second week of December. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

SFGate: "The Gymnast" wins best feature at LGBT film festival

Frameline30, the 30th San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, ended Sunday night with announcements of the event's three major awards. Ned Farr's "The Gymnast," a drama about a female ex-gymnast who discovers a new life in the world of aerial dancing, received the Audience Award for Best Feature. The Dockers First Feature Award, with a prize of $10,000, went to Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil's "Stray Cats," a Philippine film about the love lives of a middle-aged advertising executive and her gay friend and landlord. The Michael J. Berg Documentary Award, which also has a $10,000 prize, was given to "Cruel and Unusual." Janet Baus, Dan Hunt and Reid Williams directed this film about the difficulties faced by pre-op transgender women who are held in men's prisons. SFGate.com reports. 
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IFC Entertainment Names Schwartz to SVP Post

IFC Entertainment named Lisa Schwartz, senior vice president of sales and business development, the company announced Thursday. Schwartz, who will report to IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, will be given the mandate to create a new infrastructure within the company "that fully develops and maximizes the business model for "IFC in Theaters" and will oversee all ancillary businesses, including the IFC Entertainment's home video, VOD, and syndication distribution. In February, IFC Entertainment launched "IFC in Theaters" creating a national art house for first-run independent films. The initiative marked the first time selected independent films were made available in customers' homes on the same day that they were released in theaters. Schwartz played a significant role in pioneering the introduction of the service and developing its key strategies. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Industry Moves ]

"Infamous" To Open Venice Fest Section

The other Truman Capote film, Douglas McGrath's "Infamous" will open the Horizons section of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival (running August 30 - September 9, 2006). In the movie, Toby Jones stars as Truman Capote, Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, Daniel Craig as Perry Smith, and Lee Pace as Dick Hickock. The Killer Films production will be released by Warner Independent Pictures in October. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

The Guardian: UK film company set up to ride growing digital wave

A new British film company, Slingshot, opens for business this week with an ambitious pledge to produce 10 feature films over the next three years - a goal it hopes to achieve with a business model unique to [the UK]: producing and distributing digital feature films. Few deny that the future of the film industry is digital. However, the change-over from physical 35mm film and the production and distribution techniques associated with it has been slow. Meg Carter reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

Reuters: Director Anger to be honored at Outfest

Director Kenneth Anger has been chosen as the recipient of the 10th annual Outfest Achievement Award, which will be presented at Outfest 2006's opening-night gala July 6 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Reuters reports. 
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AP: Marine in "Fahrenheit 9/11" Killed

A Marine and one-time recruiter who appeared in Michael Moore's documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has died in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar, 30, died Monday of wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Iraq's volatile Anbar province, the Defense Department said Tuesday. AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under People ]

Reuters: Paramount mulls control of MTV, Nick film units

Film studio Paramount Pictures and parent Viacom Inc. are considering whether to consolidate sister companies MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies under Paramount, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Combining the operations would help streamline film distribution and marketing, and more closely align the two divisions' management with the larger Paramount Pictures. Reuters reports. 
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Reuters: Venice fest plans "Infamous" curtain-raiser

The world premiere of writer-director Douglas McGrath's "Infamous," a biopic about writer Truman Capote, will open the 63rd Venice International Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday. The film will screen August 31 as the Horizon Selection at the Venice event. It stars Toby Jones as Capote and features a star-studded cast including Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Lee Pace, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson and Sigourney Weaver. The feature is based on George Plimpton's book "Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career." Reuters reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

Dimension Goes for Teen Sex Comedy "Parental Guidance Suggested"

Dimension Films has acquired all rights to writer-directors Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson's teen sketch sex comedy "Parental Guidance Suggested," which stars an ensemble cast lead by Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Jamie Kennedy ("Scream" trilogy) Matthew Lillard ("Scream"). Andy Samberg and Will Forte who star in "Saturday Night Live," wrote segments of the screenplay with Epstein, Jacobson, John Solomon and fellow "SNL" writers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. The film marks the directorial debut of Epstein and Jacobson, who co-wrote "Not Another Teen Movie." Barry Littman, executive vice president of business and legal affairs negotiated on behalf of Dimension Films, while Jeff Frankel of Colden, Mckuin & Frankel negotiated on behalf of Richard Suckle. Jason Sloan of Sloan, Offer, Weber & Dern negotiated on behalf of Warren Zide. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

