AWARDS WATCH '08 | "Grain" Wins Big at French Cesar Awards

Abdellatif Kechiche's "The Secret of the Grain" (La Graine et le mulet) was the big winner at French's Cesar Awards tonight. The film won the prizes for best picture, director and original screenplay at the ceremony. Mathieu Amalric won the award for best actor for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Le scaphandre et le papillon) and Marion Cotillard won the best actress award for "La Vie en Rose" (La Mome). The award best first film and adapted screenplay went to Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis." The complete list of winners is available on the Cesar's website, while Variety published a dispatch from the event tonight. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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Reuters: Snubs, omissions taint Oscar foreign film award

No matter which movie wins the Oscar for best foreign language film on Sunday, critics and fans may remember this year for work that was snubbed or disqualified by Academy Award voters. Mary Milliken reports. 
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Variety: Reed Elsevier to sell RBI

Reed Elsevier has announced that it plans to sell Reed Business Information, the magazine publishing division that includes Variety and Daily Variety, Broadcasting and Cable, Multichannel News, Publishers Weekly and New Scientist. Variety reports. 
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iW NEWS | Florida Film Festival Unveils Narrative and Doc Competition

Two world premeires and seven East Coast debuts will screen in competition at this year's Florida Film Festival, taking place in Orlando March 28 - April 6. Among the ten titles slated for the narrative competition are the world premiere of "Were the World Mine" by Tom Gustafson and the East Coast premieres of "Rainbow Around the Sun" by Kevin Ely and Beau J. Leland, "Lovely by Surprise" by Kirt Gunn and "Goliath" by David Zellner. The world debut of Jeremy Zerechak's "Land of Confusion" will be among the ten titles slated for the documentary competition. Also in the line up are the East Coast premieres of Sean Donnelly's "I Think We're Alone Now," David Redmon and Ashley Sabin's "Intimidad," Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern's "Pageant," and Chris Bagley and Kim Shively's "Wesley Willis's Joyrides." “The scope of cinematic expression in this year's festival is found not simply in terms of the volume of submissions or its demographics but in the variety of types of filmmakers and the issues they explore," said Shanon Larimer, Florida Film Festival executive director in a statement. "This year we are screening films that embody risk-taking, diversity, and aesthetic innovation.” For more information, visit the FFF website. [Brian Brooks] 
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HR: "Away From Her" earns film award in Canada

Canadian actress-turned-director Sarah Polley won the best film prize for her Oscar-nominated debut feature "Away From Her" at the inaugural Canadian Indie Awards in Ottawa Wednesday. Etan Vlessing reports. 
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iW NEWS | BAM to Fete Manoel de Oliveira at Rare Appearance

Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira will appear at BAMcinematek as part of its series "The Talking Pictures of Manoel de Oliveira," taking place March 7 - 30. Born in 1908, de Oliveira will appear March 7, kicking off a pair of features that bookend Oliveira's career to date, including his first feature "Aniki Bobo" (1942) and his most recent "Chistopher Columbus, the Enigma" (2007). A Q&A will follow the 7pm screening of "The Past." Manoel de Oliveira is the director of more than 40 films made over a period of more than 70 years, and is widely considered to be the oldest working filmmaker in the world. In addition, he is a screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, and actor. Following his appearance at BAM, de Oliveira will travel tour North America including the Harvard, UCLA, Cleveland, Chicago, Berkeley, Vancouver, Seattle and Washington, D.C. For more information including a list of films screening in the series, visit the BAM website. [Brian Brooks] 
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iW BOT CHART | "Band's Visit" at Number 1

"The Band's Visit" from Sony Pictures Classics is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published yesterday afternoon. The film has earned nearly $275,000 after taking in $122,241 from 13 theaters over the weekend (for an average of $11,267).  
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AFP: Host Jon Stewart ready to provide Oscars laughs

Television comedian Jon Stewart will be injecting some stinging satire into the Oscars here Sunday, giving a political flavor to the Hollywood extravaganza in a presidential election year. Tangi Quemener reports. 
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AP: Michael Moore: Bring Fidel to the Oscars

"Sicko" director Michael Moore jokes that Fidel Castro would be a "ratings grabber" at Sunday night's Academy Awards show. Moore's Oscar-nominated documentary on the health-care industry concludes with a trip to Cuba, where he seeks care for a group of 9/11 responders who have experienced health problems. Marcela Isaza reports. 
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iW NEWS | Hong Kong Fest Announces Films, Awards

The 32nd Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) announced that Yoji Yamada's "Kabei - Our Mother" and Chang Tso-Chi's "Soul of a Demon" will open the fest while Martin Scorsese's "Shine a Light" and Shu Kei and Kwan Man-hin's "Coffee or Tea" will be the closing night films. Additionally, the festival announced that Yamada will also be the recipient of the Asian Film Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award and that Yuya Ishii will receive the Edward Yang New Talent Award. Yamada's award coincides with the 40th anniversary of 'Tora-san,' the character he crated in the "It's Tough Being a Man" series. Yamada personally selected the Tora-san film "Sunshine and Sunset" to screen at the festival alongside the 19 nominees for the Asian Film Awards. The festival runs March 17-April 6, 2008. [Peter Knegt] 
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iW NEWS | MoMA To Celebrate Rex Harrison

Commemorating the centenary of actor Rex Harrison's birth on March 5th, The Museum of Modern Art will present an exhibition of 11 films featuring the actor. Entitled "Rex Harrison: A Centenary Tribute," the event will be held in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters from March 5-24, 2008 and will include "My Fair Lady and "Cleopatra," as well as lesser-known earlier works such as "Major Barbara" and "Escape." "Night Train to Munich" will open the series. [Peter Knegt] 
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AP: Prince Charles attends film screening

