The film and TV industry in Romania is close to realizing a long-held dream to see the country introduce a production incentive to match those in rival locations like Hungary and the Czech Republic, which have attracted scores of international shoots while Romania has been left virtually empty-handed.
After years of lobbying, local producers’ sense of frustration has been exacerbated in recent years by a string of announcements from the Romanian Ministry of Culture claiming that the introduction of the sweeteners was imminent. This time around, with a draft proposal circulating, the prime minister openly urging passage and the U.S. embassy said to be strongly backing, industry-ites seem convinced it’s happening.
“We are expecting it,” says Alex Traila of the Romanian Film Center, the country’s major film support body, noting that a petition signed by 4,000 working film professionals has added new urgency. What’s more, lawmakers approved...
After years of lobbying, local producers’ sense of frustration has been exacerbated in recent years by a string of announcements from the Romanian Ministry of Culture claiming that the introduction of the sweeteners was imminent. This time around, with a draft proposal circulating, the prime minister openly urging passage and the U.S. embassy said to be strongly backing, industry-ites seem convinced it’s happening.
“We are expecting it,” says Alex Traila of the Romanian Film Center, the country’s major film support body, noting that a petition signed by 4,000 working film professionals has added new urgency. What’s more, lawmakers approved...
- 6/2/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Bucharest Film Studios, formerly known as Media Pro Studios, filed for bankruptcy after less than two years of operation under new management, the local online news magazine Paginedemedia.ro has reported.
According to the report, the studio complex, located just outside the Romanian capital, filed for bankruptcy after failure to pay outstanding debts to creditors and wage arrears to its employees.
Back in 2015, a group of investors, including producers Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner, Romanian and American, respectively, acquired the studios from its previous owner, Central European Media Enterprises (Cme). Paunescu also owns 50 percent of the Romanian TV network...
According to the report, the studio complex, located just outside the Romanian capital, filed for bankruptcy after failure to pay outstanding debts to creditors and wage arrears to its employees.
Back in 2015, a group of investors, including producers Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner, Romanian and American, respectively, acquired the studios from its previous owner, Central European Media Enterprises (Cme). Paunescu also owns 50 percent of the Romanian TV network...
- 4/6/2018
- by Vladimir Kozlov
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bucharest Film Studios, formerly known as Media Pro Studios, filed for bankruptcy after less than two years of operation under new management, the local online news magazine Paginedemedia.ro has reported.
According to the report, the studio complex, located just outside the Romanian capital, filed for bankruptcy after failure to pay outstanding debts to creditors and wage arrears to its employees.
Back in 2015, a group of investors, including producers Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner, Romanian and American, respectively, acquired the studios from its previous owner, Central European Media Enterprises (Cme). Paunescu also owns 50 percent of the Romanian TV ...
According to the report, the studio complex, located just outside the Romanian capital, filed for bankruptcy after failure to pay outstanding debts to creditors and wage arrears to its employees.
Back in 2015, a group of investors, including producers Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner, Romanian and American, respectively, acquired the studios from its previous owner, Central European Media Enterprises (Cme). Paunescu also owns 50 percent of the Romanian TV ...
Directors including Cristian Mungiu and Terry Gilliam have voiced support for the expanding studio.
As competition heats up to attract international production to eastern Europe, the Romanians are are on a major drive to trump their rivals.
This weekend in Cannes, it was announced that the Bucharest Film Studios, formally known as ‘Media Pro’, is under new ownership and is to be expanded. This is happening just as Romania prepares to introduce a new tax incentive.
Bucharest Film Studios’ new owners are Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner.
The revitalisation of the studios has been welcomed by leading filmmakers in the country and abroad.
Filmmaker Cristian Mungiu commented: “The re-launch of Bucharest Studios combined with the new cinema law can ensure the whole industry will benefit from lower production costs while keeping highly skilled crews.”
Terry Gilliam, who has worked in Romania, described the local crews as being among “the best in the world.”
The next tax...
As competition heats up to attract international production to eastern Europe, the Romanians are are on a major drive to trump their rivals.
This weekend in Cannes, it was announced that the Bucharest Film Studios, formally known as ‘Media Pro’, is under new ownership and is to be expanded. This is happening just as Romania prepares to introduce a new tax incentive.
Bucharest Film Studios’ new owners are Bobby Paunescu and Donald Kushner.
The revitalisation of the studios has been welcomed by leading filmmakers in the country and abroad.
