A spin-off of the original anime series, Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke is undoubtedly one of the most peculiar original anime series we have on the market. It is an avant-garde series focusing on the supernatural, incorporating elements of mystery and psychological horror, as the series focuses on the unnamed traveling apothecary who is stingy with words. He travels with his medicine cabinet and a box containing a spiritual sword whose pommel is adorned with a monkey’s head, fighting numerous supernatural enemies along the way.
The original anime series ran for 12 series in 2007 but the series is coming back with a feature-length anime movie titled Mononoke: Karakasa, which is going to be released on July 26, 2024 in Japan. Today, a new trailer and a lot of new information has been released, so we are going to report everything to you here.
The Mononoke anime movie was announced back in 2022, as...
The original anime series ran for 12 series in 2007 but the series is coming back with a feature-length anime movie titled Mononoke: Karakasa, which is going to be released on July 26, 2024 in Japan. Today, a new trailer and a lot of new information has been released, so we are going to report everything to you here.
The Mononoke anime movie was announced back in 2022, as...
- 5/1/2024
- by Arthur S. Poe
- Fiction Horizon
Mononoke the Movie: Karakasa , an upcoming theatrical anime film that continues to adventures of the Medicine Sellar from the 2006 Mononoke TV anime, has revealed a new trailer, a new key visual (below), the theme song performer, and ten additional cast members. The film hits theaters in Japan on July 26, 2024. The new cast members include: Kitagawa voiced by Kana Hanazawa Botan Ohtomo voiced by Haruka Tomatsu Fuki Tokita voiced by Yoko Hikasa Awashima voiced by Yuko Kaida Mugitani voiced by Yukana Saburoumaru voiced by Yuki Kaji Hiraki voiced by Jun Fukuyama Sakashita voiced by Daisuke Hosomi Tenshi voiced by Miyu Irino Hokuto Kourogi voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda Mononoke the Movie: Karakasa cast additions Aina The End performs the official theme song for the film, which is entitled “Love Sick”. Kenji Nakamura directs Mononoke the Movie: Karakasa at animation studio Twin Engine Eota. Kitsuneko Nagata provides the original character designs, Yuuichi Takahashi...
- 5/1/2024
- by Paul Chapman
- Crunchyroll
Updated with details on Best Director winner Christina Yoon and other awards: The 19th HollyShorts Film Festival has handed out its awards, including the Grand Prix Best Short Award to We Were Meant To, an honor that comes with a $60,000 prize from Panavision.
Tari Wariebi directed We Were Meant To, set in a reality where “Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage.” The film stars Tim Johnson Jr. The Grand Prix Award qualifies the short for Oscar consideration. Also qualifying for the Oscars are Misan Harriman’s The After, which won Best Live Action Short, Rita Basulto’s Humo (Smoke), winner of the Best Animation Award, and Elisa Gambino’s Every Day After, winner of Best Documentary Short.
‘Humo’
The After stars David Oyelowo and Jessica Plummer. Animated winner Humo, meanwhile, “follows a boy called Daniel, who travels to a dark destination known as the smokehouse.
Tari Wariebi directed We Were Meant To, set in a reality where “Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage.” The film stars Tim Johnson Jr. The Grand Prix Award qualifies the short for Oscar consideration. Also qualifying for the Oscars are Misan Harriman’s The After, which won Best Live Action Short, Rita Basulto’s Humo (Smoke), winner of the Best Animation Award, and Elisa Gambino’s Every Day After, winner of Best Documentary Short.
‘Humo’
The After stars David Oyelowo and Jessica Plummer. Animated winner Humo, meanwhile, “follows a boy called Daniel, who travels to a dark destination known as the smokehouse.
- 8/21/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
In a HollyShorts Film Festival awards ceremony that took place at midnight the day before a tropical storm was scheduled to his Los Angeles, Tari Wariebi’s “We Were Meant To” won a $60,000 prize and with the win qualified for the Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short category.
The awards were originally scheduled to be handed out on Sunday evening at the TLC Chinese Theatre, but they were moved to the unusual Saturday midnight slot as Hurricane Hilary approached.
“We Were Meant To,” set in a world where Black men can fly, won the Grand Prix for the best short in the 10-day festival, which began on Aug. 10 at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. For the first time, the top film also received a $60,000 prize from Panasonic, in addition to the Oscar qualification.
Three other films also qualified for this year’s Oscars by winning awards at HollyShorts: Misan Harriman’s “The After,...
The awards were originally scheduled to be handed out on Sunday evening at the TLC Chinese Theatre, but they were moved to the unusual Saturday midnight slot as Hurricane Hilary approached.
“We Were Meant To,” set in a world where Black men can fly, won the Grand Prix for the best short in the 10-day festival, which began on Aug. 10 at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. For the first time, the top film also received a $60,000 prize from Panasonic, in addition to the Oscar qualification.
Three other films also qualified for this year’s Oscars by winning awards at HollyShorts: Misan Harriman’s “The After,...
- 8/20/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and the summer boys are back in Season 2 of Jenny Han’s television adaptation of her beloved young adult “The Summer I Turned Pretty” books. Based on the second book in the trilogy, “It’s Not Summer Without You,” Season 2 drops July 14 with three episodes launching on Amazon Prime Video. Belly’s love triangle with Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) is far from resolved, as indicated last season when Belly expressed strong feelings for Conrad, but then kissed Jeremiah before ultimately ending up with Conrad again.
The official trailer for Season 2 debuted Taylor Swift’s “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” after a short snippet of the singer’s “folklore” song “August” to showcase how the second installment will jump back and forth between the latest summer and the winter before it that Belly spent dating Conrad long distance.
The first season, which...
The official trailer for Season 2 debuted Taylor Swift’s “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” after a short snippet of the singer’s “folklore” song “August” to showcase how the second installment will jump back and forth between the latest summer and the winter before it that Belly spent dating Conrad long distance.
The first season, which...
- 8/3/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
The thriller is directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu.
London-based sales agent Reason8 Films has picked up world sales for political thriller Libertate (Freedom), directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu, ahead of its international premiere this month in competition at Sarajevo.
The feature world premiered at Transilvania.