East Coast Debut of "Journey" Slated for 29th Asian American International Film Festival

Asian CineVision (ACV), a nonprofit media arts organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Asian and Asian American media expressions, announced its 29th Asian American International Film Festival taking place July 13-21 and August 3-6. Nineteen features and 74 shorts are slated this year, including the East Coast premiere of Ham Tran's feature film debut "Journey From the Fall." This year's festival will present 11 world premieres, 7 U.S. premieres, 10 East Coast premieres, and 34 New York premieres. For more information and a full line up, visit the festival's website. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

Film on Japan abductee seeks to raise awareness

The American makers of a documentary about a Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean agents hope that telling her story will bring her plight, and those of other abductees, to a wider audience around the world. Megumi Yokota, who disappeared on her way home from school in 1977 at the age of 13, has become the iconic face of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang's agents to help train spies during the 1970s and 1980s. Reuters reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Production ]

Sony Classics Gets Zhang Yimou's New Film

Zhang Yimou's period epic "Curse of the Golden Flower" has been nabbed by Sony Pictures Classics. The company nabbed North American and Latin American rights to the period epic, according to an announcement today. The film, currently shooting in China, stars Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li and marks the ninth time that Zhang Yimou and the Sony Classics team with work together. In an announcement, the company described the film's plot as being about "the volatile balance of power between the King (Chow Yun Fat) and the Queen (Gong Li) and his three sons, which entails betrayal, deceit and passion, pitting King against Queen and father against sons." Much of the creative team behind "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" are working together on the new movie, including cinematographer Zhao Xiading, production designer Huo Tingxiao, action director Tony Ching Siu-Tung, sound designer Tao Jing, and producers Bill Kong and Zhang Wei Ping. The music is composed by Shigeru Umebayashi and the costume designer is Yee Chung Man. In a statement, SPC co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard said, "We feel 'Curse of the Golden Flower' will be a culmination of Zhang Yimou's great career. The level of excitement surrounding this film is unbelievable. Needless to say, it is great to be together once again with Zhang Yimou, his tremendous crew, Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat, and, of course, Bill Kong." A release date is still pending. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, World Cinema ]

The Top Ten So Far...

Each Monday, indieWIRE receives the final weekend numbers for specialty releases in theaters. This is our top ten for the past weekend so far, with most numbers already in. The top ten is subject to change before the final chart is published tomorrow and the weekly box office column is written. three day weekend box office data provided by Rentrak as of Monday, 6:00 p.m. ET. 1. "Wassup Rockers" (First Look) $29,400 wknd ($29,400 per scrn) 2. "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" (Lionsgate) $25,370 ($17,130 per scrn) 3. "Krrish" (Adlabs Films USA) $643,000 ($10,898 per scrn) 4. "Pandora's Box" (Kino) $9,315 wknd ($9,315 per scrn) 5. "Wordplay" (IFC Films) $325,245 wknd ($7,228 per scrn) 6. "La Moustache" (Cinema Guild) $6,661 wknd ($6,661 per scrn) 7. "Two Drifters" (Strand Releasing) $5,289 wknd ($5,289 per scrn) 8. "The Great New Wonderful" (First Independent) $39,712 wknd (4,964 per scrn) 9. "The Hidden Blade" (Tartan Films) $4,466 wknd ($4,466 per scrn) 10. "Army Of Shadows" (Rialto) $26,249 wknd ($4,375 per scrn) 
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LA TIMES: 10 L.A. Fest Films To Catch

In a Los Angeles Film Festival preview piece published last week in the L.A. Times, Kevin Crust picks ten fest flicks worth seeing (from those available for him ahead of time), recommending a majority of docs. On his list are: Jeff Werner & Susan Koch's Mario's Story, Francois Ozon's Time to Leave, Rachel Libert's Beyond Conviction, Stuart McDonald'sStranded, Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil, James Moll's Inheritance, Stanley Nelson's Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Derek Sieg's Swedish Auto, Gil Karni's Troubled Water, Kirby Dick's This Film Is Not Yet Rated. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]