Filmmaker Cristian Mungiu commented: “The re-launch of Bucharest Studios combined with the new cinema law can ensure the whole industry will benefit from lower production costs while keeping highly skilled crews.”
Terry Gilliam, who has worked in Romania, described the local crews as being among “the best in the world.”
The next tax...
- 5/16/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Central and Eastern European projects seeking finance, distribution and festival partners have been presented to industry at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff).
Among the 15 projects vying for the $11,000 (€10,000) funding prize is writer-director Marian Crisan’s low-key thriller Orizont, about a family who get more than they bargained for when they set up a guest house in a remote part of Romania.
Crisan’s third film, which was among the more intriguing presentations, is produced by Mandragora Movies and Solar Pictures Film Group founder Bobby Paunescu.
The director’s debut, Morgen, won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival in 2010.
Sofia Exarchou’s feature debut Park, a Greek-language drama about disaffected youth in a decaying contemporary Greece, was selected for both the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab and Director’s Lab last year, the only European project in the lineups.
Turkish director Ana Yurdu’s debut Motherland, which also caught the eye, is a portrait...
Among the 15 projects vying for the $11,000 (€10,000) funding prize is writer-director Marian Crisan’s low-key thriller Orizont, about a family who get more than they bargained for when they set up a guest house in a remote part of Romania.
Crisan’s third film, which was among the more intriguing presentations, is produced by Mandragora Movies and Solar Pictures Film Group founder Bobby Paunescu.
The director’s debut, Morgen, won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival in 2010.
Sofia Exarchou’s feature debut Park, a Greek-language drama about disaffected youth in a decaying contemporary Greece, was selected for both the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab and Director’s Lab last year, the only European project in the lineups.
Turkish director Ana Yurdu’s debut Motherland, which also caught the eye, is a portrait...
- 7/7/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Announcements for the lineup for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 22nd and February 1st, are starting to roll out. Watch this page for updates as more films and sections are revealed.
Premieres
Brooklyn (John Crowley, UK)
Digging for Fire (Joe Swanberg, USA)
Don Verdean (Jared Hess, USA)
End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt, USA)
Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, USA)
Grandma (Paul Weitz, USA)
I Am Michael (Justin Kelly, USA)
I'll See You In My Dreams (Brett Haley, USA)
Last Days in the Desert (Rodrigo Garcia, USA)
Lila & Eve (Charles Stone III, USA)
Mississipi Grind (Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, USA)
Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, USA)
Seoul Searching (Benson Lee, USA/Korea)
Sleeping with Other People (Leslye Headland, USA)
Ten Thousand Saints (Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, USA)
True Story (Rupert Goold, USA)
A Walk in the Woods (Ken Kwapis, USA)
Zipper (Mora Stephens, USA)
Documentary Premieres
Beaver Trilogy Part IV (Brad Besser,...
Premieres
Brooklyn (John Crowley, UK)
Digging for Fire (Joe Swanberg, USA)
Don Verdean (Jared Hess, USA)
End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt, USA)
Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, USA)
Grandma (Paul Weitz, USA)
I Am Michael (Justin Kelly, USA)
I'll See You In My Dreams (Brett Haley, USA)
Last Days in the Desert (Rodrigo Garcia, USA)
Lila & Eve (Charles Stone III, USA)
Mississipi Grind (Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, USA)
Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, USA)
Seoul Searching (Benson Lee, USA/Korea)
Sleeping with Other People (Leslye Headland, USA)
Ten Thousand Saints (Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, USA)
True Story (Rupert Goold, USA)
A Walk in the Woods (Ken Kwapis, USA)
Zipper (Mora Stephens, USA)
Documentary Premieres
Beaver Trilogy Part IV (Brad Besser,...
- 12/16/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Sundance: Robert Redford stars opposite Nick Nolte in Salt Lake City gala
Festival top brass announced on December 15 a volley of 10 additional films and New Frontier installations.
The late arrivals mean the festival will screen 123 features overall from 29 countries culled from 12,166 submissions. A total of 106 of the features will be world premieres and 45 of the total line-up hail from first-time film-makers,
Sundance is set to run from January 22-February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Premieres
A Walk In The Woods (USA)
Ken Kwapis
An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled.
Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal.
World premiere
Salt Lake City Gala Film
True Story (USA)
Rupert Goold
When disgraced New York...
Festival top brass announced on December 15 a volley of 10 additional films and New Frontier installations.