It is set amid the chaos of the 1989 Romanian revolution, as civilians, the army, the police and the secret service were pitted against each other to control the narrative as communism came to an end.
The thriller is produced by Libra Films (Romania) in co-production with Mythberg Films (Hungary) with support from the...
London-based sales agent Reason8 Films has picked up world sales for political thriller Libertate (Freedom), directed by Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu, ahead of its international premiere this month in competition at Sarajevo.
The feature world premiered at Transilvania.
It is set amid the chaos of the 1989 Romanian revolution, as civilians, the army, the police and the secret service were pitted against each other to control the narrative as communism came to an end.
The thriller is produced by Libra Films (Romania) in co-production with Mythberg Films (Hungary) with support from the...
- 8/2/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
[This story includes spoilers from the first three episodes from The Summer I Turned Pretty season two, “Love Lost,” “Love Scene” and “Love Sick.”]
The Summer I Turned Pretty is finally back and Gavin Casalegno, who plays Jeremiah, is opening up about how the second season role came into his life.
Following the first season of the Prime Video series — which saw the beginning of what has become a drama-filled love triangle, as well as the return of Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) cancer — season two picks up after a year of trials and tribulations for the whole gang, including the death of Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah’s (Casalegno) mom.
Casalegno, Lola Tung, Briney, Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer, David Iacono, Blanchard and Jackie Chung all return for the new season of the series from Jenny Han, who also wrote the book trilogy of the same name. This season also welcomes new faces, including Elsie Fisher and Kyra Sedgwick.
The first three episodes,...
The Summer I Turned Pretty is finally back and Gavin Casalegno, who plays Jeremiah, is opening up about how the second season role came into his life.
Following the first season of the Prime Video series — which saw the beginning of what has become a drama-filled love triangle, as well as the return of Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) cancer — season two picks up after a year of trials and tribulations for the whole gang, including the death of Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah’s (Casalegno) mom.
Casalegno, Lola Tung, Briney, Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer, David Iacono, Blanchard and Jackie Chung all return for the new season of the series from Jenny Han, who also wrote the book trilogy of the same name. This season also welcomes new faces, including Elsie Fisher and Kyra Sedgwick.
The first three episodes,...
- 7/15/2023
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The television show of the summer for teens sprang from the pages of Jenny Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” trilogy. Season 2 of the Prime Video series, which debuted July 14, takes on the events of the second book, “It’s Not Summer Without You.” As with Season 1, several changes were made to the adaptation for the small screen, such as the addition of new characters and the expansion of certain storylines. Other details, large and small, make the show a bit different from Han’s second book, but with the author also serving as showrunner on the series, these changes come naturally.
Season 1 had its own changes that ripple into Season 2, such as Jeremiah’s bisexuality, Laurel’s career as an author (she is a professor in the books) and more. Kyra Sedgewick and Elsie Fisher joined Season 2 as completely new characters that don’t exist in the books.
Season 1 had its own changes that ripple into Season 2, such as Jeremiah’s bisexuality, Laurel’s career as an author (she is a professor in the books) and more. Kyra Sedgewick and Elsie Fisher joined Season 2 as completely new characters that don’t exist in the books.
- 7/14/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
The Amazon Prime Video series “The Summer I Turned Pretty” has made a splash with its loaded soundtrack. By now it is safe to say that “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and Taylor Swift go hand in hand because author and show creator Jenny Han has made it so.
The first season had five Swift songs ranging from her “Lover” album to “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” and the Season 1 trailer debuted “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” from the yet-to-be-released re-recorded “1989.” Season 2’s teaser was set to “August,” and then the official trailer debuted “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” shortly before “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” was released July 7. Only time will tell if Season 2 ties Season 1 for how many Taylor Swift songs it contains.
The sequel season’s summer-y soundtrack also contains hits from repeat artists Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler the Creator, Caroline Polachek and more. A Fleetwood Mac ballad punctuates a particularly emotional scene,...
The first season had five Swift songs ranging from her “Lover” album to “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” and the Season 1 trailer debuted “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” from the yet-to-be-released re-recorded “1989.” Season 2’s teaser was set to “August,” and then the official trailer debuted “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” shortly before “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” was released July 7. Only time will tell if Season 2 ties Season 1 for how many Taylor Swift songs it contains.
The sequel season’s summer-y soundtrack also contains hits from repeat artists Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler the Creator, Caroline Polachek and more. A Fleetwood Mac ballad punctuates a particularly emotional scene,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
“Last summer felt like a dream,” Belly Conklin (played by Lola Tung) says in the second season’s trailer for The Summer I Turned Pretty, streaming July 14 on Prime Video. “It was unlike any other summer. I want to memorize it all.” Watch The Summer I Turned Pretty Season Two on Prime Video.
Released last month, the show’s Season Two sneak peek featured Taylor Swift’s Folklore cut “August” and “Back to December” from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), even getting a share from Swift herself with the caption...
Released last month, the show’s Season Two sneak peek featured Taylor Swift’s Folklore cut “August” and “Back to December” from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), even getting a share from Swift herself with the caption...
- 7/13/2023
- by John Lonsdale
- Rollingstone.com
Prime Video has announced the return of its hit series The Summer I Turned Pretty, launching with three episodes on Friday, July 14, 2023, with new episodes following weekly until the season finale on Friday, August 18, 2023. Based on the best-selling book trilogy from Jenny Han, Season One of the series became the No. 1 show on Prime Video during its premiere weekend. On July 14, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season Two will be a part of the savings, convenience, and entertainment that Prime members enjoy in a single membership. Click Here to view the release date announcement, featuring series stars Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, and Rain Spencer, recurring guest David Iacono, and Elsie Fisher, who joined the cast this season in a recurring role. Jackie Chung and Rachel Blanchard also star, with Kyra Sedgwick joining Season Two in a recurring role. The cast also revealed all eight episode titles for Season Two,...
- 5/5/2023
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Are you ready for more of The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Prime Video announced Friday that the first three episodes of Season 2 will launch on Friday, July 14, 2023, with new episodes following weekly until the season finale on Friday, August 18, 2023.
Based on the best-selling book trilogy from Jenny Han, the first season of the series became the No. 1 show on Prime Video during its premiere weekend.
