‘Of Money and Blood’ Selected at Venice Film Festival
Canal+ and Studiocanal have announced the official selection of Of Money and Blood (12 x 52’) at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. A Canal+ Creation Originale, based on Fabrice Arfi’s book of the same name, the series will be broadcast exclusively on Canal+ in France this autumn.
Xavier Giannoli’s first series is inspired by the story of the carbon tax scam. Customs inspector Simon Weynachter (Vincent Lindon) sets out to track down Jérôme Attias (Niels Schneider) and Alain Fitoussi (Ramzy Bedia), who are at the head of one of the biggest financial swindles of all time.
Of Money and Blood is adapted and written by Xavier Giannoli, who also directed the series alongside Frédéric Planchon, and is produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films. Screenplay by Xavier Giannoli and Jean Baptiste Delafon.
The series is distributed internationally by Studiocanal.
Canal+ and Studiocanal have announced the official selection of Of Money and Blood (12 x 52’) at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. A Canal+ Creation Originale, based on Fabrice Arfi’s book of the same name, the series will be broadcast exclusively on Canal+ in France this autumn.
Xavier Giannoli’s first series is inspired by the story of the carbon tax scam. Customs inspector Simon Weynachter (Vincent Lindon) sets out to track down Jérôme Attias (Niels Schneider) and Alain Fitoussi (Ramzy Bedia), who are at the head of one of the biggest financial swindles of all time.
Of Money and Blood is adapted and written by Xavier Giannoli, who also directed the series alongside Frédéric Planchon, and is produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films. Screenplay by Xavier Giannoli and Jean Baptiste Delafon.
The series is distributed internationally by Studiocanal.
‘Tel Aviv Beirut’ 35th Tokyo International Film Festival
‘Tel Aviv Beirut’ Director Michale Boganim on Trying to Remain Neutral While in a War Zone
‘Tel Aviv Beirut’ Director Michale Boganim on Trying to Remain Neutral While in a War Zone
Cyprus looks for a piece of the action with ‘Olivewood’ movie industry
The island nation is wooing international film makers as a sunny and cheaper alternative to Los Angeles
The Telegraph Online © 2021. Telegraph Media Group Ltd. The island is actively wooing international film makers as a sunny and low-cost alternative to LA
The Mediterranean island of Cyprus is shooting for the stars in its latest bid to attract investment, offering “aggressive” incentives to promote a fledgling film industry the locals dub 'Olivewood'. In an effort to woo international movie makers, the government is offering cash rebates of up to 35pc to production companies, with further tax discounts on the table for infrastructure and equipment investment.
And while some European countries offer even greater savings, the Cypriots have another not-so-secret weapon in their arsenal: sunshine.
Lefteris Eleftheriou, chairman of the Cyprus Film Commission, says: “In effect, Cyprus is one big studio with 320 days of sunshine and vastly different natural backdrops to choose from, all within a one or two hours’ drive.
“Also, because our island is on the same latitude as LA, the angle and the quality of light is the same, so you can shoot something in Cyprus at 10am and then shoot another scene at 10am in LA and the shadows cast on the windows and the streets will be the same. Not many countries have this.”
Cyprus’s film ambitions were first revealed in 2018 when invitations were delivered to more than 40 directors across the globe, one of whom was Dimitri Logothetis, the man behind Kickboxer: Vengeance, a remake of the martial arts classic that saw the return of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
“I didn’t want to go to Cyprus,” he admits. “I had just returned to LA from a three-week vacation in Greece, but my friend and fellow producer kept bugging me about it so we went to hear about this cash rebate programme. While the minister of finance was taking questions, I looked at him and said, ‘Well, I have this film and it’s ready to go. Who do I need to talk to?’ Everyone fell quiet. They weren’t expecting any of the producers they’d brought in to be ready to produce.”
The film Logothetis had ready to go was Jiu Jitsu, a $25m action movie starring Nicolas Cage as a martial arts expert battling an alien. It is now the first Hollywood film to be shot entirely in Cyprus for more than four decades and it was released by Paramount Home Entertainment in the US and Canada last month.
“I couldn’t have filmed Jiu Jitsu in America,” Logothetis says. “Everything is a lot more expensive and to film in Cyprus was at least 50pc or 60pc less than it would cost to shoot in the States.” For Logothetis the biggest draw was the cash rebate offered by the Republic of Cyprus.
“As cash rebates go, 35pc across the board, including ‘above the line’ costs, is a very aggressive rebate. Cyprus needs to keep that edge, and it makes economic sense to do so because for every dollar or euro a country spends on a film, they get seven in return. That’s why Ireland is doing so tremendously well. Films boost the economy and production teams inject a lot of cash into economies because we have to pay for hotels, food, car, fuel, buildings and construction amongst a host of other things.”