The late arrivals mean the festival will screen 123 features overall from 29 countries culled from 12,166 submissions. A total of 106 of the features will be world premieres and 45 of the total line-up hail from first-time film-makers,
Sundance is set to run from January 22-February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Premieres
A Walk In The Woods (USA)
Ken Kwapis
An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled.
Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal.
World premiere
Salt Lake City Gala Film
True Story (USA)
Rupert Goold
When disgraced New York...
- 12/15/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Cannes - Entrepreneurs are looking to put Romania's capital Bucharest on the map as a production center in Eastern Europe. Bobby Paunescu and Jared Underwood’s Solar Entertainment Group has struck a partnership with real estate entrepreneur Dragos Savulescu to form production studio operator Solar Studios. The group will combine a film facility formerly known as Kentauros Studios, which Savulescu recently acquired, and Paunescu’s Mandragora Studios, the partners said in making the announcement in Cannes on Monday. Video: Cannes: Emma Watson on 'The Bling Ring' Viorel Sergovici, a veteran cinematographer and producer and member of the European Film Academy, will run the
read more...
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- 5/20/2013
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Busy British actor Tom Hardy has added one more project to his plate. Deadline reports Hardy will develop and star in “Samarkand”, a contemporary soldier’s tale which deals with the topic of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Brothers Greg and Olly Williams wrote the script after developing the story with Hardy and Solar Pictures’ Bobby Paunescu [...]
The post Tom Hardy to Tackle Ptsd in Wartime Drama “Samarkand” appeared first on Up and Comers.
The post Tom Hardy to Tackle Ptsd in Wartime Drama “Samarkand” appeared first on Up and Comers.
- 2/27/2013
- by Linda Ge
- UpandComers
London – Tom Hardy is teaming with Solar Pictures to develop Samarkand into a star vehicle for him as a British special forces soldier returning from the Middle East with post-traumatic stress disorder. Hardy's character portrays a soldier struggling to re-integrate into society after his tour of duty with the British regiment the Sas The script was written by Greg and Olly Williams, brothers who developed the picture with Hardy and Solar Pictures’ Bobby Paunescu. The project will mark Williams' feature debut. His short film Sergeant Slaughter – My Big Brother, starred Hardy and won best director plaudits
read more...
read more...
- 2/27/2013
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive:Tom Hardy has teamed with Solar Pictures to develop Samarkand, a drama that will be directed by Greg Williams and tackles the topical hot button issue of post traumatic stress disorder. Hardy will portray an Sas soldier returning from operations in the Middle East. Suffering from Ptsd, he has a most difficult time reintegrating from the battlefield back into society. The script was written by Greg and Olly Williams, brothers who developed the picture with Hardy and Solar Pictures’ Bobby Paunescu. Williams, a celebrated photographer, makes this his feature debut. His 2011 short film Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother starred Hardy and it won Williams Best Director honors at the New York, Chicago and San Francisco Short Film Festivals. Hardy is attached to the Steven Knight-directed Locke, the Daniel Espinosa-directed Child 44, and the Doug Liman-directed Everest. He’ll next star with Noomi Rapace in an adaptation...
- 2/27/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Following his role as Bane in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises , British actor Tom Hardy is becoming more in demand to headline movies, and The Hollywood Reporter is saying that Hardy will play a British special forces soldier who returns from fighting in the Middle East suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in Solar Pictures' drama Samarkand . Written by brothers Greg and Olly Williams, who developed the movie with Hardy and Solar Pictures' Bobby Paunescu, the film will be Greg William's feature debut, having previously directed the acclaimed short film Sergeant Slaughter . My Big Brother , which also starred Hardy. "Samarkand" is the second largest city in Uzbekistan and one of the oldest cities in the world, so from the film's title,...
- 2/27/2013
- Comingsoon.net
Italia Film will distribute Solar Pictures' films in the Middle East and other countries including Turkey, Greece and India under a new multi-year, multi-territory output deal announced Wednesday before the start of the Berlin Film Festival. Italia is one of the largest distributors in the Middle East, and has been Disney's exclusive distributor in the region since 1993. Solar Pictures, a film production and finance company, is a subsidiary of Solar Entertainment, Bobby Paunescu (left) and Jared Underwood's multi-faceted entertainment company. It also operates Solar Media Capital, a financing company, and Solar Entertainment...
