iW NEWS | IFC Gets Guy Maddin Film in Toronto

As the Toronto International Film Festival winds down, acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg" has been acquired for U.S. distribution by IFC Entertainment. In the words of a festival description, Maddin's playful, docu-style rumination on his hometown, "continues in the freewheeling, genre-bending tradition that has made him one of Canada's most consistently intriguing and internationally respected artists." The filmmaker performed a live narration for the film at its Toronto festival premiere last week. Canadian rights to "My Winnipeg" are set with Maximum Films, while London-based Soda Pictures has nabbed rights for the film in the UK. Additional festival dates have yet to be announced. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ]

HR | 'Bill' sees dollar signs in Toronto

Melisa Wallack and Bernie Goldmann's "Bill" has been acquired by First Look Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, from GreeneStreet Films, stars Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba, among others. It was produced by John Penotti, Fisher Stevens, and Matthew Rowland. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ]

HR | Weinsteins find 'Joy' with docu buy

The Weinstein Company has acquired Grant Gee's new documentary, "Joy Division," which debuted this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company is also releasing Anton Corbijn's "Control," about the band, which it acquired back in Cannes.  
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

iW NEWS | Think Gets "Battle"

ThinkFilm has acquired U.S. rights to Stuart Townsend's "Battle in Seattle," the company announced tonight (Thursday) at the Toronto International Film Festival. Produced by Mary Aloe, Kirk Shaw, and Maxime Remillard, the film follows a mix of fictional stories connected to the World Trade Organization's 1999 meeting in Seattle, which was met with widespread protests and civil disobediance. Cast members include Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta, Andre Benjamin, Rade Sherbedzija, and Connie Nielsen. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

iW NEWS | Cronenberg, Lee, Anderson, Lynch and More on Tap for 51st London Film Fest

Seven world, 29 European and 128 U.K. premieres are slated for teh 51st BFI London Film Festival, taking place in the British capital October 17 - November 1. As previously announced, David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" will kick off the event, which will screen 184 features and 133 shorts in addition to "screen talks," masterclasses and other programs. Ang Lee's Venice Golden Lion winner "Lust, Caution" joins the roster along with Alexander Sokurov's "Alexandra," Francois Ozon's "Angel," Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," Takeshi Kitano's "Glory to the Filmmaker," Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse Jame by the Coward Robert Ford," Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" and Rodrigo Pla's "La Zona" among many more. A host of filmmakers including Wes Anderson (whose "The Darjeeling Limited" will close the festival), Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Harmony Korine, Robert Rodriguez and Paul Greengrass will take to the stage to discuss their careers, while David Lynch and Donovan will take part in "Catching the Big Fish" together. "In a very strong year for world cinema, we are delighted to be able to present such a wide ranging and high quality programme of films and special events, in which work by internationally renowned directors sits comfortably alongside that from many exciting new talents," commented Artistic Director Sandra Hebron in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming filmmakers, audiences and press and industry delegates alike to our two week celebration of the best, most creative and original films of the year." For more information and a full line up, visit the festival's website. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, World Cinema ]

iW NEWS | "El Cantante to Open 3rd Turks & Caicos International Film Festival

Twenty-eight films are on tap for the 3rd Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, taking place October 16 - 21 in Providenciales. Leon Ichaso's "El Cantante" will open the event with an outdoor screening on the beach. The film, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, is the story of Hector Lavoe, who started the salsa movement in 1975. Other roster highlights include Hungarian director Gabor Herendi's world premiere, "Lora," and the Caribbean debut of "Guru" by Mani Ratnam, who will receive the fest's "Sal Del Mar Director's Excellence Award." Mos Def will also take TCIFF's "Tour de Force Award and Amanda Bynes will be honored with the Rising Star Award. "We have some beautiful films this year! I have my favorites although I know I shouldn't sway the jury in any way," commented executive director Jasmine Guy in a statement about this year's line up. "But assuming they won't read this, you have to see 'War/Dance,' 'Guru' and 'The Mentor.'" For more information and a full line up, visit the festival's website. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

NYT | A World Where an Antonioni Might Not Get a Distribution Deal

"Because the Toronto [festival] is so large and functions both as a preview for the fall studio season and as an international bazaar, with goods from Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia (the multinational provenance for the period epic "Mongol"), it affords an instructive view of the state of the American art and industry. More than any other major festival, Toronto makes clear the divide between those movies that matter aesthetically and intellectually." Manohla Dargis surveys the festival in The New York Times. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

NYT: In the Bronx, a Film School With a Down-to-the-Ghetto Name

It was in many ways a typical film-school scene. On a recent hot afternoon, a group of eager young students crowded around a big-time director, asking for advice about backlighting and the best way to establish a scene of anarchy. But the students quizzing David O. Russell, the director of "Three Kings" weren't enrolled at New York University or Columbia or any other august institution. They were from the Ghetto Film School, an unaccredited training program in the South Bronx that operates in the summer and on weekends during the school year. It gives teenagers a rigorous introduction to filmmaking and, despite the humblest of origins, has built up an enviable roster of Hollywood donors and supporters inside city government. Ben Sisario reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Trends ]

