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 October 31, 2008 iW NEWS | IFC Locks "Che" Plan
Tomorrow's sold out West Coast premiere of Steven Soderbergh's full-length "Che" at AFI Fest in Los Angeles paves the way for a finalized IFC Films hybrid release strategy for the two-part epic about Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The company is confirming today a December 12th date for the opening of its one week "roadshow" screenings at the Zeigfeld in NYC and the Landmark in LA. Soderbergh will be on the East Coast for opening night, while "Che" lead Benicio Del Toro will be on the West with producer Laura Bickford. The film will be projected digitally, a printed program guide will be offered to attendees, and the evening will include a 30 minute intermission between the two-hour plus segments, "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla." After the week-long NY/LA run, the film will return to those two markets on January 9, 2009 in two parts, growing to the Top 25 markets on January 16th and 22nd and expanding further from there with the two parts playing simultaneously. On January 21st both parts will be available separately, in both standard and HD, via the company's cable VOD platform, IFC In Theaters. An exclusive Blockbuster home video release will follow. "This generation's 'Lawrence of Arabia'" is how IFC Films and those involved with Soderbergh's "Che," described the epic film(s) when outlining the acquisition and release strategy back at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. More here at indieWRE [Eugene Hernandez]  [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW ROUND UP | Friday, October 31st
indieWIRE's snapshot of news and views from around the web on Halloween.
Roger's Rules of Order
Andrew Johnston: 1968 - 2008
France Sex Problem?
Halloween Round Up
Peace Arch Pair? October 30, 2008iW NEWS | Heustess Takes Outfest Reins
Todd Heustess has been officially unveiled as the new executive director at Outfest, the organization behind the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, one of the nation's largest. Heustess most recently served as director of corporate giving at the San Francisco Opera and replaces Stephen Gutwillig who resigned at the end of 2007. After a nationwide search, the Board of Directors selected Heustess and introduced him to Outfest stakeholders at last month's annual Legacy Awards, which honored Academy Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen and NBC Universal. "I am grateful to all the donors and supporters of Outfest and plan to honor their commitment by expanding the reach of our work, discovering and supporting emerging filmmakers and their visions and welcoming new stakeholders and fans to the Outfest family," commented Heustess in a statement. "I look forward to working with [programming director] Kirsten Schaffer, the Board of Directors and the entire Outfest team as we take the organization to new heights." [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Industry Moves ] iW NEWS | "Little Marriage" and "Julius Shulman" Take Top Audience Prizes at Austin Fest
Writer/director Mo Perkins' "A Quiet Little Marriage" and director Eric Bricker's doc "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman" won the top audience award nods at the 2008 Austin Film Festival. Amanda Boyle's "Pop Art" took best narrative short, while doc short went to "Road to Tlacotepec" by Berndt Mader and Flemish Beauty's "The Inquisitive Snail" won animated short. "Slumdog Millionaire" by Danny Boyle won the audience nod for best feature in the out of competition category. The 15th Austin Film Festival took place in the Texas capital October 22 - 29. [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] iW NEWS | Mandvi To Host Gothams
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" correspondent and budding filmmaker Aasif Mandvi has been announced as the host of the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on December 2nd in New York City. "We're thrilled to have Aasif hosting The 18th Annual Gotham Awards," said Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, in a statement. "He's wildly funny, and now with his upcoming debut as writer, star and producer of "7 To The Palace," he's an indie filmmaker. We couldn't think of a better person to host this year's show." IFP also announced an initial list presenters at this year's awards including Amy Adams, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Clarkson, Mira Nair, Richard Jenkins, and Melissa Leo. Additional presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Events ] iW ROUND UP | Thursday, October 30th
indieWIRE's snapshot of news and views from around the web on Thursday.
Hollywood: Recession Proof?