The release date announcement video included stars Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, and Rain Spencer, recurring guest David Iacono, and Elsie Fisher, who joined the cast this season in a recurring role.
Jackie Chung and Rachel Blanchard also star, with Kyra Sedgwick joining in a recurring role.
The cast also revealed all eight episode titles for the upcoming season, allowing fans to speculate which of their favorite storylines from It’s Not Summer Without You, the second book in Han’s series,...
Prime Video announced Friday that the first three episodes of Season 2 will launch on Friday, July 14, 2023, with new episodes following weekly until the season finale on Friday, August 18, 2023.
Based on the best-selling book trilogy from Jenny Han, the first season of the series became the No. 1 show on Prime Video during its premiere weekend.
The release date announcement video included stars Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, and Rain Spencer, recurring guest David Iacono, and Elsie Fisher, who joined the cast this season in a recurring role.
Jackie Chung and Rachel Blanchard also star, with Kyra Sedgwick joining in a recurring role.
The cast also revealed all eight episode titles for the upcoming season, allowing fans to speculate which of their favorite storylines from It’s Not Summer Without You, the second book in Han’s series,...
- 5/5/2023
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
Prime Video is heading back to Cousins Beach this July: Season 2 of the YA drama The Summer I Turned Pretty will premiere on Friday, July 14, with its first three episodes. A new installment will unspool each subsequent Friday until the season finale on Aug. 18.
The show’s cast, including love triangle trio/stars Lola Tung (aka Isabel “Belly” Conklin), Christopher Briney (Conrad Fisher) and Gavin Casalegno (Jeremiah Fisher), shared the date announcement in the above video, as well as all eight episode titles for Season 2. See if you can pick up any clues about which storylines from It’s Not Summer Without You,...
The show’s cast, including love triangle trio/stars Lola Tung (aka Isabel “Belly” Conklin), Christopher Briney (Conrad Fisher) and Gavin Casalegno (Jeremiah Fisher), shared the date announcement in the above video, as well as all eight episode titles for Season 2. See if you can pick up any clues about which storylines from It’s Not Summer Without You,...
- 5/5/2023
- by Vlada Gelman
- TVLine.com
Good news and bad news for fans of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” The good news is Season 2 of the Prime Video series premieres on July 14. The bad news: this second season is rolling out new episodes weekly instead of all at once.
The first three episodes of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 2 will be released on Amazon Prime Video on July 14, with new episodes rolling out weekly after that until the season finale on Aug. 18. This second season consists of eight episodes in total.
Based on the book trilogy by Jenny Han – who serves as co-showrunner alongside Sarah Kucserka – the second season is based on “It’s Not Summer Without You” and the synopsis is as follows:
“Belly used to count down the days until she could return to Cousins Beach, but with Conrad and Jeremiah fighting over her heart and the return of Susannah’s cancer, she...
The first three episodes of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 2 will be released on Amazon Prime Video on July 14, with new episodes rolling out weekly after that until the season finale on Aug. 18. This second season consists of eight episodes in total.
Based on the book trilogy by Jenny Han – who serves as co-showrunner alongside Sarah Kucserka – the second season is based on “It’s Not Summer Without You” and the synopsis is as follows:
“Belly used to count down the days until she could return to Cousins Beach, but with Conrad and Jeremiah fighting over her heart and the return of Susannah’s cancer, she...
- 5/5/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Actors Mark McKinney and Daniel Ings have signed on to star in the comedy road movie A Rush of Blood.
We understand British filmmaker Tristan Shepherd will direct the pic from a screenplay he also wrote. Billed as a “comedy, thriller, road trip movie,” the plot follows a British-Canadian couple, who get their last shot at fulfilling their professional ambitions — and any hope of reinvigorating their marriage — when their independent film is selected for Sundance. However, when they accept a ride to Park City with Reegan, a young, self-styled film reporter, who becomes increasingly maniacal as the journey unfolds, their dream slowly turns into a nightmare – more frightening than any film plot they could have ever devised. McKinney will play a character named Larry, while Ings will suit up as a character named Brian.
Producers on the...
We understand British filmmaker Tristan Shepherd will direct the pic from a screenplay he also wrote. Billed as a “comedy, thriller, road trip movie,” the plot follows a British-Canadian couple, who get their last shot at fulfilling their professional ambitions — and any hope of reinvigorating their marriage — when their independent film is selected for Sundance. However, when they accept a ride to Park City with Reegan, a young, self-styled film reporter, who becomes increasingly maniacal as the journey unfolds, their dream slowly turns into a nightmare – more frightening than any film plot they could have ever devised. McKinney will play a character named Larry, while Ings will suit up as a character named Brian.
Producers on the...
- 5/5/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadcast
The BBC has acquired U.K. free-to-air rights of high profile crime drama “Tokyo Vice” (8 x 60’), which has a pilot episode directed by Michael Mann, from Endeavor Content. The BBC has second window rights for the U.K. and will air it later this year. The series will stream in the U.K. on Starzplay from May 15. Endeavor has sold the series, currently streaming on HBO Max in the U.S., wide.
Co-produced by HBO Max, Endeavor and Japanese broadcaster Wowow, the series is based on American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. The series, filmed on location in Tokyo, captures Adelstein’s (Ansel Elgort) daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem. “Tokyo Vice” was created and written by Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer.
The BBC has acquired U.K. free-to-air rights of high profile crime drama “Tokyo Vice” (8 x 60’), which has a pilot episode directed by Michael Mann, from Endeavor Content. The BBC has second window rights for the U.K. and will air it later this year. The series will stream in the U.K. on Starzplay from May 15. Endeavor has sold the series, currently streaming on HBO Max in the U.S., wide.
Co-produced by HBO Max, Endeavor and Japanese broadcaster Wowow, the series is based on American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. The series, filmed on location in Tokyo, captures Adelstein’s (Ansel Elgort) daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem. “Tokyo Vice” was created and written by Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer.
- 4/13/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Even the most die-hard Bob Dylan fans admit that his Never Ending Tour hit some very rough patches in the Nineties. For proof, check out this disastrous rendition of “New Morning” from his June 19th, 1991 gig in Stuttgart, Germany. It stretches for seven minutes, although much of it just the band vamping until Dylan kicks in at the 4:30 mark with incomprehensible muttering that sounds vaguely like the words to the song.