AFP: Woody Allen unveils "Cassandras Dream" at Toronto Film Festival

Despite more than three dozen films to his credit, legendary movie director Woody Allen insists that he really doesn't work all that hard, is lazy and just got into movies to meet women. "You'll think I'm being facetious, but I'm not a dedicated filmmaker," he told reporters at the North American premiere of his latest film "Cassandra's Dream." "I'm lazy. Making films is not the be-all and end-all of my life," he said Wednesday at the Toronto Film Festival. Michel Comte reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under People, Toronto ]

LAT: Bare-knuckle battle in SAG

He's played hustlers, gangsters, an aging hippie and a deaf mute. Now, Seymour Cassel is auditioning for what could be his toughest role yet: president of Hollywood's most powerful union, the Screen Actors Guild. A character actor whose career was nearly derailed more than two decades ago by a little-known stint in federal prison, Cassel has launched an unexpectedly strong challenge to incumbent Alan Rosenberg leading up to the Sept. 20 election. Drawing upon his years in the business, the 72-year-old actor has enlisted the support of such stars as Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, James Caan and Dennis Hopper. Richard Verrier reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

AFP: Tears gush at Rwanda genocide film premiere

Audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival wept for Rwanda genocide victims at the premiere this week of "Shake Hands with the Devil," a movie about the failure of UN peacekeepers in 1994 to stop the slaughter around them. Although critics panned the movie, there was not a dry eye in the cinema. AFP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

AP: Jon Stewart to return as Oscar host

Jon Stewart will return as host of the Oscars in 2008. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced Wednesday that Stewart will host the 80th awards show Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ]

iW NEWS | Weinsteins Get "Dead"

The Weinstein Company has closed a deal for North American rights, including Mexico, to "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead." Cinetic Media brokered the deal, which closed tonight (Tuesday) at the Toronto International Film Festival. Described by the festival as "his first independently produced zombie film in over two decades," the movie was produced by Artfire Films and Romero-Grunwald Productions. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

iW NEWS | Magnet: Magnolia Branding Genre Titles

Magnolia Pictures is launching Magnet, a new label for its genre film productions and acquisitions, distinguising horror, action, comedy and Asian cinema titles from the independent and documentary films released under the Magnolia label. First up under the new banner will be Jeremy Saulnier's "Murder Party," on DVD next month, followed by a new slate of theatrical and DVD releases. "Some of the best, most imaginative, wild and forward-thinking cinema in the world today is being done in the context of genre filmmaking," Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles said today in a statement. The initial slate of Magnet titles will include Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Big Man Japan," Tony Stone's "Severed Ways," Ringo Tam, Johnnie To, and Tsui Hark's "Triangle," Olivier Assayas' "Boarding Gate" from this year's Cannes Film Festival, and Mark Hartley's "Not Quite Hollywood," a look at Australian genre films from the 70s and 80s. In a statement, Magnolia SVP Tom Quinn added, "It's a kick-ass position to be in when you can look to your own company's films and know that these are the movies you'd want to buy for your personal DVD collection." [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

SF360: Finn Taylor on natural selection and "The Darwin Awards"

Of course, you have never done anything stupid in your life. But director Finn Taylor admits that he has: He once held up a convenience store with a harmonica, he told SF360 last week while talking about his film "The Darwin Awards." Susan Gerhard reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under People ]

NYT: A Voice From the Blacklist: Documentary Lets Dalton Trumbo Speak (Through Surrogates)

Sixty years after a Congressional panel grilled 10 uncooperative writers, directors and producers about their supposed Communist connections, Hollywood still quarrels over the heroes and villains of its Red Scare. But on Monday night in Toronto, one of the era's acknowledged heroes, the jailed and blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, was expected to deliver some posthumous words that might finally put to rest the hunt for good guys and bad. Michael Cieply reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

AFP: Ang Lee bows to China and self-censors award-winning film

Taiwanese director Ang Lee axed 30 minutes from his award-winning erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution" to pass China's censorship rules and make it child friendly, state media reported Tuesday. Lee, who on Saturday picked up his second Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for best picture for his new film, was told by Chinese authorities he had to cut out steamy scenes for mainland China's audience, Xinhua news agency said. AFP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under People ]

Reuters: Toronto film festival turns gaze from war to love

A quirky teen-pregnancy yarn and a love story involving a life-sized sex doll have won over critics at the Toronto International Film Festival, stealing the spotlight from darker films on war and politics. While films with themes wrought from the war in Iraq and global terrorism have drawn a generally positive response, lighter fare such as "Juno" and "Lars and the Real Girl" have also emerged from the pack. Cameron French reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

