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 September 13, 2008 iW NEWS | "Slumdog" Wins in Toronto
Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" won the People's Choice Award this afternoon as the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival approaches its conclusion in Canada. The festival's Discovery Award went to Steve McQueen for his first feature, "Hunger," winner of the Camera d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The FIPRESCI critics prize went to Derick Martini's "Lymelife," also in the Discovery section at TIFF. An accompanying story and a full list of winners can be found here.  [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, Toronto ] VAR | 'Silence' is golden for Romania
Nae Caranfil's "The Rest Is Silence," which debuted at last year's Locarco fest and screened this month at the Telluride Film Festival, has been tapped to represent Romania in the foreign language category at the upcoming Academy Awards, Variety reported this week. indieWIRE covered the film at the recent Telluride fest. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 12, 2008iW NEWS | IFC Braves "Fear Me Not"
IFC Films has picked up North American rights to Kristian Levring's Danish Drama "Fear Me Not." The distributor plans a 2009 roll out. [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] September 11, 2008TORONTO '08 | Day Eight Roundup
indieWIRE offers a select take of Toronto 2008 news around the world.
Amid Slump in Film Market, Toronto Film Festival Energizes Industry
Toronto film festival lacking Oscar sheen
An incident at Toronto
Get the latest from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in indieWIRE's special section. iW NEWS | Bahamas Fest Eyes "Rain" Opener
Maria Govan's drama "Rain" will open the 2008 Bahamas International Film Festival, taking place December 4 - 11 near the island nation's capital. Currently screening as a world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival's Discovery section, "Rain" centers on a Bahamian adolescent who boards a mail boat and sets sail for Nassau determined to reconcile with the mother who abandoned her when she was just a toddler. A native of the Bahamas, Govan participated in BIFF's Filmmaker Residency Program back in 2005. [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] September 10, 2008iW NEWS | Magnolia Takes "Tired Black Man" Worldwide
Worldwide rights to "Diary of a Tired Black Man" from Tim Alexander has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures, the company announced Wednesday. Magnolia will screen the film at this weekend's Urbanworld Film Festival in New York and plans a release in 2009. The film is described as a " series of vignettes exploring the complex relationships between black men and women, the film follows the love life of a successful black man as he attempts to navigate stereotypes, resentment and anger harbored by black women towards the men in their community." [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | Participant and Imagenation Form $250M Five Year Feature Deal
Los Angeles-based entertainment company Participant Media has partnered with imagenation abu dhabi to create a $250 million fund that will finance 15 - 18 narrative features over five years, Jim Berk, CEO of Participant and Edward Brogerding, CEO of Abu Dhabi Comany and imagenation announced Wednesday. Participant will take the leaad in developing the films as well as overseeing produciton and negotiating distribution worldwide. “Since its founding, Participant has partnered with outside co-financiers on most of our films, and our long term strategy has been to find a partner we can align with over multiple films during the next five years to both accelerate our expansion and increase our efficiency," commented Berk in a statement. "This fund with imagenation abu dhabi will increase our capacity to make narrative films that not only entertain but also raise awareness of issues and inspire social change." imagenation abu dhabi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media Company, created to "develop, finance and produce content for both the global and Arabic language markets." Participant focuses on "socially relevant, commercially viable" feature films, documentaries and television, as well as publishing and digital media. [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW NEWS | Magnolia Sets YouTube Premiere for Wayne Wang's "Nebraska"
Magnolia Pictures has announced that Wayne Wang's "The Princess of Nebraska will make its world premiere on YouTube next month (on Friday, October 17, 2008). The free release on YouTube's recently launched YouTube Screening Room, a channel dedicated to premium film content, is part of a larger distribution plan, which will launch with Magnolia Pictures' theatrical release on Friday, September 19 of Wang's companion film "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers." Magnolia, Cinetic Rights Management and YouTube worked together to plan the parallel distribution strategy. "The internet's ability to provide free streaming video is going to radically redefine independent film's access and availability to its audience," said Magnolia Pictures' Ray Price in a statement. "It provides a new platform, which can free us from the 'Top Ten' mentality in the same way that FM radio did for the music business." indieWIRE reported on the strategy in a recent article. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Biz, Releases ] iW NEWS | Gothams To Honor Van Sant