But just six years later, Dylan had completely turned things around and was playing glorious shows, as you...
But just six years later, Dylan had completely turned things around and was playing glorious shows, as you...
- 2/17/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
“Making a playlist is a delicate art,” as High Fidelity‘s Rob (Zoe Kravitz) would say. Whether you’re basking in light of a new crush, celebrating the anniversary of a first date, or wallowing in heartbreak, Rolling Stone has the playlist for you this Valentine’s Day.
If you want to celebrate your partner agreeing to settle down after a long period of “maybe”-ing: Beyonce, “Love on Top”
Beyoncé threw back to the era of New Edition and Whitney Houston with this joyful song, which uses key changes to heighten its ecstatic feel.
If you want to celebrate your partner agreeing to settle down after a long period of “maybe”-ing: Beyonce, “Love on Top”
Beyoncé threw back to the era of New Edition and Whitney Houston with this joyful song, which uses key changes to heighten its ecstatic feel.
- 2/14/2021
- by Maura Johnston
- Rollingstone.com
With a raft of new streaming services coming our way this year, it’s impressive that Shudder continues to develop compelling content and a solid horror library to keep fans returning. Having already snapped up the rights to Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, they’ve now announced their full lineup of titles for February 2020, which includes new original series, shorts, and a lot of classic movies.
In terms of original series, Shudder have The Dead Lands on Thursdays through March 5th, with the show adapting a 2014 New Zealand film focusing on Māori mythology. The plot covers a warrior returning from the afterlife who has to contend with the spirits of the recently dead. Given Shudder’s confirmation of a second season for Creepshow, it’ll be fascinating to see what they do with this material as they increase their original series commitments.
On the original movies front, Shudder have Bliss,...
In terms of original series, Shudder have The Dead Lands on Thursdays through March 5th, with the show adapting a 2014 New Zealand film focusing on Māori mythology. The plot covers a warrior returning from the afterlife who has to contend with the spirits of the recently dead. Given Shudder’s confirmation of a second season for Creepshow, it’ll be fascinating to see what they do with this material as they increase their original series commitments.
On the original movies front, Shudder have Bliss,...
- 1/23/2020
- by Jessica James
- We Got This Covered
Looking for horror to love this February? Shudder has you covered with their eclectic lineup of original series, new releases, and totally rad films from the VHS era, including Night of the Comet, Child's Play (1988), The Dead Lands, 3 From Hell, My Bloody Valentine (2009), the Horror Noire: Uncut podcast, a "Love Sick" collection that's perfect for Valentine's Day, and much more!
Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us in February, and visit Shudder online to learn more about the streaming service.
Press Release: Good thing 2020 is a leap year, since you’ll need to find room to stream all the amazing movies, series and podcasts we’re serving up this month: new episodes of supernatural mythic adventure series, The Dead Lands; must-see Shudder original/exclusive movies Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, Fantastic Fest Best Picture winner Dog’S Don’T Wear Pants,...
Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us in February, and visit Shudder online to learn more about the streaming service.
Press Release: Good thing 2020 is a leap year, since you’ll need to find room to stream all the amazing movies, series and podcasts we’re serving up this month: new episodes of supernatural mythic adventure series, The Dead Lands; must-see Shudder original/exclusive movies Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, Fantastic Fest Best Picture winner Dog’S Don’T Wear Pants,...
- 1/23/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Tony Sokol Jun 25, 2019
New Investigation Discovery series 'Til Death Do Us Part finds deadly exits to wedding vows.
"Now I'm waiting til the end of time to hurry up and arrive," Meat Loaf sang on the seventies radio staple "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." His character had just promised eternal devotion to co-singer Ellen Foley. Investigation Discovery's upcoming all-new original series Til Death Do Us Part explores couples who didn't have the patience to wait out their wedding vows. From a suspicious carbon monoxide incident, to a parrot who became an eyewitness to murder, each hour-long episode tells a tragic tale of love turned lethal." The series unveils the breaking point in each of these relationships when love and murder collide.
'Til Death Do Us Part features all-new stories of love gone wrong, including "a loving wife turned wiccan, a spouse with a spiraling gambling addiction, and a...
New Investigation Discovery series 'Til Death Do Us Part finds deadly exits to wedding vows.
"Now I'm waiting til the end of time to hurry up and arrive," Meat Loaf sang on the seventies radio staple "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." His character had just promised eternal devotion to co-singer Ellen Foley. Investigation Discovery's upcoming all-new original series Til Death Do Us Part explores couples who didn't have the patience to wait out their wedding vows. From a suspicious carbon monoxide incident, to a parrot who became an eyewitness to murder, each hour-long episode tells a tragic tale of love turned lethal." The series unveils the breaking point in each of these relationships when love and murder collide.
'Til Death Do Us Part features all-new stories of love gone wrong, including "a loving wife turned wiccan, a spouse with a spiraling gambling addiction, and a...
- 6/25/2019
- Den of Geek
The European Film Promotion (EFP) and the San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 18-27) launched a new promotion initiative entitled "European Distributors: Up Next".
Ten independent distributors from Central and Eastern Europe attending the festival discussed the possibilities of theatrical distribution on a European level. Since the majority of European producers do not cross national borders, the meetings in San Sebastian were aimed to create possible platform and networking opportunities to improve the circulation of European productions.
• From Slovenia, Natasa Bucar, project manager of the cultural center Cankarjev Dom, a public institution that organizes many events promoting film, including the Ljubljana International Film Festival has been in art film distribution for the last 15 years. They distribute five to six titles every year to fill the gap in theatrical distribution of European high-profile films in Slovenia. Priority is given to established and not always well-known European and other international filmmakers. Their last distributed titles were Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, Tony Gatlif’s ‘Transylvania’, Bent Hamer’s ‘Factotum’, Dagur Kari’s ‘Dark Horse’, Corneliu Porumboiu’s ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, Roy Andersson’s ‘You, the Living’, Pascale Ferran’s ‘Lady Chatterley’, Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.
