The Week in Fests | Paris, Karlovy, and Brussels

The latest from the festival scene this week. A link exchange by Variety.com and indieWIRE.

PARIS FALLS FOR 'YOUNG@HEART'
Philippines' 'Tribe' carries away Future Prize

GLOVER URGES SOCIALLY RELEVANT FILMS
Actor speaks out at Karlovy Vary festival

BRUSSELS MAKES 'INVOLUNTARY' CHOICE
Swedish film wins top prize at festival

More at Variety's Festival Central 
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Guardian: Vanity's fair, life's not

If you look back and count, Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue cover stars have 83 Oscar nominations and 23 Oscars to their names. Ellen E Jones reports on the "curse" of the Hollywood issue. 
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Reuters: Oscar buzz mounts for late Heath Ledger

Actor Heath Ledger won rave reviews from Australian critics on Friday for his final performance as the Joker in the new Batman movie, fuelling speculation of a rare posthumous Oscar. Belinda Goldsmith reports. 
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AP: Hollywood producers say SAG rejects contract offer

Unable for weeks to agree on terms for a new contract, Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild have now found themselves unable to agree on whether negotiations will continue. Ryan Nakashima reports. 
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iW NEWS | Shaye and Lynne Form Unique Features

Former New Line Cinema chiefs Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne are forming Unique Features, a new independent company that plans to produce two to three titles a year, the pair announced Thursday. The company plans to develop and produce projects in what it describes as "a wide range of genres and budgets" and Warner Bros., which has a three-year first-look agreement with Unique, will handle domestic and international marketing and distribution for films contained within the terms of the first-look agreement. The new company will maintain offices in Los Angeles and New York. Longtime New Line production exec Mark Kaufman will join Shaye and Lynne at Unique along with Jonna Smith, Alexandra Loewy, Leah Holzer and Christina Delgado. At New Line, Kaufman had production responsibilities for the films "Hairspray," "Secondhand Lions," and "Take the Lead" as well as the upcoming "17 Again," "4 Christmases," and "My Sister's Keeper." He also oversaw the original Broadway production of "Hairspray." Shaye and Lynne left their positions at New Line earlier this year after parent Time Warner absorbed the company's operations into its Warner unit. [Brian Brooks] 
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iW NEWS | TIFF Announces Titles For Four Programs

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced additions to its Galas, Special Presentations, Masters and Contemporary World Cinema programs. Gina-Prince Blythewood's "Secret Life of Bees" and Saul Dibb's "The Duchess," starring Keira Knightley, will both be Gala Presentations. Special presentations include the world premieres of James Stern and Adam Del Deo's doc "Every Little Step," David Keopp's "Ghost Town" and Larry Charles' "Religulous," and the North American premieres of Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of Time Redux," Guy Ritchie's "RockNRolla," and Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky." The Masters program will see Jan Troell's "Everlasting Moments" and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Tokyo Sonata," while the Contemporary World CInema program will now include Kristian Levring's "Fear Me Not," Iannis Smaragdis's "El Greco," Francois A. Velle's "The Narrows," Yesim Ustaoglu's "Pandora's Box," Hans Steinbichler's "My Mother, My Bride and I," Baltasar Kormakur's "White Night Wedding," Malgosia Szumowska's "33 Scenes From Life," Bohdan Slama's "The Country Teacher," Kornel Mundruczo's "Delta," Yin Linchuan's "Knitting," and Haile Gerima's "Teza." The Festival runs September 4-13, 2008. [Peter Knegt] 
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LAT: Oscars unveil changes to board of governors

Eight incumbents have been reelected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' board of governors, along with six other filmmakers who will return to the board after a time away. The sole first-time governor elected is Annette Bening, representing the actors branch. All will serve three-year terms. LA Times reports. 
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HR: Tarantino going into battle with next film

Quentin Tarantino will start shooting his next film, the World War II action tale "Inglorious Bastards," in October, with hopes of having it ready in time for the Cannes Film Festival next May. Gregg Kilday reports. 
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AP: Actors union ratifies deal with Hollywood studios

The labor drama gripping Hollywood is now entering its final act after one actors group said its members ratified a new deal and the other prepared to turn down the major studios' final offer. Ryan Nakashima reports. 
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iW BOT UPDATE | "Wackness" At The Top

Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical

Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness" from Sony Pictures Classics is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published this afternoon. The film earned $172,179 on 6 screens over the four-day weekend, for a $28,697 average. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night.  
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NYT: Cannes Success Gives Italian Cinema a Boost

When two Italian films won the top runner-up prizes at the Cannes Film Festival in May, the reaction at home was akin to that usually reserved for victorious national soccer teams. Elisabetta Povoledo reports. 
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iW NEWS | Zina Ends Tenure At Coolidge Corner