- 2/7/2013
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Hollywood has a new investment bank. Solar Entertainment Group, Bobby Paunescu and Jared Underwood's multi-faceted film financing and production company, has partnered with Hoffman Lloyd to launch a media and entertainment investment bank dubbed Solar Entertainment Hlb. The company will link producers, studios and other entertainment and media companies with eager investors, raising money for new projects, films in particular. For Solar, the move builds off its launch of Solar Media Capital in November at the American Film Market. That specialty financing entity helps producers finance individual projects while this new bank...
- 1/8/2013
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Mandragora International Group, headquarted in Romania, has signed an agreement to co-produce a feature film, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, with China Film Group Corp., China’s government-run production and distribution company. Bobby Paunescu, the founder and CEO of Mandragora as well as the co-founder of Mandragora’s new Los Angeles-based subsidiary Solar Pictures, will write and direct the film, a thriller about the Chinese owner of a world-renowned fashion brand who falls in love with an international supermodel. Paunescu produced 2005’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, directed by Cristi Puiu. He is a co-producer
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- 5/12/2012
- by Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mandragora International Group, parent company of Solar Pictures, will co-produce “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” with China Film Group Corporation, China's government-run production and distribution company. Bobby Paunescu, founder and CEO of Mandragora, will write and direct the film, a thriller that details a love story between a Chinese fashion magnate and an international supermodel. "It's exciting that Solar Pictures and Mandragora International Group are on the front line of the box-office boom that is taking place in China," Paunescu said in a statement. "To be producing this film with China...
- 5/11/2012
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Bobby Paunescu, a filmmaker and financier, and Jared Underwood, a former senior VP at Comerica Entertainment, have launched Solar Pictures, the two said Wednesday. While Paunescu and Underwood (left) are the principal investors, Edward Lawson Johnston, founder of London's Lj Group, also is a key investor in the company. Solar Pictures plans to finance and produce four or five movies each year, from small independent pictures to mid-size action films with budgets up to $30 million. Paunescu and Underwood will be the company's general partners. Television producer Kearie Peak and business affairs and acquisitions...
- 3/15/2012
- by Joshua L. Weinstein
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Filmmaker and financier Bobby Paunescu, former Comerica Entertainment senior exec Jared Underwood, film/TV producer Kearie Peak and business affairs/acquisitions exec Christopher Taylor have partnered to form Solar Pictures, a new shingle that will produce and finance four to five feature films per year aimed at the global marketplace. Pictures will range from small independent features to mid-size action films, with budgets as high as $30 million. They will start with projects they’ve developed prior to joining forces, and make some acquisitions to get up and running. Paunescu and Underwood, the principal investors in the venture, will serve as managing directors. Peak and Taylor will be co-CEOs, with Peak overseeing production, while Taylor oversees business and corporate affairs. Paunescu, Underwood, Peak and Taylor are business colleagues and friends, with relationships going back as many as 18 years. Edward Lawson Johnston, founder of the London-based merchant bank Lj Group, will also be a key investor.
- 3/14/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
[Editor's Note: Lorber Films is releasing Tuesday, After Christmas at the Film Forum today -- this interview originally took place back in October of 2010. Additionally, here is footage from the world premiere night in Cannes back in May of 2010.] It was on a Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a reception hosted by the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York to honor directors Cristi Puiu and Radu Muntean, actors Mirela Oprisor, Mimi Branescu, producers Bobby Paunescu and Dragos Vilcu, and DPs Tudor Lucaciu and Viorel Sergovici. The event was a celebration of the three selected films at the Nyff: doc film The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu and the pair of narratives, Aurora and Tuesday, After Christmas. It was great to meet and talk with all of these filmmakers because they are truly at the forefront of one of the most exciting movements in international cinema, still relevant and vibrant since Cristi Puiu's Stuff and Dough and Cristian Mungiu's Occident landed in the Cannes' Director's Fortnight editions of 2001 and 2002. Late last week, I had the even greater pleasure of interviewing the team behind the Un Certain Regard selected Tuesday,...
- 5/25/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Sunday, December 5th concludes the 5th annual Romanian Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City. This year hosts The Romanian Cultural Institute and curator Mihai Chirilov added the moniker “A New Beginning,” in appreciation of the recent success of what has been dubbed the “Romanian New Wave.” This year, Cristi Puiu, arguably the one who started it all with his 2006 debut The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, returns with his second feature Aurora. The three-hour long film premiered earlier this year at the New York Film Festival to resoundingly positive reviews. Also returning from Nyff are Radu Montean’s Tuesday, After Christmas (opening May 25 at Film Forum) and Andrei Ujica’s The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, which opened the festival. All three were standouts this past May on the Croisette. Bobby Paunescu, producer of “Aurora” and “Lazarescu”, screens his directorial debut Francesca. Rounding out the “Romanian New Wave” roster of attendees is Razvan Radulescu,...