Besides Cankarjev Dom, there are only four arthouse cinemas in Slovenia. They need more along with arthouse cinema networks to enable better film promotion. In Slovenia, like everywhere in Europe, the number of cinema viewers has fallen drastically. Audiences focus on fewer films, the top 20 films take up to almost 50% of the market in Slovenia.
• From Hungary, Rita Linda Potyondi of Cirko Film - Másképp Foundation, the only Hungarian distributor to operate as a non-profit-foundation, they also own one theater in Budapest. Working on a showstring budget, they are guided by personal tastes and focus on international and particularly European ‘difficult’ auteur films with targeted or limited audiences, especially those that explore themes related to discriminated groups: homosexuals, handicapped people, ethnic or religious minorities and victims of family abuse. Their last releases include films by Robert Guédiguian, Bruno Dumont, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Baltasar Kormakur, Alain Corneau, Bruno Podalydès, Bertrand Bonello, Claire Denis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Catalin Mitulescu and Oskar Roehler. A recent surprise success was Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘Adam's Apples’ which became a sort of cult film. They also did well with Palme d’Or-winner ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, and ‘Persepolis’, Susanne Bier’s ‘After the Wedding, ‘Red Road’, ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, ‘A Soap’, ‘Our Daily Bread’. Upcoming are the Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's ‘Lorna’s Silence’, Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Belepine’s ‘Louise Michel’, Nic Balthazar’s ‘Ben X’, Simon Staho’s ‘Heaven’s Heart’, Ole Christian Madsen’s ‘Kira’s Reason’, Josef Fares’ ‘Leo’, Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘The Green Butchers’ and ‘Flickering Lights’, and Ole Bornedal’s ‘Just Another Love Story’.
• Czech distributor Artcam’s Managing Director Premysl Martinek knows he is fighting an uphill battle. In 2007 combined total admissions for Artcam's films were under 50,000 — 0.4 percent of the national total. By comparison, leading distributor Falcon drew more than 4,000,000 viewers with its films, nearly a third of the market. However Martinek is convinced there is room in the market for small distributors and is interested in the shared challenges, from the opportunities offered by digital distribution and video-on-demand to how to negotiate with producers on minimum guarantees. The main problem is cultivating an audience. “It's very different from in Holland or Germany, where there are audiences for arthouse films,” he says.
Most of Artcam's target market is in Prague, home to roughly 1,000,000 people where European film is largely restricted to a handful of single-screen theatres, while the city's 14 multiplexes focus primarily on Hollywood imports and successful local films.
Artcam has distributed some of the most widely heralded European films of recent years, including Ole Madsen's drama ‘Prague’, ‘Persepolis’ and ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The international success of such films has attracted the attention of larger distributors who are now crowding the arena. This year in Cannes when they tried to acquire ‘Waltz with Bashir’, there was greater competition. Martinek says arthouse is an important part of any film culture, and lack of access to European films is hurting Czech cinema because if they lack exposure to the cinema of other countries, from new ways of narration, they cannot develop their own cinema. The Czech Ministry of Education has introduced media studies to secondary school curricula to show young people that film is “not just fun and popcorn. It's also art.”
• Polish distribution company Gutek’s Jakub Duszyński, artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theater also programs for the different festivals held at the theatre and for Poland’s largest film event, the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specializing in this type of film.
Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. Every year, they distribute two or three films not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles are Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ and ‘Control’. Coming up are Polish features including Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Four Nights With Anna’, Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s ‘0_1_0’ and Katarzyna Adamik’s ‘Boisko bezdomnych’. They distribute almost exclusively European films. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they may be inspired by European literature.
• Slovakia’s Michal Drobny is marketing manager for Slovak distributor Continental Film. Slovakia sees 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 admissions in a year. A successful film for Continental is 10,000 to 15,000 admissions, as compared to one of the Harry Potter films which will have 200,000 admissions.
Continental releases 30 to 40 films a year and, thanks largely to its partnership with Warner Bros, enjoys a market share of 20%–30%. Continental also serve as Slovak distribution partners for Hollywood Classic Entertainment, which often buys rights to European and arthouse titles for several Eastern European territories at once. Continental acquires other titles through direct negotiation with the producers, usually from the Czech Republic. Drobny seldom attends festivals other than Berlin. This year is his first visit to San Sebastian.
Margins are tight for Continental, which is the second or third largest distributor in Slovakia. Continental is also a 30% shareholder in Slovak multiplex chain Cinemax, which owns nine cinemas countrywide. Continental also operated Bratislava's only arthouse cinema until it was turned into a congress hall.
Continental counts on public money for a small portion of its operating budget. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives support up to a maximum of SKK 160,000 (€5,500) for the distribution of European films which covers the cost of two or three prints. Continental also receives funding through the MEDIA automatic support scheme, typically receiving 40 to 60 cents per admission for European films.
Drobny says this public support is welcome but it's seldom enough to make a real difference to distributors. “A print for a US title costs $300 [€210]. For a European title, the cost is $1,000–1500 [€700–1,000] for the print, plus I still need to pay for the all the marketing materials and the cost of subtitles,” he says. “We can't be surprised that American films are everywhere.”
Not surprisingly few European films secure distribution in Slovakia. Cinemax promotes European and arthouse film through its Artmax program and screens independent films once a week, sometimes for free. Current titles in the selection include ‘Good Bye, Lenin!’, ‘The Secret Life of Words’, ‘The Science of Sleep’, ‘Volver’ and ‘Angel’. In cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, Continental and Cinemax are creating a Spanish Days celebration of Spanish cinema at Cinemax locations in November.
Drobny has hopes that digital cinema will help small distributors, but believes it will be five to ten years before the major studios settle on a common format. Even then, the costs of converting screens will be challenging for the private sector. “To install one 2K digital system costs SKK 3m–4m [€100,000–132,000] and we have 37 screens, so it's a lot of money,” he says. “We'd like to invest but it will take a long time to see a return on that investment.”
