CANNES DAILIES:
Click on the tabs below to see the show daily features from Cannes.
1 -- Summer Fest Preview | 2 -- Spotlight: Turkey | 3 -- Spotlight: Irish Cinema | 4 -- Spotlight: Colombia | 5 -- Hong Kong Cinema at 100 | 6 -- Spotlight: Spain | 7 -- Spotlight: Belgian Cinema | 8 -- Spotlight: Brazil | 9 -- Scout & About: Flanders | 10 -- Scandinavian Film / Svensk 90th Anniversary | 11 -- Spotlight: Egyptian Cinema | 12 -- Action! North America | 13 -- Fandango 20th Anniversary |
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Summer Fest Preview
Small fests draw auds and sponsors
As film fests grow bigger and more ambitious and squabble over a limited number of available films, it's easy to forget the end user in all of this: the audiences. They, by and large, just want to watch good movies and don't much care if that thriller they just enjoyed had its premiere a month earlier in Dubrovnik, Auckland or Shanghai.
• PHOTOS: Fest circuit highlights
Spotlight: Turkey
Turkey embraces east and west
It is a measure of Turkey's strategically important geographic position that when U.S. President Barack Obama visited the country in April, it could be counted as both the final leg of his European tour and his first visit to a Muslim country. (Left to right: "Three Monkeys" and "Recep Ivedik 2")
• Turkey's rising film talent
Spotlight: Irish Cinema
Irish film soars past old limitations
The country is finally achieving a critical mass of filmmaking talent to match the kind of influence, disproportionate to its small size, that it has always enjoyed in the fields of literature and theater. (Left to right: Directors Lenny Abrahamson, John Carney, Lance Daly, Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson.
• 'Kells' draws global talent
Spotlight: Colombia
Film business moves forward
Generous state support and soaring private investment are spurring further growth in Colombia's film industry.
• Reversing a lawless image
• Fears of monopoly alleviated
Case Studies:
• Los Viajes Del Vientoa
• La Sangre Y La Lluvia
• Del Amor Y Otros Demonios
Hong Kong Cinema at 100
China changes Hong Kong film biz
These days, the big development in the biz is China, and the inflow of coin from across the border in mainland China to Hong Kong (which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997) is keeping Hong Kong's biz busy. (Left: "Vengeance")
• China central to H.K.'s future
• Spotlight: Hong Kong talent
• Hong Kong cinema timeline
Spotlight: Spain
Spain tackles range of genres
This decade, especially in the last three years, Spanish genre fare — encompassing horror, thrillers, sci-fi, actioners, even epics — has become a brand, resonating with buyers and audiences worldwide. (Left: "Agora")
• Spain sees 3-D as savior
• 'Tetro' partners Spain, Argentina
• Spain takes steps to tackle piracy
• 10 Spanish directors on the verge
Case Studies:
Variety reveals the backstories of key upcoming releases, from inception to completion.
Spotlight: Belgian Cinema
Tax shelter weathers storm
Since its inception at the end of 2004, Belgium's tax shelter has transformed the local film economy, creating thousands of jobs and channeling an estimated E150 million ($194 million) of new funding into audiovisual production. (Left: "Mr. Nobody" stretched its budget by using incentives.)
• Films struggle to attract locals
• 5 rising Belgian film talents
Spotlight: Brazil
Film biz weathers downturn
While the global economic crisis drains credit and private equity from film and presales markets elsewhere, a wave of optimism has swept Brazil's film industry, with some forecasting local production could make it through the downturn virtually unharmed. (Left: "Jean Charles")
• 'You 2' pumps up box office
• Ten up-and-coming talents
Scout & About: Flanders
Films benefit from foreign dialects
The Flemish director Stijn Coninx never doubted that "Soeur sourire," his biopic of Belgium's chart-topping singing nun Jeanine Deckers, could be anything other than a French-speaking film.
• Flanders enjoys animation boom
• Rival cities join forces
Scandinavian Film / Svensk 90th Anniversary
Von Trier rethinks horror
Danish helmer shakes off doldrums with "Antichrist."
• Scandi films adapt to English
• Profile: Nutley and Bergstrom
• Svensk broadens global ambitions
• Cannes pays tribute to Bergman
Spotlight: Egyptian Cinema
New wave opts for edgier films
A new generation of Egyptian filmmakers is helping to edge the Arab world's oldest and most established film industry back to something resembling its golden era of more than half a century ago.
• Hamed tackles movie taboos
• Sharif guides next generation
Action! North America
Filmmakers frugal in tough times
From jetting to the outer limits of Canada's cold wilderness ("Sleepwalking" in Saskatchewan, pictured left) to building sets with local talent in steamy Louisiana, film producers have two things in mind when scouting locations: Costs, and what can make my life easier.
• B.C. lures big productions
• North American rebate roundup
• California awaits incentives
Fandango 20th Anniversary
Fandango's 20-year evolution
When Italian producer Domenico Procacci started his Fandango shingle in 1989, it was a commitment not just to a new business but also to personal growth. Left: Valeria Golino in "Respiro," produced by Procacci.
• Procacci, Portobello in pix pact
• Fandango 20-year timeline
CANNES BUMPER:
ON THE CROISETTE:
Celebrated auteurs clash at Cannes
This year's especially auteur-heavy Cannes Film Festival may read like a greatest-hits compilation — or, depending on individual taste, a laundry list — of Croisette vets. Either way, fest director Thierry Fremaux isn't apologizing
FILM FINANCE UPDATE:
Film equity players
Private equity — mostly from high-net-worth individuals — is still available. Sure, Bernie Madoff may have dented a few pockets, but highfliers love to head to Hollywood. Left: Alcon Entertainment's "The Book of Eli."
TERRITORY DISTRIBUTION REPORTS
Ailing film market sees prices plunge
The international movie biz that's regrouping at Cannes is down but certainly not out.
Still, Cannes faces a paradox: Many pure-play distributors who need product can't afford to pay much. Those who can — Europe's giants, for instance — often have moved into production: At Cannes, they hardly need to buy at all.
CANNES PREVIEW:
What: Cannes Film Fest & Market | When: May 13-24 | Where: Cannes, France | Web: festival-cannes.com
Indie film biz wrestles bear market
It can't get any worse, can it?
That's the question sales agents are anxiously asking themselves as they gird for Cannes, torn between dread that the market might have much further to fall, and hope that it might finally have hit bottom.
• Indies navigate shifting film business
• Chart: Pickups since Toronto 2008
• Cannes market floor filled up
SHOWBIZ TRAVELER:
Airlines and hotels step up offerings
With cutbacks ever looming and expense accounts on a diet, finding a great travel deal is almost as important as scoring an original script.
• In the air with Helen Lee-Kim
• Gadgets for the showbiz traveler
• Day Tripper: Cannes
• Style: Cannes
SHOWBIZ TRAVELER UPDATE:
No downturn for old money Monaco
Monaco's reputation as the planet's playground for the uber-rich and famous is epitomized during the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, an ultra-glam event that traditionally overlaps the Cannes Film Festival.
• Chateau reborn in South of France
• Style: Monaco
• French jazz festival returns to its roots
MARKET & EVENT LISTINGS:
Events are strictly by invitation only or require tickets. All info is subject to change.
• Cannes Event Highlights
MARKET LISTINGS:
This guide focuses on exhibitors' contact info and products. Enter a keyword to search the listings by company, product or both.
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