- 12/5/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
This weekend, December 3-5, Tribeca Cinemas is proud to host the 5th Romanian Film Festival in New York City, featuring a roster of shining stars from past and present. Hosted, as always, by The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, this year's festival is entitled A New Beginning and will feature the best and most recent films from Romania's unique and critically exalted national body of contemporary cinema. These include works from filmmakers at the forefront of the Romanian New Wave, such as Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean and Razvan Radulescu, as well as debut features from Constantin Popescu and Bobby Paunescu. For its opening night, the festival will present the highly anticipated new work from Andrei Ujica (Videograms of a Revolution), The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu. The festival will conclude with the landmark Romanian film Carnival Scenes by filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, featuring celebrated Romanian stage and screen actor Victor Rebengiuc...
- 12/1/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
It was on a Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a reception hosted by the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York to honor directors Cristi Puiu and Radu Muntean, actors Mirela Oprisor, Mimi Branescu, producers Bobby Paunescu and Dragos Vilcu, and DPs Tudor Lucaciu and Viorel Sergovici. The event was a celebration of the three selected films at the Nyff: doc film The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu and the pair of narratives, Aurora and Tuesday, After Christmas. It was great to meet and talk with all of these filmmakers because they are truly at the forefront of one of the most exciting movements in international cinema, still relevant and vibrant since Cristi Puiu's Stuff and Dough and Cristian Mungiu's Occident landed in the Cannes' Director's Fortnight editions of 2001 and 2002. Late last week, I had the even greater pleasure of interviewing the team behind the Un Certain Regard selected Tuesday,...
- 10/4/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Year: 2009
Directors: Bobby Paunescu
Writers: Bobby Paunescu
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 7 out of 10
Bobby Paunescu’s drama, Francesca, follows the eponymous young woman (played by Monica Barladeanu) as she prepares to emigrate from Bucharest to Milan and start a job as a kindergarten teacher, at a school for foreign children. Once her boyfriend has closed a recent business deal, he plans to join her. Things don’t go to plan, as boyfriend Mita stalls on his promises and becomes increasingly paranoid until he’s forced to confess a whole lot of dirty laundry which jeopardizes her plans.
Ah, Francesca... what to say? I feel almost ill-equipped to properly review this slice of Eastern European angst and drama, as it’s so far from my own personal taste that all I can do is to objectively review it as helpfully as possible, to the extent that I...
Directors: Bobby Paunescu
Writers: Bobby Paunescu
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 7 out of 10
Bobby Paunescu’s drama, Francesca, follows the eponymous young woman (played by Monica Barladeanu) as she prepares to emigrate from Bucharest to Milan and start a job as a kindergarten teacher, at a school for foreign children. Once her boyfriend has closed a recent business deal, he plans to join her. Things don’t go to plan, as boyfriend Mita stalls on his promises and becomes increasingly paranoid until he’s forced to confess a whole lot of dirty laundry which jeopardizes her plans.
Ah, Francesca... what to say? I feel almost ill-equipped to properly review this slice of Eastern European angst and drama, as it’s so far from my own personal taste that all I can do is to objectively review it as helpfully as possible, to the extent that I...
- 11/15/2009
- QuietEarth.us
More Venice news
Venice -- Politics reared its head on the Venice Lido over the weekend, when two leading political figures objected to a Romanian film screening out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and called for it to be blocked if a few key phrases are not removed.
"Francesca," a drama from Romanian director Bobby Paunescu, tells the story of Romanian girl considering emigrating to Italy. While discussing the possibility with her mother, harsh words emerged in reference to parliamentarian Alessandra Mussolini (the granddaughter of former Italian strongman leader Benito Mussolini) and Verona mayor Flavio Tosi -- both known for strong anti-immigrant stances.
Mussolini is referred to a "bitch that wants to kill Romanians," and Tosi is called a "shitty mayor." The two leaders want the offending phrases removed, and Mussolini has threatened to sue the film's producers and block its distribution in Italy.
Paunescu told journalists he will not change the film,...
Venice -- Politics reared its head on the Venice Lido over the weekend, when two leading political figures objected to a Romanian film screening out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and called for it to be blocked if a few key phrases are not removed.