• From Romania, Transilvania Film, founded by Tudor Giurgiu and currently run by Stefan Bradea is one of the successful pioneers of arthouse film distribution in Romania. At first they distributed mainly British, German and Scandinavian features but gradually turned to quality Romanian films, genre pictures, even some mainstream American movies. Their eclectic selection is targeted to the highly educated public, basically university graduates under 35. Their latest premiere was ‘Non pensarci’ by Gianni Zanasi, an Italian comedy. Coming up are Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and a few Romanian films: Horatiu Malaele’s ‘Silent Wedding’, Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Hooked’ and Anca Damian’s debut, ‘Crossing Dates’. Their most profitable film was Tudor Giurgiu’s ‘Love Sick’ with 20,800 admissions and a box office gross of over €50,000. Other successful features were Neil Burger’s ‘The Illusionist’, with 11,500 admissions, and ‘Paris Je T’Aime’, with 9,715 admissions.
Film distribution business in Romania is rather unstable. There are eight active distributors bringing 150-160 features every year to 40-50 screens around the country. The number of distributors is growing and it is becoming a overserved field.
The Romanian mainstream public has little interest in European arthouse film and there are very few available screens, no arthouse cinemas and a poor DVD and TV arthouse market. And there is competition among distributors.
• Stefan Kitanov is the founder of the most important annual film event in Bulgaria, the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2001 he founded ART FEST Ltd., the company behind Sofia IFF. The same company is one of the key European film distributors in Bulgaria. ART FEST Ltd. has three components: production, distribution and exhibition.
Most recent releases include Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’, ‘The Palermo Shooting ‘by Wim Wenders and ‘Delta’ by Kornel Mundruczo. The most successful releases were Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Crossing the Bridge’ by Fatih Akin with 8,000 to 10,000 admissions.
Such a distribution business is not profitable. Festival audiences like European films but the general audience likes Hollywood films. Festival audiences don’t go to regular cinemas. The general audience goes to regular cinemas, therefore European films don’t go regularly to mainstream cinemas. There need to be events around the distribution of European films so that they be seen, such as a traveling package going to different towns, whether it is with 35mm or video screenings. There are less than 30 towns in Bulgaria with cinemas.
• From Estonia, Katrin Rajaare of Tallinnfilm, a state-owned company that used to produce the majority of Estonian films during the Soviet era has stopped production and sold its studio and now focuses on restoration of its archives. In 2004, Tallinnfilm began operating as an arthouse cinema and a year later started a distribution operation to ensure continuous programming for the cinema. Tallinnfilm acquires the rights to 12-16 films a year, mostly European films, with some titles from Asia and the US. As a state-owned company, Tallinnfilm buys mostly Estonian theatrical rights only. It is the second largest distribution company in Estonia, with a market share of 2.6%. In the Baltic countries, all rights are acquired for smaller films and shared with Lithuania’s Skalvija and Latvia’s Kino Riga. Their biggest hit in 2007 was ‘La Vie en Rose’ with 9,606 paid admissions. This film was number 43 in the 2007 national box office chart. Only US and Estonian films were at the top of the chart. Recent acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ and ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ to be released around Christmas and the beginning of 2009.
There is a small, steady market for arthouse titles in the capital city of Tallinn, but the recent opening of a five-screen miniplex in the second city, Tartu (96,000 inhabitants), has brought hope from the outskirts as well. There are very few towns where you can screen European films, although the cinemas have received public support for technical equipment and should screen arthouse titles, but the reality is that you can’t force cinemas to screen certain films that won’t bring in audiences.
• From Lithuania Skalvija, an exhibitor since 1962 under the name of Planeta became the only arthouse in Lithuania in 1992. It has only one screen and 88 seats and is subsidized by the Vilnius Municipality. Located in the city center; it promotes quality cinema and pays special attention to young audiences and education. Its market share as an exhibitor is 1.11%. Two major multiplex theatres share 70 % of the entire Lithuanian exhibition market. Greta Akcijonaite heads its recent arthouse film distribution activity. Over the last two years they have released 10 films theatrically, and another 5 have been acquired for Lithuania and/or all the Baltic States. As a very small and specialized distributor, Skalvija has a market share of 0.64%. Most recent releases were the Danish film ‘Adam's Apples’, with almost 8,000 admissions and the Spanish film ‘Dark Blue Almost Black’ with over 6000 admissions. Recent acquisitions include Sam Garbarski’s ‘Irina Palm’ (Belgium/UK), Kornel Mundruczo’s ‘Delta’ (Hungary), the Palme d’Or winner ‘The Class’ (France) by Laurent Cantet, Thomas Clay’s ‘Soy Cowboy’ (Thailand/UK), Ruben Östlund’s’ Involuntary’ (Sweden), and Ilmar Raag’s ‘The Class’ (Estonia).
The market share of the European films released theatrically was 25% in 2007 although the share of admissions to European films was only 11%. There is definitely a lack of venues for screening European and quality films.
• Latvia’s Oskars Killo heads Acme Film Sia the leading independent film distributor in Latvia, established in 2004 and owned by Acme, a Lithuanian based company. The rights for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are bought by the mother company in Lithuania. In 2007, Acme Film had 62 theatrical releases and a 25% market share. In 2008, the number of films released will be the same, but the revenue is expected to be higher. In 2008, Acme Film has had such European successes as French films ‘99 Francs’ and ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, and Spain’s ‘The Orphanage’. The last European hit was ‘2 Days in Paris’, released on one print on July 4, 2008 and still in release with 12,500 admissions thus far. ‘Cash’ was released on one print on August 1 and has 8,500 admissions so far. The results for ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Cash’ are comparable to recent US releases in Latvia such as ‘The X-Files 2’, and ‘Disaster Movie’. Recent European acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, ‘Paris’, ‘JCVD’, ‘The Duchess’, ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’, ‘Vinyan’, ‘Ne te retourne pas’ among others.
In 2007, European films had a 18.3% market share, US films a 66% market share, the rest of the world 10.1% and national films a 5.5% market share.
Ten independent distributors from Central and Eastern Europe attending the festival discussed the possibilities of theatrical distribution on a European level. Since the majority of European producers do not cross national borders, the meetings in San Sebastian were aimed to create possible platform and networking opportunities to improve the circulation of European productions.
