NEWS Weide revives Curb Y


Vonnegut doc Robert B Weide, whose Woody Allen: A Documentary is in official selection, is looking to revive his long-gestating feature doc on author Kurt Vonnegut. Weide (the director of TV’s our Enthusiasm) was a


close friend and collaborator of Vonnegut, who died in 2007. Buoyed by the success of his


Woody Allen doc, which has been sold widely in the international marketplace by HanWay, the US film-maker now hopes to find the financing for the Vonnegut doc. “All my documentaries are on


heroes of mine. Vonnegut was my literary hero just as the Marx brothers and Woody [Allen] were among my cinematic icons. [The Vonnegut film] has been stalled because of a lack of funding.” Weide started filming the


Vonnegut film in 1988. Later, he took the author back to his home town of Indianapolis to film him there and continued to shoot footage until Vonnegut’s death. Geoffrey Macnab


Dignity is Fine with Stern


BY JEREMY KAY Maggie Monteith’s Los Angeles- based Dignity Film Finance has unveiled a development slate of four fi lms led by Joshua Michael Stern rom-com Closer To Fine. The pipeline includes an adap-


tation of chef Anthony Bourdain’s Bone In The Throat, comedy Late Bloomer and action-comedy Spy Vs Stu. Dignity Film Finance aims to


finance and produce eight to 10 fi lms a year in the $6m-$15m range.


Les Films du Losange celebrates 50 years


BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW Paris-based Les Films du Losange, which premieres it latest produc- tion Michael Haneke’s Love (Amour) in Competition today, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. French New Wave directors


Barbet Schroeder and Eric Rohmer set up the company in 1962, which as well as their own fi lms also produced those of Roger Planchon, Jacques Rivette and Jacques Doillon. “It was a period when a number


of fi lm-makers of the New Wave, or close to the New Wave, set up their own companies,” says Losange managing director Mar- garet Ménégoz, citing Francois Truffaut’s Les Films du Carrosse, Claude Berri’s Renn Productions and Claude Zidi’s ZDF. “Not only did they revolutionise


the way of fi lming, they also broke away from traditional ways of pro- ducing. Les Films du Losange was


shut the offi ce for two months and take Ménégoz to Berlin to act as his assistant on the set of The Mar- quise Of O, his adaptation of Hein- rich von Kleist’s play. The fi lm, starring Bruno Ganz


and Edith Clever, won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1976 but Rohmer did not attend to pick up his prize. “Eric Rohmer never put a foot in


Margaret Ménégoz


born out of a strong desire to be independent,” she adds. Ménégoz joined Losange in the


mid-1970s when shooting com- mi tment s meant nei ther Schroeder nor Rohmer could over- see the running of the company. “Barbet Schroeder was prepar-


ing Maitresse and Eric Rohmer, The Marquise Of O,” recalls Ménégoz. “They took me on to keep the place ticking over.” In the end, Rohmer decided to


Les Arcs adds Bourdon, Kaludjercic


BY ANDREAS WISEMAN The Les Arcs European Film Festi- val has added new staff to its pro- fessional events team: former ACE general manager Sophie Bourdon and Paris Project organiser Vanja Kaludjercic. This year’s festival, which runs


December 15-22, will feature a focus on Belgian cinema. Artistic director Frederic Boyer returns and will again run the successful Work In Progress sidebar. The application deadline for the


Coproduction Village and Work In Progress event is September 21.


Vanja Kaludjercic


a festival — he couldn’t see the point in them,” she says. “The actors were performing in Berlin so I picked up the award with the cin- ematographer Nestor Almendros. Cannes was very different back then. Actors could walk down the Croisette without being mobbed. It was a lot more intimate.” Since then, Ménégoz has been a


regular attendee, sitting on the jury presided over by Roman Polanski in 1991 and also accom- panying Losange pictures such as Haneke’s Hidden and Palme d’Or- winner The White Ribbon.


Film Base travels to


Cambodia German production house Film Base Berlin is developing Cambodia-themed drama Game Park, to be directed by Vanessa Ly. Film Base’s Mathias


Schwerbrock is aiming to set the film up as a co-production with France. It will be mostly filmed in France, with a few days of location shooting in Asia. Scripted by Ly and Beirut-


based French writer Charlotte Gachon, it revolves around three generations of a French- Cambodian family in Grenoble. “It is a drama with thriller


elements,” said Schwerbrock. “The 17-year-old son spends all his time in front of a video game, but starts to ask questions when he sees parallels between the game and his family’s past.” Film Base co-produced Don 2


and recently provided production services for Ryoo Seung-wan’s In Berlin.


Liz Shackleton Iron Sky gets prequel and sequel


BY GEOFFREY MACNAB The Nazis may be on their way back to the moon. Blind Spot Pic- tures’ Tero Kaukomaa, the pro- ducer of cult Third-Reich-in-space movie Iron Sky, has confi rmed he is plotting not one but two more fi lms. “It is on the table very actively.


Sophie Bourdon Kaludjercic will co-ordinate the


Coproduction Village, while Bour- don will organise conferences and public relations.


We have good plans for both an Iron Sky prequel and a sequel,” he said. The fi rst Iron Sky fi lm, partially


fi nanced through crowd funding, has proved a social-media phe- nomenon. Stealth Media has sold


it all over the world. The new fi lms are likely to be financed in the same way. Kaukomaa and Iron Sky direc-


tor Timo Vuorensola are also developing further sci-fi projects both for fi lm and TV. The producer recently joined


forces with members of the Iron Sky team to form VFX company Troll. Meanwhile, Kaukomaa is also


producing Aku Louhimies’ crime thriller Never Forever, now in post- production. Nordisk has already taken Scandinavian rights.


OLYMPIA 3 - TODAY @ 10 am SCREENING


■ 10 Screen International at Cannes May 20 , 2012 6Sales_Screen_20th_218x75.indd 1


Offi ce: Residence du Grand Hotel. ALBATROS. 45, La Croisette. 2nd Floor. Offi ce number: +33 493 685 693


10/05/12 15:05


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