"Francesca," a drama from Romanian director Bobby Paunescu, tells the story of Romanian girl considering emigrating to Italy. While discussing the possibility with her mother, harsh words emerged in reference to parliamentarian Alessandra Mussolini (the granddaughter of former Italian strongman leader Benito Mussolini) and Verona mayor Flavio Tosi -- both known for strong anti-immigrant stances.
Mussolini is referred to a "bitch that wants to kill Romanians," and Tosi is called a "shitty mayor." The two leaders want the offending phrases removed, and Mussolini has threatened to sue the film's producers and block its distribution in Italy.
Paunescu told journalists he will not change the film,...
- 9/6/2009
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Venice Film Festival has announced it's 2009 line-up this week, showing off the films that will make-up it's 66th annual fest. The significance of this announcement is in the fact that Venice, which takes place from September 2 to September 12, shares a lot of premieres with the Toronto Film Festival. And it takes place the week before, as Toronto doesn't get underway until September 10th. Audiences in Venice will be treated to the premieres of films such as Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Michael Moore's financial crisis documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, Joe Dante's The Hole, Steven Soderbergh's espionage comedy The Informant and Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats before their potential Toronto debuts. Also notable is the premiere of John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic thriller The Road, which is at the top of our watch-list. See below for a full listing of films for this year's Venice...
- 7/31/2009
- by Neil Miller
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The 66th edition of the Venice Film Festival lineup includes the main festival plus the sidebar which will be playing films like Yannick Dahan's gangster zombie flick The Horde.
In competition we have the long awaited scifi awesomeness from Jaco Van Dormael, Mr. Nobody and Shinya Tsukamoto's trfiecta Tetsuo the Bulletman.
Out of competition has [Rec] 2 and the Midnight section has Nicolas Refn's long awaited Valhalla Rising which was actually made before Bronson.
Man I wish I could go! Anyone want to cover the fest for us? Use the contact link at the bottom of the page. We'd be happy to do cross-posted reviews.
Full list after the break.
66Th Annual Venice Film Festival Lineup
Competition
"36 vues du Pic Saint Loup," Jacques Rivette (France)
"Accident," Cheang Pou-Soi (China-Hong Kong)
"Baaria," Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy) – Opening Film
"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Werner Herzog (U.S.)
"Between Two Worlds,...
In competition we have the long awaited scifi awesomeness from Jaco Van Dormael, Mr. Nobody and Shinya Tsukamoto's trfiecta Tetsuo the Bulletman.
Out of competition has [Rec] 2 and the Midnight section has Nicolas Refn's long awaited Valhalla Rising which was actually made before Bronson.
Man I wish I could go! Anyone want to cover the fest for us? Use the contact link at the bottom of the page. We'd be happy to do cross-posted reviews.
Full list after the break.
66Th Annual Venice Film Festival Lineup
Competition
"36 vues du Pic Saint Loup," Jacques Rivette (France)
"Accident," Cheang Pou-Soi (China-Hong Kong)
"Baaria," Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy) – Opening Film
"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Werner Herzog (U.S.)
"Between Two Worlds,...
- 7/30/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Rome -- Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" will headline a 24-film competition lineup at September's Venice Film Festival, which is heavy on first and second films from up-and-coming directors.
The lineup includes five U.S. films, four each from Italy and France, four from Asia, two from the Middle East -- with all 23 films named Thursday as world premieres.
A 24th surprise competition pic to be announced during the fest would also be a world premiere, officials said. The fest will feature 71 world premieres.
"We are very pleased and very honored to announce this lineup," Venice artistic director Marco Mueller said in a briefing Thursday, where Fatih Akin's comedy "Soul Kitchen"; "Accident," a thriller from China's Cheang Pou; and "A Single Man," a drama from Tom Ford starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, were revealed as part of the lineup.
All told, the fest will feature 16 first works and nine second works.
The lineup includes five U.S. films, four each from Italy and France, four from Asia, two from the Middle East -- with all 23 films named Thursday as world premieres.
A 24th surprise competition pic to be announced during the fest would also be a world premiere, officials said. The fest will feature 71 world premieres.
"We are very pleased and very honored to announce this lineup," Venice artistic director Marco Mueller said in a briefing Thursday, where Fatih Akin's comedy "Soul Kitchen"; "Accident," a thriller from China's Cheang Pou; and "A Single Man," a drama from Tom Ford starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, were revealed as part of the lineup.
All told, the fest will feature 16 first works and nine second works.
- 7/30/2009
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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