Globe and Mail: De Palma's Comeback

The veteran director--67 today--has been in the film business for at least 40 years and made almost as many pictures in that time. Now the New Jersey native appears to be back on the winning side of the ledger with a searing film about the losing American war effort in Iraq called "Redacted. James Adams reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

HR | Overture Films buys McCarthy's 'Visitor'

Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor" has been acquired by Overture Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the trade paper, Greg Goldstein writes that the pact is valued at, "more than $1 million plus boxoffice bonuses for the filmmakers." 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ]

iW NEWS | Arthouse and Red Envelope Snap "Black White + Gray"

First-time director James Crump's "Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe" has been acquired by Arthouse Films and Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainemnt, the companies announced Monday. The joint deal was negotiated by David Koh and Lilly Bright for Arthouse and Stanley Buchthal of LM Media GmbH, along with Rob Williams, Liesl Copland, Thom Zadra and Bahman Naraghi for Red Envelope Entertainment. The film recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and will open theatrically in New York and LA at the end of the year followed by a DVD release on the Arthouse Films label and via Netflix service sometime early next year. The Sundance Channel has acquired the first TV window and will premiere the film on its channel early next year. The film centers on the relationship between collector Sam Wagstaff and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and their mutually tight-knit friendship with poet and musician Patti Smith. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

AFP: "The Dead Girl" wins Deauville gong

"The Dead Girl," a film by Karen Moncrieff, won the Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival of American cinema here Sunday. Eleven independent productions were competing for the top award that was last year given to "Little Miss Sunshine" by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. AFP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

AFP: Moore takes parting shot at Bush in rockstar flick

Filmmaker Michael Moore on Saturday predicted a landslide victory for the Democrats in the 2008 presidential election, but is taking no chances, rallying US liberals in his latest documentary. "The potential for a (Democratic) landslide is enormous. People do not want to vote for the Republicans," he told reporters at the Toronto film festival premiere of his "Captain Mike Across America." Michel Comte reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ]

AFP: Indian filmmaker Kapur hoping for Elizabeth III

As the widely-acclaimed "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival" Sunday, India-born director Shekhar Kapur mused about making a third installment of the British monarch's life. Shekhar said he'd been sitting on the script for this sequel for almost a decade, since his Academy Award-winning epic "Elizabeth" was released in 1998. Michel Comte reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

HR: Penn to star as Harvey Milk

Sean Penn is attached to play gay '70s San Franciso politician Harvey Milk, and Matt Damon his assassin in a long-gestating project from director Gus Van Sant. Once a distribution deal is finalized, Van Sant hopes to begin production on the as-yet-untitled feature in San Francisco as early as December. Gregg Goldstein reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Production ]

iW NEWS | IFP Set's Sayles' "Honeydripper" for '07 Event

The 2007 Independent Film Week, IFP Market, and Filmmaker Conference will open on Monday, September 17th with a screening of John Sayles film, "Honeydripper," uptown at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square. The film, debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, will be released next year by Emerging Pictures. After the New York City showing, the organization will celebrate with a party toasting the 15th Anniversary of its publication, Filmmaker Magazine. For more information, please visit the IFP website. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Events, Toronto ]

VAR | IFC, B-Side pact to cull ignored pics

IFC and B-Side have announced a partnership to give unseen festival films wider distributon via the cable TV network, DVD and B-Side's online download service. In the words of a Variety story, "B-Side gathers and analyzes feedback on films from a pre-screened sample of festgoers. The two companies will collectively monitor the films posting strong audience ratings, and the most promising ones that don’t land traditional distribution deals will be aired on IFC and exploited online and in homevid." The first film on tap for the program is music doc, "Before the Music Dies," according to the Hollywood trade paper. 
[permalink]   [ filed under New Media & Technology ]

iW NEWS | Venice Fest Showcases Special Lions

Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited" won the "Young Lion" and Ed Radtke's "The Speed of Life" won the first Queer Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, which closed on Saturday. Kenneth Branagh's "Sleuth" was runner-up. The "collateral award winners" were unveiled by the festival on Friday and the following day, the festival announced its jury award winners at the closing night screening (see related indieWIRE story). [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

iW NEWS | Strand Picks Up "Before I Forget" for North America

All North American rights to Jacques Nolot's "Before I Forget" (Avant Que J'Oublie) have been acquired by Strand Releasing, the company announced late Saturday night. The film is currently screening in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the Toronto International Film Festival and was also in the Director's Fortnight in Cannes in May. The deal was negotiated between Strand bo-president, Jon Gerrans and Claude Nouchi, a consultant for Colifilms Diffusion. The film deals with Pierre (played by Nolot) as an aging writer facing writers block, dealing with hustlers, anti-depressants, while keenly facing his fears and addressing them in an edgy filmic format similar to his last venture. "We're thrilled to be working with both Mr. Nolot and Mr. Nouchi" said Gerrans, in a statement. "This is a a daring, edgy film that is reminscent of French new wave films that push the envelope in terms of content and form." [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ]