You are viewing the archive: “Zurich Film Festival”

Global Showbiz Briefs: Tokyo, Zurich Festivals; News Corp’s Binding Bid

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 11:52pm PDTTags: Consolidated Media Holdings, Global Showbiz Briefs, Trouble With The Curve, Zurich Film Festival

Tokyo Hosts ‘Trouble With The Curve’
Clint Eastwood-starrer Trouble With The Curve will close the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 28. Directed by frequent Eastwood collaborator Robert Lorenz, the film stars Eastwood as an aging baseball scout and Amy Adams as his estranged daughter. Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard and Robert Patrick also star. Warner Bros has set the U.S. release for September 21. The festival opens October 20 with Paramount’s 3D Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away, exec produced by James Cameron and directed by Andrew Adamson.

News Corp Presses Binding Offer
News Corp has moved to solidify its hold on Australian pay-TV platform Foxtel and the Fox Sports channels with a binding takeover bid for Consolidated Media Holdings. CMH owns 25% of Foxtel and 50% of Fox Sports. News is offering $A3.45 ($3.55) per share, valuing the company controlled by James Packer at $1.94 billion. That’s a bit less than News Corp’s non-binding cash offer made in June, but shareholders will receive a 6 cents per share dividend. Said Packer, exec chairman of 50% shareholder Consolidated Press Holdings: “This is a great outcome for CMH shareholders and for News and it reflects a fair price.” There was no immediate response from Seven Group Holdings, which has a 25.3% stake in CMH and has asked regulators whether it could buy the balance. A decision is due September 13. News owns 25% of Foxtel and the other 50% of Fox Sports. If the News deal proceeds it’s expected to close in November. Citi media analyst Justin Diddams told Deadline it’s unlikely the Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven Group will make a counter-offer. -Don Groves
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Global Showbiz Briefs: Zurich Master Classes, Oliver Père To Arte France

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday August 27, 2012 @ 11:55pm PDTTags: Frank Darabont, Locarno Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival

Frank Darabont, Michael Shamberg, Pietro Scalia Set For Zurich Master Classes
The Zurich Film Festival today announced this year’s headliners for its Master Class series. Instructors will include writer-director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Walking Dead); producer Michael … Read More »

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Zurich Film Festival: Jeff Nichols’ ‘Take Shelter’ Wins Best Feature Award

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday October 1, 2011 @ 6:43pm PDTTags: Awards, Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter, Zurich Film Festival

The 7th Zurich Film Festival announced its award winners tonight, with Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter taking best feature film. This year’s edition also was marked by an appearance from Roman Polanski, who received the fest’s lifetime achievement award Tuesday. A list of competition winners follows:

International Feature Film Competition
Take Shelter by Jeff Nichols (U.S.)

Outstanding Performance By An Actor
Deon Lotz for Beauty

Outstanding Performance By An Actress
Corinne Masiero for Louise Wimmer

International Documentary Film Competition
Buck by Cindy Meehl (U.S.)

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‘Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir’ Is Surprise Addition To Zurich Film Festival

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 27, 2011 @ 1:30pm PDTTags: Roman Polanski, Zurich Film Festival

Roman Polanski Attending Zurich Film Festival

There’s another reason Roman Polanski has returned to the Zurich Film Festival, where he was arrested two years ago by authorities who tried unsuccessfully to bring him back to the U.S. to face a … Read More »

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Roman Polanski Attending Zurich Film Festival

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 15, 2011 @ 3:09am PDTTags: Carnage, Lifetime Achievement Award, Roman Polanski, Zurich Film Festival
Mike Fleming

Roman Polanski, who was placed under house arrest by Switzerland when he came to attend the Zurich Film Festival in 2009, is returning to the festival this year to accept a lifetime achievement award. According to an announcement, Polanski will not be doing interviews during the festival but will be going. Festival organizers also will not speak about the legal case. Last time, Polanski never made it to the festival, arrested at the airport and taken into provisional custody. Swiss authorities eventually freed him and declined an extradition request from the United States, where Polanski skipped out on a conviction for engaging in a sex act with an underage girl in 1978. Polanski’s latest film, Carnage, was accepted as the opening-night film of the New York Film Festival. He most certainly is not expected to attend that gathering. Here’s the announcement: Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Switzerland, Australia, Italy

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday September 7, 2011 @ 3:00am PDTTags: Paul Haggis, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Venice Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival

Zurich Film Festival To Present Paul Haggis with Golden Eye
The festival will also screen a retrospective of the Oscar-winning screenwriter and filmmaker’s work, which includes Million Dollar Baby, Crash and In the Valley of Elah. In addition, Haggis will lead one of the festival’s master class workshops, where he will discuss his work and career. Previous honorees at the festival, which will run Sept. 22-Oct. 2, include Roman Polanski, Milos Forman and Oliver Stone.

Universal, Sony Merge Home Entertainment In Australia
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures International Entertainment will combine operations in Australia in 2012 for the distribution of DVD and Blu-ray movies and TV shows. The new unit will be headed by Jim Bachelor, currently managing director for Universal Pictures Australia and New Zealand; and Kim Overall, managing director, Australia and New Zealand, SPHE, who will be in an advisory role. The unnamed joint venture, announced today by Eddie Cunningham, president of UPIE, and Matt Brown, EVP, international for SPHE, must still meet antitrust guidelines in Australia. Read More »

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Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ To Open Zurich

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 30, 2011 @ 12:27am PDTTags: Contagion, Steven Soderbergh, Zurich Film Festival

Zurich, Switzerland (August 30, 2011) – The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today the members of the two juries that will preside over the international competition categories at the 7th edition of the Festival, which takes place September 22 – October 2, 2011. Academy Award® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix” trilogy, “Mystic River,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It”) will serve as Jury President for the ZFF’s international section. The Festival will also be honoring Fishburne with a special achievement award.

Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” which stars Fishburne, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law has been selected as the Festival’s opening night film and will screen at the Corso Cinema on the evening of Thursday, September 22nd. “Contagion” is an action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak. The film is a Warner Bros. Pictures release, directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh also produced the film with Gregory Jacobs, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. Scott Z. Burns wrote the screenplay.

Multiple Academy Award® winner and humanitarian Sean Penn will be in Zurich this year to accept the Festival’s coveted Golden Icon Award.

The 2011 Zurich Film Festival jury members are:

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