• From Slovenia, Natasa Bucar, project manager of the cultural center Cankarjev Dom, a public institution that organizes many events promoting film, including the Ljubljana International Film Festival has been in art film distribution for the last 15 years. They distribute five to six titles every year to fill the gap in theatrical distribution of European high-profile films in Slovenia. Priority is given to established and not always well-known European and other international filmmakers. Their last distributed titles were Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, Tony Gatlif’s ‘Transylvania’, Bent Hamer’s ‘Factotum’, Dagur Kari’s ‘Dark Horse’, Corneliu Porumboiu’s ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, Roy Andersson’s ‘You, the Living’, Pascale Ferran’s ‘Lady Chatterley’, Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.
Besides Cankarjev Dom, there are only four arthouse cinemas in Slovenia. They need more along with arthouse cinema networks to enable better film promotion. In Slovenia, like everywhere in Europe, the number of cinema viewers has fallen drastically. Audiences focus on fewer films, the top 20 films take up to almost 50% of the market in Slovenia.
• From Hungary, Rita Linda Potyondi of Cirko Film - Másképp Foundation, the only Hungarian distributor to operate as a non-profit-foundation, they also own one theater in Budapest. Working on a showstring budget, they are guided by personal tastes and focus on international and particularly European ‘difficult’ auteur films with targeted or limited audiences, especially those that explore themes related to discriminated groups: homosexuals, handicapped people, ethnic or religious minorities and victims of family abuse. Their last releases include films by Robert Guédiguian, Bruno Dumont, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Baltasar Kormakur, Alain Corneau, Bruno Podalydès, Bertrand Bonello, Claire Denis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Catalin Mitulescu and Oskar Roehler. A recent surprise success was Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘Adam's Apples’ which became a sort of cult film. They also did well with Palme d’Or-winner ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, and ‘Persepolis’, Susanne Bier’s ‘After the Wedding, ‘Red Road’, ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, ‘A Soap’, ‘Our Daily Bread’. Upcoming are the Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's ‘Lorna’s Silence’, Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Belepine’s ‘Louise Michel’, Nic Balthazar’s ‘Ben X’, Simon Staho’s ‘Heaven’s Heart’, Ole Christian Madsen’s ‘Kira’s Reason’, Josef Fares’ ‘Leo’, Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘The Green Butchers’ and ‘Flickering Lights’, and Ole Bornedal’s ‘Just Another Love Story’.
• Czech distributor Artcam’s Managing Director Premysl Martinek knows he is fighting an uphill battle. In 2007 combined total admissions for Artcam's films were under 50,000 — 0.4 percent of the national total. By comparison, leading distributor Falcon drew more than 4,000,000 viewers with its films, nearly a third of the market. However Martinek is convinced there is room in the market for small distributors and is interested in the shared challenges, from the opportunities offered by digital distribution and video-on-demand to how to negotiate with producers on minimum guarantees. The main problem is cultivating an audience. “It's very different from in Holland or Germany, where there are audiences for arthouse films,” he says.
Most of Artcam's target market is in Prague, home to roughly 1,000,000 people where European film is largely restricted to a handful of single-screen theatres, while the city's 14 multiplexes focus primarily on Hollywood imports and successful local films.
Artcam has distributed some of the most widely heralded European films of recent years, including Ole Madsen's drama ‘Prague’, ‘Persepolis’ and ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The international success of such films has attracted the attention of larger distributors who are now crowding the arena. This year in Cannes when they tried to acquire ‘Waltz with Bashir’, there was greater competition. Martinek says arthouse is an important part of any film culture, and lack of access to European films is hurting Czech cinema because if they lack exposure to the cinema of other countries, from new ways of narration, they cannot develop their own cinema. The Czech Ministry of Education has introduced media studies to secondary school curricula to show young people that film is “not just fun and popcorn. It's also art.”
• Polish distribution company Gutek’s Jakub Duszyński, artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theater also programs for the different festivals held at the theatre and for Poland’s largest film event, the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specializing in this type of film.
Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. Every year, they distribute two or three films not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles are Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ and ‘Control’. Coming up are Polish features including Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Four Nights With Anna’, Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s ‘0_1_0’ and Katarzyna Adamik’s ‘Boisko bezdomnych’. They distribute almost exclusively European films. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they may be inspired by European literature.
• Slovakia’s Michal Drobny is marketing manager for Slovak distributor Continental Film. Slovakia sees 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 admissions in a year. A successful film for Continental is 10,000 to 15,000 admissions, as compared to one of the Harry Potter films which will have 200,000 admissions.
Continental releases 30 to 40 films a year and, thanks largely to its partnership with Warner Bros, enjoys a market share of 20%–30%. Continental also serve as Slovak distribution partners for Hollywood Classic Entertainment, which often buys rights to European and arthouse titles for several Eastern European territories at once. Continental acquires other titles through direct negotiation with the producers, usually from the Czech Republic. Drobny seldom attends festivals other than Berlin. This year is his first visit to San Sebastian.
Margins are tight for Continental, which is the second or third largest distributor in Slovakia. Continental is also a 30% shareholder in Slovak multiplex chain Cinemax, which owns nine cinemas countrywide. Continental also operated Bratislava's only arthouse cinema until it was turned into a congress hall.
Continental counts on public money for a small portion of its operating budget. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives support up to a maximum of SKK 160,000 (€5,500) for the distribution of European films which covers the cost of two or three prints. Continental also receives funding through the MEDIA automatic support scheme, typically receiving 40 to 60 cents per admission for European films.
Drobny says this public support is welcome but it's seldom enough to make a real difference to distributors. “A print for a US title costs $300 [€210]. For a European title, the cost is $1,000–1500 [€700–1,000] for the print, plus I still need to pay for the all the marketing materials and the cost of subtitles,” he says. “We can't be surprised that American films are everywhere.”
Not surprisingly few European films secure distribution in Slovakia. Cinemax promotes European and arthouse film through its Artmax program and screens independent films once a week, sometimes for free. Current titles in the selection include ‘Good Bye, Lenin!’, ‘The Secret Life of Words’, ‘The Science of Sleep’, ‘Volver’ and ‘Angel’. In cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, Continental and Cinemax are creating a Spanish Days celebration of Spanish cinema at Cinemax locations in November.
Drobny has hopes that digital cinema will help small distributors, but believes it will be five to ten years before the major studios settle on a common format. Even then, the costs of converting screens will be challenging for the private sector. “To install one 2K digital system costs SKK 3m–4m [€100,000–132,000] and we have 37 screens, so it's a lot of money,” he says. “We'd like to invest but it will take a long time to see a return on that investment.”