IFP announced today that director Gus Van Sant will be presented with a Gotham Awards Tribute at the 18th Annual Gotham Awards on Tuesday, December 2nd in New York. This year, Van Sant has directed the highly anticipated film "Milk," about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to major public office in the United States. The film will be released by Focus Features in select cities on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 and then expand in December. In recognition of Van Sant's "fearlessness in using film to explore LGBT issues," IFP also announced a new initiative aimed at "inspiring the next generation of LGBT filmmakers." IFP is teaming with the The Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk High School in New York City. IFP is donating 45 video cameras to the school. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors ] iW NEWS | "Che" Goes to IFC Films
North American rights to Steven Soderbergh's epic "Che" has been acquired by IFC Films. This follows consistent rumors here in Toronto that the film was imminently destined for Magnolia Pictures. "Che" will be released for a one week awards qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles in December, and IFC will then re-open the film in January through IFC In Theaters, its day-and-date distribution platform. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival where Benicio Del Toro won the Best Actor Prize. It is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be screening next at the upcoming New York Film Festival. IFC president Jonathan Sehring, V.P. of acquisitions and production Arianna Bocco and senior counsel Betsy Rodgers negotiated the deal with Wild Bunch's Vincent Maraval, Agnes Mentre, Laurent Baudens and Pierre Selinger. "Che" is told in two stand alone parts with the first part concentrating on the Cuban revolution and the second part focusing on the revolutionary's failed uprising in Bolivia in the '60s. "Steven's been involved with IFC as a member of the advisory board of both the IFC Network and the IFC Center since we formed them," commented Sehring in a statement. "'Che' is nothing less than the film event of the year. By giving us the rise and fall of one of the great icons of history, Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro, who gives an incredible soulful performance, have humanized him and given audiences around the world something that will be discussed for years to come." [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ] iW NEWS | Summit Takes "Hurt Locker"
Summit Entertainment has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." A special presentation film at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, the well-received film is inspired by first-hand observation by journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal who was stationed on assignment with a special bomb unit. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Fiennes. The film is financed and produced by Nicolas Chartier via his Voltage Pictures banner and produced by Bigelow and Boal via their First Light banner as well as Greg Shapiro via his Kingsgate Films banner. "'The Hurt Locker' is one of the most exciting and well-received films of the festival," said Summit Co-Chairman and CEO, Rob Friedman in a statement. "It is wonderful to be working with Kathryn Bigelow and all of the filmmaking team to bring this film to the U.S. audience."Summit plans to release the film in 2009. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] TORONTO '08 | Day Seven Roundup
indieWIRE offers a select take of Toronto 2008 news around the world.
Southbound
All The King's Men
Whirlwind Ride for "The Wrestler"
Buzz Builders
Bad "Bloom"
Get the latest from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in indieWIRE's special section. iW NEWS | London Film Festival Announces Programme
The programme for The 52nd Times BFI London Film Festival, was announced today, and includes a record number of world and international premieres with a total of 189 features and 108 shorts screening alongside special events. The world premiere of Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon" and Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" were previously announced as the fest's Opening and Closing Galas. The new additions include Oliver Stone's "W.," Ari Folman's "Waltz The Bashir," Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married," Kim Jee-Woon's "The Good, The Bad, The Weird," Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's "Sugar," Steven Soderbergh's "Che," Kelly Reichardt's "Wendy and Lucy," Agnes Varda's "The Beaches of Agnes," Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom," Laurent Cantet's "The Class," Michael Winterbottom's "Genova," and Steve McQueen's "Hunger." Panel events include "Indiewood is Dead... Love Live The New, True Indies," which will discuss the future of the US Indie scene. Other special events include Peter Morgan and Charlie Kaufman's participation in Masterclasses. "We are delighted to be able to present such a diverse and high quality programme of films and events, with an unprecedented number of world, international and European premieres," said the Festival's Artistic Director in a statement. "We are excited that London in October will play host to world renowned directors, writers and actors, as well as to some of the most important new voices in international cinema." The festival runs October 15-30, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] iW NEWS | Dench, Dogma Founders To Be Honored by EFA