After a 10-year stint as the Executive Director of the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation, it has ben announced that Joe Zina will be stepping down from his position at the end of the year. Zina, who was previously on the Board of Directors at the theater and took the position of Executive Director in 1998, will be moving on to "pursue personal artistic projects including consulting with community cultural centers on dance and film." "It has been an extreme honor to be a part of building on the history and reputation of the Coolidge Corner Theatre," said Zina in a statement. "I look forward to continued artistic involvement. After an immensely rewarding period for me personally, it is time to pass the opportunity on to the next leader." [Peter Knegt] 
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iW NEWS | Screen Media Heads To "Lake City"

Screen Media Films announced that they have acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Hunter Hill and Perry Moore's directorial debuts, "Lake City." The film, which stars Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, Rebecca Romijn and Dave Matthews, had its world premiere earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is a Southern drama about a mother (Spacek) and son (Garity) who reunite years after a family tragedy drove them apart. Robert Baruc, President of Screen Media Films and David Fannon, Executive Vice President of Screen Media Ventures negotiated on behalf of Screen Media Films. Sixty-Six Productions, which produced "City," was represented in the deal by Andrew Herwitz at The Film Sales Company. [Peter Knegt] 
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iW NEWS | Oscilloscope Gets "Frontrunners"

Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms.

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's Oscilloscope Pictures has announced a worldwide rights deal for Caroline Suh's documentary "Frontrunners." The SXSW Film Festival premiere follows a New York City high school campaign for student council president and will debut on October 15th at Manhattan's Film Forum, followed by a national theatrical release and a DVD debut next year. "Caroline did an amazing job of documenting the insanity of a political race, while capturing the endearing human quality of these quirky school candidates," Yauch said in statement. "I loved seeing the dynamics of a fully functioning political system within the microcosm of Stuyvesant High School. From when I first saw it at South By Southwest Film Festival I was taken by its 'Rushmore' meets 'Spellbound' meets 'Election' quality." indieWIRE interviewed filmmaker Caroline Suh during SXSW in March. [Eugene Hernandez]  
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iW NEWS | Gotham Awards Move To Wall Street

IFP announced that the 18th Annual Gotham Awards will move to its new home, Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Gotham Awards honor "independently-distributed American feature films made with an economy of means." Past winners include "Junebug," "Half Nelson" and "Juno." "New York is the home of independent film, so it's exciting to bring the Gotham Awards to a classic New York venue like Cipriani Wall Street," said Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, in a statement. "It will provide a spectacular setting for celebrating the best in independent film." [Peter Knegt] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Industry Moves ]

iW NEWS | "Man on Wire," "Blood Trail" Among BritDoc Lineup

BritDoc 08, which runs July 23-25, 2008 at Keble College in Oxford, announced their line-up up of 17 feature-length documentaries and shorts. The list includes James Marsh's "Man on Wire," Richard Parry's "Blood Trail," Brian Woods' "Chosen," Nicola Collins' "The End," Stephen Walker's "Young@Heart," and John Dower's "Thriller in Manila." For the first time, the festival is introducing "Best of the Fests," a showcase of hand-picked docs by programmers from the major international festivals, including Sundance, Toronto and Berlin. And will also showcase twin themes of comedy and music, which includes a work-in-progress look at "The Yes Men Fix the World," and a screening of one of the first documentaries every made,Robert Flaherty's silent film about an Inuit family, "Nanook of the North," whic will be accompanied by The Shrine Synchrosystem featuring Max Reinhardt, DJ Rita Ray, Tunde Jegede and Ben Mandelson. For more information, check out the festival's website. [Peter Knegt] 
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PARK CITY '09 | Sundance Fest: Early Deadline, August 8th

The early submission deadline for all films for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival is August 18th, while the final deadline is September 5th for shorts and September 8th features. Festival organizers are reporting no significant changes in eligibility requirements for the festival, but additional details are available in the 2009 Submissions FAQ. 
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iW NEWS | Weekend Estimates: "Wackness" Wows, "Kit" Crashes

Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness" led the specialty-focused iW BOT over the holiday weekend, according to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak this afternoon. In six venues, the Sony Pictures Classics release took in $145,000 over the 3-day weekend and $179,000 since opening on Thursday, for a weekend average of $24,166, the highest among any film, wide or limited. Also opening very well was Guillaume Canet's "Tell No One," which grossed $162,125 on 8 screens over the weekend, for a 5-day total of $213,098. Its weekend average of $20,265 is the highest ever for Music Box Films. Alex Gibney's "Gonzo" grossed $190,000 on 26 screens over the weekend for Magnolia Pictures, averaging a decent $7,307, whileTerry Kinney's "Diminished Capacity," which averaged just $3,118 on 4 screens for IFC Films. Among holdovers, Patricia Rozema's "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" crashed and burned in wide release. Leading the iW BOT for two weekends in limited release, the Abigail Breslin-starrer averaged just $1,953 on 1,843 screens. Faring much better was Catherine Breillat's "The Last Mistress," which expanded from 2 to 19 screens and managed a $6,563 average for IFC. The film's total now stands at $173,358. indieWIRE will publish its weekly box office column Monday night and final weekend numbers for specialty and limited release films on Tuesday. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]