• From Romania, Transilvania Film, founded by Tudor Giurgiu and currently run by Stefan Bradea is one of the successful pioneers of arthouse film distribution in Romania. At first they distributed mainly British, German and Scandinavian features but gradually turned to quality Romanian films, genre pictures, even some mainstream American movies. Their eclectic selection is targeted to the highly educated public, basically university graduates under 35. Their latest premiere was ‘Non pensarci’ by Gianni Zanasi, an Italian comedy. Coming up are Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and a few Romanian films: Horatiu Malaele’s ‘Silent Wedding’, Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Hooked’ and Anca Damian’s debut, ‘Crossing Dates’. Their most profitable film was Tudor Giurgiu’s ‘Love Sick’ with 20,800 admissions and a box office gross of over €50,000. Other successful features were Neil Burger’s ‘The Illusionist’, with 11,500 admissions, and ‘Paris Je T’Aime’, with 9,715 admissions.
Film distribution business in Romania is rather unstable. There are eight active distributors bringing 150-160 features every year to 40-50 screens around the country. The number of distributors is growing and it is becoming a overserved field.
The Romanian mainstream public has little interest in European arthouse film and there are very few available screens, no arthouse cinemas and a poor DVD and TV arthouse market. And there is competition among distributors.
• Stefan Kitanov is the founder of the most important annual film event in Bulgaria, the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2001 he founded ART FEST Ltd., the company behind Sofia IFF. The same company is one of the key European film distributors in Bulgaria. ART FEST Ltd. has three components: production, distribution and exhibition.
Most recent releases include Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’, ‘The Palermo Shooting ‘by Wim Wenders and ‘Delta’ by Kornel Mundruczo. The most successful releases were Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Crossing the Bridge’ by Fatih Akin with 8,000 to 10,000 admissions.
Such a distribution business is not profitable. Festival audiences like European films but the general audience likes Hollywood films. Festival audiences don’t go to regular cinemas. The general audience goes to regular cinemas, therefore European films don’t go regularly to mainstream cinemas. There need to be events around the distribution of European films so that they be seen, such as a traveling package going to different towns, whether it is with 35mm or video screenings. There are less than 30 towns in Bulgaria with cinemas.
• From Estonia, Katrin Rajaare of Tallinnfilm, a state-owned company that used to produce the majority of Estonian films during the Soviet era has stopped production and sold its studio and now focuses on restoration of its archives. In 2004, Tallinnfilm began operating as an arthouse cinema and a year later started a distribution operation to ensure continuous programming for the cinema. Tallinnfilm acquires the rights to 12-16 films a year, mostly European films, with some titles from Asia and the US. As a state-owned company, Tallinnfilm buys mostly Estonian theatrical rights only. It is the second largest distribution company in Estonia, with a market share of 2.6%. In the Baltic countries, all rights are acquired for smaller films and shared with Lithuania’s Skalvija and Latvia’s Kino Riga. Their biggest hit in 2007 was ‘La Vie en Rose’ with 9,606 paid admissions. This film was number 43 in the 2007 national box office chart. Only US and Estonian films were at the top of the chart. Recent acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ and ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ to be released around Christmas and the beginning of 2009.
There is a small, steady market for arthouse titles in the capital city of Tallinn, but the recent opening of a five-screen miniplex in the second city, Tartu (96,000 inhabitants), has brought hope from the outskirts as well. There are very few towns where you can screen European films, although the cinemas have received public support for technical equipment and should screen arthouse titles, but the reality is that you can’t force cinemas to screen certain films that won’t bring in audiences.
• From Lithuania Skalvija, an exhibitor since 1962 under the name of Planeta became the only arthouse in Lithuania in 1992. It has only one screen and 88 seats and is subsidized by the Vilnius Municipality. Located in the city center; it promotes quality cinema and pays special attention to young audiences and education. Its market share as an exhibitor is 1.11%. Two major multiplex theatres share 70 % of the entire Lithuanian exhibition market. Greta Akcijonaite heads its recent arthouse film distribution activity. Over the last two years they have released 10 films theatrically, and another 5 have been acquired for Lithuania and/or all the Baltic States. As a very small and specialized distributor, Skalvija has a market share of 0.64%. Most recent releases were the Danish film ‘Adam's Apples’, with almost 8,000 admissions and the Spanish film ‘Dark Blue Almost Black’ with over 6000 admissions. Recent acquisitions include Sam Garbarski’s ‘Irina Palm’ (Belgium/UK), Kornel Mundruczo’s ‘Delta’ (Hungary), the Palme d’Or winner ‘The Class’ (France) by Laurent Cantet, Thomas Clay’s ‘Soy Cowboy’ (Thailand/UK), Ruben Östlund’s’ Involuntary’ (Sweden), and Ilmar Raag’s ‘The Class’ (Estonia).
The market share of the European films released theatrically was 25% in 2007 although the share of admissions to European films was only 11%. There is definitely a lack of venues for screening European and quality films.
• Latvia’s Oskars Killo heads Acme Film Sia the leading independent film distributor in Latvia, established in 2004 and owned by Acme, a Lithuanian based company. The rights for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are bought by the mother company in Lithuania. In 2007, Acme Film had 62 theatrical releases and a 25% market share. In 2008, the number of films released will be the same, but the revenue is expected to be higher. In 2008, Acme Film has had such European successes as French films ‘99 Francs’ and ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, and Spain’s ‘The Orphanage’. The last European hit was ‘2 Days in Paris’, released on one print on July 4, 2008 and still in release with 12,500 admissions thus far. ‘Cash’ was released on one print on August 1 and has 8,500 admissions so far. The results for ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Cash’ are comparable to recent US releases in Latvia such as ‘The X-Files 2’, and ‘Disaster Movie’. Recent European acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, ‘Paris’, ‘JCVD’, ‘The Duchess’, ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’, ‘Vinyan’, ‘Ne te retourne pas’ among others.
In 2007, European films had a 18.3% market share, US films a 66% market share, the rest of the world 10.1% and national films a 5.5% market share.
- 10/11/2008
- Sydney's Buzz
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