The 21st European Film Awards, organized by the European Film Academy, will present honorary awards to Dame Judi Dench and Dogma founders Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, Kristian Levring, Lars von Trier, and Thomas Vinterberg. The awards will be presented at the awards ceremony, December 6, 2008, in Copenhagen. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors ] September 9, 2008iW NEWS | Fortissimo Deals With Maximum
Fortissimo Films and Canadian distributor Maximum Films have announced a six picture deal. Comprised of films screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, the deal includes "$9.99," "Laila's Birthday," "Country Wedding," "Serbis," "Native Dancer," and "Tokyo Sonata." "We are very happy to represent these wonderful films and talented film makers to film lovers across Canada," Maximum's Managing Director Bryan Gliserman. The deal follows on from an output deal agree upon at last year's Toronto Film Festival in which Fortissimo would represent Maximum's Films in Asia and Maximum would distribute Fortissimo product in Canada. It was brokered between Fortissimo Co-Chairman Michael J. Werner and Senior Vice President Sales & Acquisitions Winnie Lau and Maximum's Gliserman. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | "The Class" To Close Festival du Nouveau Cinema
Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or winning "The Class" will close the 37th Festival du Nouveau Cinema on Saturday, October 18 in Montreal. The festival awarded Cantet its 2001 Louve d'Or for "L'Emploi du Temps." Also announced was the addition of two Special Presentations, Jacques Doillion's "Just Anybody," Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married." The complete program for the 37th Festival du Nouveau Cinema will be announced at a news conference on September 23, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] TORONTO '08 | Day Six Roundup
indieWIRE offers a select take of Toronto 2008 news around the world.
Searchlight Back in Awards Season
Variety Not a Fan of "Other Man"
Producers Settle With IRA Informant
Viggo Apologizes To Canada
Get the latest from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in indieWIRE's special section.
September 8, 2008iW NEWS UPDATE | Distributors United For "Were The World Mine"
Wolfe Releasing, Logo and PS Classics have partnered in the acquisition of Tom Gustafson's "Were The World Mine." Distribution of the film is to be divided up with Wolfe handling DVD release and all digital rights that are extensions of home entertainment. Logo will have broadcast rights along with Internet and broadband rights for the channel and its networks. "From the beginning, this film has been a labor of love for my partner Cory Krueckeberg and myself," said Gustafson in a statement. "As the market shifted, we realized that not only did we need to provide a quick and complete return to our investors, but we needed to retain more control over the future of the film by dividing up the distribution in this unique way." Written by Gustafson and Cory Krueckeberg, "Mine" has played at dozens of festivals, and won 13 awards. Set against the backdrop of a high school production of "A Mid Summer Night's Dream", "Mine" follows a young man who finds the magic ability to turn people gays. The film's soundtrack will be released by label PS Classics and distributed worldwide by Image Entertainment. The film will also independently distributed theatrically. indieWIRE profiled the film earlier this year. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Queer Cinema ] iW BOT | "Secret," "Pool," "Save Me" Top List
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical Claude Miller's "A Secret" led the iWBOT this weekend, which is based on per-theater averages reported by Rentrak Theatrical. Released by Strand Releasing, "Secret" grossed $37,135 on 3 screens for a $12,378 average. A trio of other newcomers followed with Chris Smith's "The Pool" grossing $7,736 on 1 screen for Vitagraph, Robert Cary's "Save Me" grossed $6,992 on 1 screen for First Run, and David Mackenzie's "Mister Foe" grossed $13,490 on 2 screens for a $6,745 average. Among holdovers, First Run's "A Jihad For Love" rounded out the iWBOT top five in its 16th weekend of release. The doc averaged $4,748 on 2 screens and its total now stands $95,700. Another doc, Zeitgeist's "Trouble The Water," also held up well. In its third week, the film grossed $41,900 on 9 screens for a $4,136 average and a $146,384 total. Other reporting openers, Jessica Yu's "Ping Pong Playa" opened mildly for IFC Films. On 9 screens, the film grossed $30,797 for a $3,422 average. The complete indieWIRE BOT will be available Tuesday at indieWIRE.com. Our regular weekly box office column will return next week. [Peter Knegt][permalink] [ filed under Box Office ] iW NEWS | "Everlasting Moments" For IFC
IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to Jan Troell's "Everlasting Moments," which is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and had a warm response at the Telluride Film Festival. IFC Films will release "Moments" next year through IFC in Theaters, its day and date distribution platform which makes independent films available to a national audience in theaters and on-demand, simultaneously. It will also be part of the company's exclusive deal with Blockbuster Video. "One of the great events at Telluride was the tribute to Jan Troell," said Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment, in a statement. "We watched audiences fall in love with 'Everlasting Moments' there and again here in Toronto. It's a sublime, moving, perfectly observed film that we are proud to be a part of and bring to the widest possible audience." Arianna Bocco, Vice President of Production and Acquisitions for IFC Films negotiated the deal with Susan Wendt, Head of Sales, Trust Nordisk. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | Searchlight Sets '08 Date for "The Wrestler"
Fox Searchight will go with a December release date for Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," which the studio speciality division acquired earlier today. Written by Robert Siegel, the film was produced by Scott Franklin and Aronofsky thru Protozoa Pictures. Searchlight's Tony Safford and Megan O'Brien brokered the deal with CAA. Get the latest here at indieWIRE on the Searchlight Deal and read iW's critics notebook. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ] iW NEWS | "Medicine" To Kick Off Independent Film Week
IFP, the nation's largest membership organization of independent filmmakers, announced that it would kick off its 30th Annual Independent Film Week with the New York premiere of Barry Jenkins' acclaimed festival hit, "Medicine For Melancholy" on Monday, September 15th. "Medicine" premiered at SXSW and is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Independent Film Week runs from September 14-19, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] TORONTO '08 | Day Five Roundup
indieWIRE offers a select take of Toronto 2008 news around the world.
TIFFG CEO Is Not Too Happy...
TIFF Goers Turn a Blind Eye to 'Blindness'
Who Does TIFF Cater To?
Hathaway Loves the Abuse
Gift This
Get the latest from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in indieWIRE's special section. iW NEWS | Finneran Joining Sundance Doc Program
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. Silverdocs festival director Patricia Finneran is leaving the festival and heading to New York City to join the Sundance Institute as the organization's new senior consultant for the Documentary Film Program. She will rep the program internationally and work on the Institute's Sundance Doc Fund and the Skoll Foundation's Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary. Finneran told indieWIRE today that she will start at Sundance in November and plans to build a new business aimed at developing and distributing, "media that promotes social engagement, with an emphasis on partnering with both non-profits and corporate marketing campaigns to reach audiences across multiple platforms." More details should be announced soon. She is replacing Bruni Burres, long-time Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, who will be moving to a full time position as at the International Center for Transitional Justice. Finneran, who joined Silverdocs in 2003, previously served as artistic director for the IFP Market. [Eugene Hernandez][permalink] [ filed under Documentary, Industry Moves ] iW NEWS | Searchlight Gets "The Wrestler"
Fox Seachlight made a swift deal for Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" here at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to an individual close to the deal, nabbing the film after sleepless negotiations that concluded late this morning in Canada. On stage at the Elgin Theater last night for the North American premiere, Aronofsky thanked film financier Wild Bunch and, with an array of buyers in the crowded theater, teased that that he had no one to thank locally since there is "no North American distributor to thank...too bad!" The film gained momentum in recent days at the Venice Film Festival, after generating rave reviews for Mickey Rourke's performance and winning the Golden Lion on Saturday at the festival. "You're in for a treat," Toronto International Film Festival co-director Cameron Bailey told the full house crowd prior to Sunday's showing. "You'll be hearing and talking about this film for a long time." "The Wrestler" will close the New York Film Festival next month. Anthony Kaufman writes about the film in today's notebook from the festival. [Eugene Hernandez (Jenny Sung contributed to this report)] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ] September 7, 2008Recent On The Scene indieWIRE coverage:
The latest from iW: VENICE: "The Wrestler," "Un Lac," and "Stella" Stand Out | "The Wrestler" Leads Winners | National Cinemas | Confounding Competition | The Fest and the Coens TORONTO: "Last Stop," "Power," "Deadgirl" Deliver | Intimate Moments with Denis, Kore-eda and Kim | Fest Kicks Off | An IndieWIRE Toronto Guide iW NEWS | Celluloid Dreams Gets "Soul"
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. Celluloid Dreams has snapped up all international rights Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's documentary "Soul Power." Submarine Entertainment is repping the film and negotiated the deal with Celluloid at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film documents the 12-hour, three-night long concert held in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 that featured BB King and James Brown, among others. "We are delighted to represent this crowd pleasing document of an extraordinary moment in musical history," said Celluloid Dreams' Hengameh Panahi in a statement. Celluloid noted that they already has offers in major territories and is expecting to close deals later this week. [Peter Knegt][permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Documentary, Toronto ] iW NEWS | Maximum Takes Fortissimo's "Disgrace"
Fortissimo Films announced the sale of the Steve Jacobs' "Disgrace" to Canadian distributor Maximum Film Distribution. The John Malkovich-starrer, based on a J.M. Coetzee novel, had its World Premiere in Toronto Saturday night. The deal is for all rights within Canada and was brokered between Fortissimo's Co-Chairman Michael J. Werner, attorney Andrew Hurwitz and Maximum's Bryan Gliserman and Richard Rapkowski. "We are thrilled that our friends at Maximum Films immediately recognized the passion and the power of this incredible adaptation of this award winning work of literature," said Werner in a statement. "The film couldn't be in better hands in Canada." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] TORONTO '08 | Day Four Roundup
indieWIRE offers a select take of Toronto 2008 news around the world.
Buyers "Mixed" in Toronto
"St. Anna" No Miracle
TIFF's "First Real Surprise"
Contender's For TIFF's Buzz Film
"Burn" Off Some Steam
Parties and Film Festivals Always Go Hand in Hand
Get the latest from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in indieWIRE's special section. iW NEWS | Weekend Estimates: "Django" Leads Again
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical According to indieWIRE Box Office Tracking (iW BOT) estimates from Rentrak this afternoon, First Look's "Sukiyaki Western Django" led the reporting specialty films for the second weekend in a row. Directed by Takashi Miike, the film $5,094 on one screen, for the highest per-theatre average in a very weak weekend on both studio and specialty fronts. Two Sony Pictures Classics titles were next, "I Served The King of England," which grossed $72,109 on 17 screens for a $4,242 average in its second weekend, and Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River," which grossed $314,795 on 91 screens for an impressive sixth weekend average of $3,459. The weekend's sole reporting opener, Roadside Attractions' "Everybody Wants To Be Italian," grossed a weak $217,770 on 98 screens, averaging just $2,222. But that's certainly better than the second wide weekend for Focus Features' "Hamlet 2." It grossed just $819,409 from 1575 screens. Its $520 average was the third lowest of any film reporting, studio or specialty. indieWIRE will publish four-day estimates Monday and its weekly box office column Tuesday night. Get the latest in the indieWIRE Box Office section. [Peter Knegt][permalink] [ filed under Box Office ] iW NEWS | Visit Films Licenses Five To Australia
Visit Films has concluded a number of deals in the opening days of the Toronto International Film Festival. Beyond Entertainment in Australia has licensed five titles including "Hannah Takes The Stairs," "LOL," and "Kissing on The Mouth" from director Joe Swanberg and "Dance Party USA" and "Quiet City" from director Aaron Katz. "With deals like this, it is clear that the themes of these films resonate with an international audience and that the filmmakers are beginning to break through en masse," said Visit Films partner Ryan Kampe in a statement. "Joe and Aaron along with the Duplass brothers are some of the pioneers and most creative filmmakers in the current age of digital filmmaking." The deal was negotiated between Kampe and Simone Ubaldi of Beyond. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ] iW NEWS | Bavaria Announces Sale of "Krabat"
Bavaria Film International's Head of Sales, Stefanie Zeitler, announced first sale executions already ahead of the first public screening of Marco Kreuzpaintner's "Krabat." The film, based on Otfried Preussler's novel has been picked up by Film Depot for Russia. Further strong sales interest is reported from Spain, France, Italy and numerous eastern european countries as well as from Japan and USA. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ]
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