Prince Charles attended the London screening of a new movie about Britain's royal family in the 16th century, and met with some of its actors. "The Other Boleyn Girl is a film about Anne and Mary Boleyn battling to win the affections of Henry VIII. AP reports. 
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AP: Writers strike took $2.5 billion toll

The 100-day Hollywood writers strike took a $2.5 billion toll on the Los Angeles County economy — less than previously estimated. AP reports. 
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iW NEWS | THINKFilm To Release "Tracey"

THINKFilm has announced that Bruce MacDonald's "The Tracey Fragments" will open in New York City on May 9, 2008. The film, which stars Academy Award hopeful Ellen Page, will have its New York premiere on March 14th as part of "Canadian Front," the fifth edition of MoMA's annual film series celebrating Canadian cinema. Based on screenwriter Maureen Medved's novel of the same name, "Tracy" is shot in split-screen format, and follows a 15-year old (Page) in her search for her lost brother. The film recently received six 2008 Genie Award nominations (Canada's version of the Oscars), including best direction and best actress for Page. [Peter Knegt] 
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iW NEWS | Magnolia, Discovery Announce "Man On Wire" Pact

Discovery Films and Magnolia Pictures have announced a deal for North American theatrical and DVD distribution of James Marsh's Sundance '07 doc, "Man on Wire." The story of Frenchman Philippe Petit's infamous tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center, the film won both the World Cinema Grand Jury and audience awards at the festival last month. A late-summer theatrical release is in the works. The film is based on Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds and was produced by Wall to Wall, in association with Red Box Films for Discovery Films, the BBC and the UK Film Council. Josh Braun from Submarine brokered the deal with Tom Quinn, Dori Begley and Jason Janego from Magnolia Pictures. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Documentary ]

AFP: There will be blood as Oscars turn 80

Violent movies are tipped to carve up the top honors when the red carpet is rolled out for the 80th Academy Awards on Sunday, reflecting Oscar voters' increasing willingness to honor darker fare. Rob Woollard reports. 
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AFP: Saudi 'to hold first official film contest in May'

Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, where movie theatres are banned, will hold its first official film festival in May, a newspaper reported Tuesday. AFP reports. 
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HR: Italian film festival to honor Polanski

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, a fugitive from American justice, will be honored at the Turin Film Festival in November. Eric J. Lyman reports.  
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NYT | Wars Past and Present, Rockers Evergreen

Surveying a range of films including Errol Morris' "Standard Operating Procedure," Martin Scorsese's "Shine a Light," Koji Wakamatsu's "United Red Army," Peter Geyer's "Jesus Christ Savior," Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky," Hong Sang-soo's "Night and Day," Aditya Assarat's "Wonderful Town," and Madonn's "Filth and Wisdom," Dennis Lim offers a dispatch from the Berlinale in the New York Times. 
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iW NEWS | 4-Day Weekend Estimates: "Visit," "Bruges" Lead

According to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak, Eran Kolirin's "The Band's Visit" leads the 4-day President's Day weekend in per-location-average. The Sony Pictures Classics release took in $159,832 from 13 theaters, averaging $12,295 in its second weekend. Close behind was Martin McDonagh's Sundance opener, "In Bruges," which expanded to 112 screens this weekend, taking in $1,125,581. Focus Features should be pleased with the hitman comedy's average of $10,050 and $1,737,117 cume after 2 weekends. Opening this weekend was Brazil's Academy Award submission "The Year My Parents Went On Vacation." Director Cao Hamburger's City Light Pictures release managed a decent $106,508 on 18 screens for an average of $5,917. Other holdovers included Cristian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," which took in $158,400 on 33 screens, and for a $570,367 cume. And two Oscar contenders crossed milestones, as the Coen Brothers' "No Country For Old Men" hit $60 million and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" passed $30 million, with each film now the respective director(s)'s highest grossing work. indieWIRE publishes its weekly box office column on Mondays and final weekend numbers for specialty and limited release films on Tuesdays. Due to the President's Day weekend, there may be a delay this week. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt]  
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EFM NEWS | Fortissimo Makes "Sparrows" Deal

=Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights (outside of Iran) to Majid Majidi's "The Song of Sparrows," winner of the best actor award at the Berlinale. The film also recently won the best director, editing, original score and makeup prizes at the Fajr Film Festival. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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EFM NEWS | NonStop Deals for "River," "Punch"

NonStop Entertainment has acquired Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River" (in a deal with Rezo Films) and Olly Blackburn's "Donkey Punch" (in a deal with Lumina Films) for distribution in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The company also acquired in Berlin this year, Trygve Allister Diesen's "Red" (from Bleiberg Entertainment), "Seven Days" (from Wild Bunch) and John Sayles "Honeydripper" (from Rezo). [Eugene Hernandez] 
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iW NEWS | "Bourne", "Sweeney", "Sicko" Take ACE Eddies

The American Cinema Editors handed out their 58th annual ACE Eddie awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday night. In the film categories, Christopher Rouse won for his work on "The Bourne Ultimatum" in the dramatic category, Chris Lebenzon won in the comedic category for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," while Geoffrey Richman, Chris Seward and Dan Swietlik won for "Sicko" in he documentary category. One of the narrative winners usually goes on to win the Academy Award for best editing, with only one instance (in 2001, when "Gladiator" won the Eddie and "Traffic" won the Oscar) in the past decade in which this didn't occur. [Peter Knegt] 
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BBC: Iranians urge Dutch to ban film

The Iranian government has intervened to try to stop the screening of a film in the Netherlands about the Koran. Elettra Neysmith reports. 
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