Katselas Dies at 75
DC Changes With Obama or McCain
First Look: "Revolutionary Road"
News, Notes: "Noah's Ark" and More
Overview: AFI Fest iW NEWS | Lightning Takes "Beckoning"
Elio Quiroga's "The Beckoning" has been acquired by Santa Monica-based sales and distribution company Lightning Entertainment. Lightning acquired all distribution rights outside of Spain to the Spanish ghost story, which stars Ana Torrent and Francisco Boira. The distribution deal was negotiated between Richard Guardian for Lightning and Margaret Nicoll for the production company. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | Regent Takes "Virgin"
The worldwide distribution rights to Russell Brown's "The Blue Tooth Virgin" ave been acquired by Regent Releasing. Regent acquired the film from The Simon LLC, and will distribute to select U.S. cities in early 2009. "Virgin," which follows two writers facing a threat to their friendship, made its premiere at the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. It was recently voted as a Top-Ten Audience Favorite at the Sao Paolo International Film Festival in Brazil. "We're thrilled to be working with Russell Brown on his second accomplished feature," said Regent's Mark Reinhart. "Regent is committed to nurturing and showcasing artistic innovation and we are honored to work with such a talented filmmaker like Russell Brown." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | Macedonian Film Fest Set For NYC
The Macedonian Film Fund in association with International Film Circuit announced that it will present the first Macedonian Film Festival in New York City, from November 20th through November 23rd at The Village East Cinema. The festival will screen Teona Strugar Mitevska's "I Am From Titov Veles" as the opening night film, while other screenings include Milcho Manchevski's "Before The Rain," Sergej Stanojkovski's "Kontakt," Ivo Trajkov's "The Great Water," Darko Mitrevski's "Bal-Can-Can," Milcho Manchevski's "Dust," Stole Popov's "Happy New Year," Kiril Cenevski's "Black Seed" and Igor Ivanov's "Upside Down." Several directors of the ten films featured in The Macedonian Film Festival will attend the public screenings of their films for Q&As. For the complete schedule of screening times, please visit this website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, New York ] iW NEWS | Celluloid To "Make Money"
Celluloid Dreams announced its acquisition of Erwin Wagenhofer's "Let's Make Money," a documentary exposing the murky world of international finance. The film is produced by Allegro Films Helmut Grasser and Celluloid will premiere the film in the upcoming American Film Market. "After the success of Erwin's previous film 'We Feed the World,' we were very much anticipating what he would come up with next, and he didn't disappoint," Celluloid's Alessandro Raja in a statement. "'Let's Make Money' is a shocking and invaluable film that should be required viewing for all. We are very excited to be bringing this to AFM especially as in this current economic climate its importance cannot be underestimated." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] October 29, 2008iW NEWS | 2nd Adrienne Shelly Gala To Honor Grant Recipients
On November 17th at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University, the 2nd Annual Adrienne Shelly Fundraising Gala will take place to celebrate both the life and work of Adrienne Shelly, and the 2007-2008 Adrienne Shelly Foundation grant recipients. The recipients were Pamela Johnson's "Stitches," Cynthia Wade's "Freeheld," Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern's "The Devil Came on Horseback," Maryam Keshevarz's "Circumstance," Enrica Perez's "Taxista," Marissa O'Guinn's "Foiled" and Eunhee Cho's "Inner Circle Line." The Adrienne Shelly Foundation was created in 2007 to support "the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors through a series of scholarships and grants, providing recipients with financial support and consultative access to the Foundation's advisory board." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors ] iW NEWS | Bleiberg To Give "Adam" Qualifying Run
Bleiberg Entertainment will release Paul Schrader's "Adam Resurrected" in New York and Los Angeles for a qualifying run in December. Starring Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe, the film is based on the novel by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. "'Adam Resurrected' has long been a passion project for Werner Wirsing and I, and it was incredibly important for us to release this film in theaters for awards consideration," said producer Ehud Bleiberg. "Paul Schrader and [screenwriter] Noah Stollman tackled a very complex story about survival and psychological healing, and Jeff Goldblum's raw performance will truly blow audiences away." "Adam" premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and will next be seen at the 2008 AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles, where it screens November 8 and 9. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Releases ] iW NEWS | "Pool," "Doormat" Lead South Asian Fest Winners
The 5th Annual South Asian Film Festival wrapped up this weekend in New York City, with the Grand Jury awarding director Chris Smith's "The Pool" the Best Narrative Feature and Christy Garland and Susan Armstrong's "Doormat" the Best Documentary Feature. "The Pool" is the story of a "room boy" working at hotel in Panjim, Goa, while "Doormat" spotlights a small corner of India where a community holds onto a vanishing way of life. Additionally, the winner of the short film competition was Dipti Gogna's "Narmeen," and Audience Choice Awards were handed out to Jaffar Mahmood's "Shades of Ray" for narrative feature and Joshua Weinstein's "Flying on One Engine" for documentary feature. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, Honors ] iW NEWS | "Hunger," "Bruges" Lead British Indie Noms
