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Berlin Today Award: Apply by 17 Jan 2008
The BERLIN TODAY AWARD is looking for the five best short film ideas based on the theme "My Wall". The Berlin Wall – and its fall – will serve as the emblem of the competition. Win a residency – make a short film: If the application passes the first selection round, the talent will be invited to participate in a producers' meeting during the Berlinale Talent Campus. It's a big opportunity for young directors >>>

WATCH 'SHOOT ON SIGHT' TRAILER
 
EXCLUSIVE: An Interview with UK's Film Distribution Chief
As India gears up to capture a bigger slice of UK's £800 million box office collections, we interview the Chief of UK's Film Distribution Association, Mark Batey. 500 films from 33 countries were released in UK. USA was number one, followed by UK and India closely at number two and three, he says  >>>

EXCLUSIVE: An Interview with Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia, the director of acclaimed 'Far North' and 'The Warrior', discusses his films and reveals his tremendous admiration for Irrfan Khan. He says he 'just needs to find the right story to have Bollywood stars in his film.' He talks about his dream to work with SRK and Big B >>>

EXCLUSIVE: An Interview with Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Adoor Gopalakrishnan represents the best of Indian cinema during the last 30 years. In an interview with us, he talks about his new film 'Four Women' and why he hates the term 'Bollywood' . Iranians know the formula of how to be successful at the festivals,he says >>>

Florence Award for Chitra Palekar's 'Maati Maaye'
Chitra Palekar's 'Maati Maaye' (A Grave-keeper's Tale) won the top prize at the River to River (Florence Indian Film Festival in Italy). A  number of shorts were also screened at the film festival. Read film journalist Rakesh Mathur's report from Florence, along with photographs. Also, see the list of award winners >>>

From Bachchan's Last Lear to 'Porn' Lee
Actor Amitabh Bachchan says 'My best work is yet to come'. But in the same vein he pleads audiences 'my future is in your hands.' On the other hand, 'Caution, Lust' 's director Ang Lee is in trouble. Read Rakesh Mathur's lucid report  about the London Film Festival glimpses. Also, see his pictures >>>
Funds: Kick-off for the Berlinale Co-Production Market
New round for Fund Submissions and networking has begun as experienced producers and sponsors from around the world gear up for 5th Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 10-12, 2008). Budgets ranging between two and ten million euros >>>

Apply for Film Funds
Are you a documentary film-maker? Are you a short-maker? Are you a budding film-maker? Are you an established film-maker? Our honest answer is look for opportunities. For example, we have detailed some of the most reliable film funds here. It's time to apply for film funds. Click >>>

Golden Globe Awards 2008: Winners Announced


Sunday, 13 January 2008. Hollywood — The winners for Golden Globes 2008, the second biggest awards show in Hollywood after the Academy Awards, were announced  in a press conference. 'Atonement' and 'Sweeney Todd' were the big winners. Daniel Day Lewis and Julie Christie were declared best actors. Read the complete list >>>

Goa Film Festival 23 Nov- 3 Dec 2007
Around 200 films are being screened at the 38th International Film Festival of India. However, the festival lacks vibrancy and colour, marred by controversy >>>

Mayor of London charms Bollywood
London and Mumbai will celebrate the special relationship their film production industries share, with the signing of an historic city-to-city agreement >>>

EU Video-on-demand
By 2011, over 20 per cent of Western European households will have true video-on-demand, a 30 per cent growth on current levels, says a report. A trend- film industry can't ignore >>>

$19 million for OSO
Shahrukh Khan's 'Om Shanti Om' became the first Indian film to gross over US$19 million worldwide in its first week.'who's bigger'; Tom Cruise or Shahrukh Khan>>>

Tokyo: Shefali wins
Indian actress Shefali Shah won 'Best Actress' award for her powerful performance in Feroze Abbas Khan's 'Gandhi My Father' at Tokyo International Film festival, Sunday, 28 October >>>

'Brick Lane' Premiere
This film, based on Monica Ali's controversial novel, was premiered at the London Film Festival. Indian actors Tannishtha and Satish Kaushik play the lead roles. Rakesh Mathur's exclusive >>>

'Shoot On Sight' at Dubai: This film by Jag Mundhra has been invited for a gala screening at the 4th Dubai International Film Festival. Left, Naseer and Greta Scachi play husband and wife in the film >>>

Film Festival for emerging filmmakers: submissions open
The London-based 'Birds Eye View Film Festival 2008' is looking for documentaries, features, short films, new media artworks and more for their 2008 Festival. All events will be held at leading London film venues. Last date for international filmmakers is in November this year >>>

HBO's White Light/Black Rain
Featuring interviews with 14 atomic-bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the seige, White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki provides a detailed exploration of these two bombings and their aftermath >>>

Your guide to UK's Tax Relief for films
For films that cost up to £20 million, the Film Production Company (FPC) can claim an enhanced deduction of 100% with a payable cash element of 25% of UK qualifying film production expenditure. For films that cost over £20 million, the FPC can claim an enhanced deduction of 80%. Read the guide >>>

Pakistan's Maheen Zia wins 50,000 Euros Film Award
Match Factor, a story about the power of prejudices and the strength of trust by Pakistan's Maheen Zia, is the winner of 50,000 Euros 'Berlin Today Award'. Twelve young filmmakers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Israel etc. were selected from 110 entries, representing 46 countries >>>

'The Golden Age' Premiere at Toronto Festival
Shekhar Kapur's 'The Golden Age', the follow up to his 1998 Academy- award nominated 'Elizabeth', will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September as a Gala presentation, the highest-profile slot at the Canuck festival. Early reports suggest 'the film is poised for Oscars'. Film's music has been co-composed by AR Rahman  >>>

BFI's rare collection of films on India prior to 1947
'Before Midnight' is an exceptional collection of films which document India prior to partition in 1947 and the vast majority are being made available to the public for the first time in London from 1^st August 2007, celebrating the 60^th anniversary of independence >>>

Antara Bhardwaj's debut with 'Telling Lies'
With 'Telling Lies', a suspense thriller, the US-based Antara Bhardwaj has made her debut as a film director. 'The film has generated quite an interest' says Bhardwaj. Her cast includes Melanie Brown (Mel B or Scary Spice), Jason Flemyng, Jenna Harrison, Kelly Stables, Matt D'Angelo and Algina Lipskis >>>

Exciting times! Entertainment boom to hit $2 trillion
The entertainment sectors in India, China, Brazil and Russia are the new engine drivers of the world's entertainment and media industry, taking it to $2 trillion in 2011, says a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The film industry is over the moon after the publication of the report on June 21>>>

£55 million 'Film India Company' listed on AIM London
A new Indian corporate Film India Company Ltd. (FIC), listed its shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange on June 18. FIC, promoted by Raghav Bahl of TV 18 Network, raised £55 million through shares before its listing >>>

BBC makes a film on Amitabh Bachchan
One of BBC's senior most programmers Alan Yentob, pictured right, is making a film on Indian legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, he told India-EU Film Initiative. The filming has already started and it would be screened this November. Mr. Yentob attended the IIFA awards with his crew >>>

Interactive Bollywood Map of London
In 2006, 40 Bollywood films were shot in London. Britain's capital has inspired many Bollywood film-makers to tell their stories and the city's landmarks have provided the backdrop to some of the most popular Bollywood films. Film London has launched an interactive Bollywood Map' of  London >>>

Retrospective on Bimal Roy in Italy
River to River - Florence Indian Film Festival, will pay homage to one of India's great film directors, Bimal Roy, informs festival's director in an interview with India-EU Film Initiative. A new category on Indian animation and ad films has been added this year. TV serials could also be considered >>>

Indian Media $22.5 billion by 2011
Film-making in India will multiply manifold in the coming months and years. India’s media and entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, according to a latest study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest accounting firm Click >>>

Of Such Times

Vandana Kohli's 'OF SUCH TIMES', a half-an-hour documentary in English on India's modern women, was screened recently in London at the Nehru Centre, the cultural wing of India's High Commission in London, and at Capital Woman, a conference organised by the Mayor of London, in March 2007. In an interview with India-EU Film Initiative, film's 35-year-old director talks of modern India and her vision. 

Ravi goes to school
This 30-minute film, by Anu Menon revolves around six-year-old Ravi from a poor background, whose life is transformed when Pooja, a modern Mumbai girl, moves into the apartment block with her husband, Rohit, in the Southern city of India, Hyderabad. In an interview with India-EU Film Initiative (www.iefilmi.com), Anu Menon shares her experience of making 'Ravi goes to School'. "It was exhausting as well as exhilarating.

World's First Free Film
Filmmakers all over the world are leading a campaign against piracy. But there's a filmmaker from Dorset in England who loves piracy. He wants audiences to watch "Circumference", his latest feature film on modern romance, free. "We are encouraging our audience to copy the film and share it. We want people to pirate this film."

Meet Tim Clague, film director and BAFTA nominated writer.

Are you there? Kya Tum Ho?
Director Anish Ahluwalia's first feature film in Hindi 'KYA TUM HO', a surprise success after its screening in the contemporary Indian cinema section at the Kerala Film Festival, is aiming to be featured at the forthcoming festivals outside India.

KYA TUM HO interweaves the story of three protagonists- Dr. Pande, an academician, Anita, a young widow and Amrit a young man- who are trying to navigate through their eventless solitude. The narrative of the film flows in different times and spaces, from present to past and real to virtual. The plot becomes a collage of the protagonists' struggle to exorcise the scars of a violent past and attempts to belong to somebody meaningfully.

Bengalis feel “At Home in London”
A 50-minute documentary film, “At Home in London”, which charts the lives of first generation British Bengalis and reveals how they came to be living in London, is being offered to secondary schools across the capital in a bid to help the next generation of Londoners understand what makes their city tick.

The film, directed by Tapash Sen Gupta and produced by Bithika Raha 'Basu', is made up of interviews with Indian and Bangladeshi Bengalis from all walks of life who came to Britain from the 1950s to the 1980s. They have been recorded talking about their memories and personal experiences.