Steve McQueen's "Hunger" and Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" led the 11th British Independent Film Award nominations with seven nods apiece. Both were nominated for Best British Independent Film, alongside "Man on Wire," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Somers Town." McQueen and McDonagh both received nods for Best Debut Director, while McQueen also got a best director nod, competing against "Slumdog"'s Danny Boyle, "Somers"' Shane Meadows, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"' Mark Herman and "Son of Rambow"'s Garth Jennings. Among the acting nominees were "Hunger"'s Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham, "Bruges"' Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, and "Happy-Go-Lucky's Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman and Eddie Marsan. The awards, hosted by John Nesbitt, will take place on November 30 in London. For a full list of nominations, check out the awards' website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] iW NEWS | Maya Greenlights "Players"
Maya Entertainment, a vertically integrated, entertainment company targeting the growing U.S. Latino market, announced its plans to develop, produce, and distribute the comedy feature "Hollywood Players," written by Joaquin Perea who is also slated to direct the film. The film follows two young brothers who inadvertently videotape a suspicious transaction that accidentally gets released on the web. "Joaquin is an incredibly talented writer/director and we couldn't be more pleased to have an opportunity to collaborate with him on Maya Entertainment's first in-house production," said Sandra Avila, development executive at Maya Entertainment, in a statement. Casting is currently underway for the film's two leads with production expected to begin in February '09 and a targeted release date in the fourth quarter. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Production ] iW NEWS | "Dark Knight" Leads Hollywood Awards
The 12th Annual Hollywood Film Festival's Hollywood Awardsceremony was held Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" was chosen as "Hollywood Movie of the Year" by public voting, while previously determined honorees included Josh Brolin, Kirstin Scott Thomas, Marisa Tomei, James Franco, Sally Hawkins and Robert Pattinson for acting, Clint Eastwood and John Patrick Shanley for directing, and Shanley and Dustin Lance Black for screenwriting. The ceremony also saw the announcement of winners from the film festival's Discovery Awards competition. The winners included David Pomes' "Cook County" for best feature film and Dilip Mehta's "The Forgotten Woman" for best documentary. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Festivals, Honors ] iW ROUND UP | Wednesday, October 29th
indieWIRE's snapshot of news and views from around the web on Wednesday
Jeff Wells and Dave Poland on "Milk"
"Realism on Tap" For AFI
"Revanche" Gets Picked Up
"Beyond Them And Us" October 28, 2008INSIDE WORD | Schamus Defending "Milk" Plan
In San Francisco today for the gala premiere of Gus Van Sant's "Milk," Focus Features CEO James Schamus in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter -- criticized a trade report and subsequent blog buzz taking his company to task for its release plan for the film. During a conversation with indieWIRE late this afternoon, Schamus defended the distribution strategy and called today's gala event, "The biggest night of all of our professional lives." iW will have more on the film, the premiere and the release strategy tomorrow morning here at indieWIRE. [Eugene Hernadez] [permalink] [ filed under Biz ] iW BOT UPDATE | "Noah's Arc" Leads
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical A late reporter sneaked in to top the weekly iW BOT box office chart, which was published this afternoon. Patrik-Ian Polk's "Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom," from Logo Entertainment, grossed $151,681 on five screens. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night.[permalink] [ filed under Box Office ] iW NEWS | TFI Announces Sloan Fund Recipients
The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) has announced the selection of five film projects to receive financial and creative support from its inaugural TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Out of 130 applications submitted, the five projects chosen will receive a total of $110,000. The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund supports narrative projects that "tell compelling stories about science and technology or portray scientists, engineers and mathematicians as major characters." The selected projects are "Face Value," "The Radioactive Boy Scout," "Alva," "A Noble Affair" and "Kitty Hawk." "The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund affords us an opportunity to provide funding at a crucial time in the industry," said Jane Rosenthal, Co-Chairman of the Board, TFI, in a statement. "These are projects we would like to see brought to fruition and we are happy to be able to support them with funding and our vote of confidence." Submissions for the 2009 TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund open November 12, 2008 and will be accepted through January 9, 2009. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors ] iW ROUND UP | Tuesday, October 28th
indieWIRE's snapshot of news and views from around the web on Tuesday.
Remembering Andrew Johnson
Big Movies in Oscar Spotlight
Werc Werk Work and Tarr
New FCC Head Eyed
"Milk" Day iW NEWS | Santa Barbara To Fete Scott Thomas
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Kristin Scott Thomas with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 24th edition of the Fest, which runs January 22-February 1, 2009. "A masterful performance by a British actress in a French film and a triumphant Broadway debut in Chekhov in the same year - Kristin Scott Thomas is in a league by herself and an artistic force to be reckoned with," said SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling in a statement. The award was created "in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path - taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film." Formally known as The Independent Award, it was bestowed last year to Ryan Gosling. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] iW NEWS | Motion Picture Club Announces 2008 Honorees
The Motion Picture Club have announced their 2008 honorees. Amy Adams and Richard Jenkins will be awarded the Star of the Year honors, Rosemarie DeWitt and Luke Goss will be awarded the Stars of Tomorrow honors, and Ed Harris will be feted with the Director of the Year award. The Awards will be presented at the Club's 68th annual Installation and Awards Luncheon on November 6 at the Marriott Marquis in Los Angeles. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors ] October 27, 2008iW NEWS | Shadow Gets "Skills"
The U.S. and Canadian rights to SXSW Audience Award winner "Skills Like This" has been acquired by Shadow Distribution. The Monty Miranda directed film about a would-be writer will be released on March 20, 2009 release at New York's Angelika Film Center and will platform out to theaters across North America thereafter. "'Skills Like This' is a hilarious, original and freewheeling comedy with a real heart," said Shadow Distribution's Ken Eisen in a statement. "Working with Monty and the rest of the Skills crew has been a blast and we're looking forward to the film's release. We look forward to bringing this terrific film to the wide audience it deserves." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions ] iW NEWS | "Horse" Put To Werk
Newly formed indie production and finance shingle Werc Werk Works has announced that it is financing and co-producing Bela Tarr's latest film, "The Turin Horse" with Hungarian production outfit T.T. Filmmuehely, French production company Movie Partners in Motion FILM, Swiss production company Vega Film AG and German outfit Zero Fiction Film. The announcement was made by Werc Werk Works CEO Elizabeth Redleaf. "It is a huge privilege to be working with Bela Tarr given his powerful and important influence on filmmakers around the world," said Redleaf in a statement. "We were drawn to the intellectual aspects of 'The Turin Horse' from the first presentation and felt compelled to support this great director in realizing his latest film, which may well be his final contribution to the world of cinema." The film is scheduled to begin principal photography in November in Hungary. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Production ] iW NEWS | AFI Announces European Union Film Showcase
AFI unveiled the complete lineup for the 2008 edition of its AFI European Union Film Showcase, to run November 6-25, 2008 at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Thirty-four films from 24 different EU countries, including 11 official Oscar selections for 2009 are among the selections. The fest will open with "I've Loved You So Long," will include Centerpiece screenings of "A Christmas Tale," "Gomorrah" and "The Baader Meinhof Complex," and close with "Eldorado." Other announced film include Oscar selections "I Was Here" (Estonia), "The Home of Dark Butterflies" (Finland), "Correction" (Greece), "Defenders of Riga" (Latvia), "Loss" (Lithuania), "Arabian Nights" (Luxembourg), "Dunya & Desie" (Netherlands) and "Rooster's Breakfast" (Slovenia). For a complete list of films, visit the festival's website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, World Cinema ] iW NEWS | "Hunger" Leads Chicago Fest Winners
The 44th Chicago International Film Festival announced the winners of this year's competition, with Steve McQueen's "Hunger" winning the Gold Hugo for Best Film. "For its' outstanding visual and dramatic strength, telling an uncompromisingly disturbing story of the courage to fight for one's belief," the jury said in regard to "Hunger." Other winners included Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Tokyo Sonata," which won the Silver Hugo Grand Jury Prize, Henrik Ruben Genz won the Silver Hugo for Direction for "Terribly Happy," "Hunger"'s Michael Fassbender and "Heaven on Earth"'s Preity Zinta won the acting awards, and Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, and Roberto Saviano shared the screenplay award for "Gomorrah." For a full list of winners, visit the festival's website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] iW NEWS | SXSW Sets Haynes, Linklater For 2009 Events
The South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival (SXSW) has announced the first round of confirmed speakers for the 2009 event. The event will feature Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater in conversation together, as well as a rare appearance by Col Needham, Founder and Vice President of IMDb Service Limited to discuss the nature of information in the entertainment industry. Longtime Stanley Kubrick producer Jan Harlan will also speak regarding his filmmaking experience. "I couldn't be more pleased with this first round of speaker announcements, "said Janet Pierson, Producer of SXSW, in a statement. "These are vital innovators, and true ambassadors for the spirit of SXSW. In these turbulent times we feel this is more important than ever as we head further and faster into unknown territory." The festival runs March 13-21, 2009, in Austin, Texas. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Festivals ] iW ROUND UP | Monday, October 27th
indieWIRE's snapshot of news and views from around the web on Tuesday.
Analyzing "Elephant"
"Tulpan" Tops in Tokyo
Filmmaker: Fall '08
Carr: Campaign Wrapping
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