Although filmed in Cyprus, Jiu Jitsu is set in Myanmar, and with Cage involved in the project, the film garnered much local media interest during the six weeks of filming in summer 2019. However, Cage is not the first A-lister to film on the island.
The first Hollywood film shot in Cyprus, The Beloved starring Raquel Welch, was filmed in the village of Karmi in 1970. It was not a great critical success, though one reviewer did praise the film for the “splendid quality of light for which the island is noted”. Three years later, Peter Sellers filmed the pirate comedy Ghost in the Noonday Sun.
For Logothetis, the experience has been positive enough for him to return to the island, scouting locations for his next project. Though he readily admits to liking Cyprus, he is also a realist; like many independent movie makers before him, shooting outside the US is often a financial necessity. The same model was adopted by the 'spaghetti' western directors of the 1960s, who chiefly filmed in Spain.
In its heyday, Spain became the backdrop of a huge number of classics such as Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy and Sergio Corbucci’s Django. Today many of those iconic sets have been abandoned or turned into western-style theme parks, but Spain remains in the game and is a strong competitor in the European hustle for movie dollars. For Greg Johnson, a producer and lecturer in film studies at Yale University, this is one of the biggest challenges facing Cyprus in getting Olivewood off the ground.
“The Cyprus programme is in some ways competitive with other tax regimes. Spain's advantage is a highly developed film infrastructure and crews. There are also other tried and true competitors for big budget films such as Romania and Ireland, both of which have considerable EU and Hollywood track records as well as state-of-the-art facilities.”
The lack of facilities is an acknowledged weakness in the island’s grand plan, but Logothetis says the landscape will look very different in a few years.
“I needed to bring the team over from Thailand that I used in Kickboxer 1 and 2 to build a number of sets,” says Logothetis. “While we employed 200-plus Cypriots, we still had to bring in 50 or 60 other crew members from other countries, and the fact is, you need a crew. Spain has a crew and an infrastructure and stages, and they had it way back in the 60s. So did Italy. They don’t have that in Cyprus, but what does exist here is an extreme will to make it happen.” Local producer Marios Piperides agrees: “We are missing the infrastructure of places like Malta, but they have been doing this since the 60s. It is going to take some time, but there is progress, year on year, and the more films happening here, the more we can start to support.”
Piperides, who is currently filming a €2.5m French, German and Cypriot co-production on the island called Tel Aviv/Beirut, describes the government’s raft of incentives as “an open door for bigger films to come”. Another production, SOS: Survive or Sacrifice, fronted by William Baldwin, also shot on the island last year.
“Previously you could not survive working as a freelancer or crew member here with only one or two films per year, it was impossible," says Piperides. "But now, if there is steady work with five, six or seven films a year being made, local and international productions, then you can put more people into the system that can support the industry."
Ministers are actively pursuing private investment to hurry the industry’s evolution.
George Campanellas of Invest Cyprus, the national investment promotion agency, says talks are ongoing with a number of film studios, despite the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic. "They are a clear sign of international interest in Cyprus," he says. "This is a great time for film investors to get on board." While a lack of studio infrastructure might strike most people in the movie business as a handicap, Logothetis remains unfazed. “For independent film makers it’s getting tougher and tougher to make the movies they want to make. I don’t want to make a movie for two or three million dollars; I did that 25 years ago. I’m just not interested in that. I’m at the top of the threshold and my movies deliver.
“Now I’ve made a great action film and built the infrastructure needed for that film within budget, and I’ve already had conversations with Paramount to make Jiu Jitsu 2. “If Olivewood wasn’t a viable alternative to Hollywood, I’d have gone home.”
Telegraph Media Group Ltd.
Tel Aviv - Beirut
We are very pleased that the shooting of the film Tel Aviv Beirut is completed!
Smuggling Hendrix in Austria!!
After a small break, Smuggling Hendrix journey continues with another theatrical release! In cinemas across Austria from July 10th!
Thank you FILMLADEN!
After a small break, Smuggling Hendrix journey continues with another theatrical release! In cinemas across Austria from July 10th! Thank you FILMLADEN!
More International Productions Expected to Shoot in Cyprus
The Cypriot film incentive scheme run by Invest Cyprus – CIPA (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) has an annual budget of 25 m EUR (initially 1.5 m EUR). The scheme provides Cypriot and foreign producers cash rebates and/or tax credits of up to 35% on qualifying production expenditures and it also provides tax allowances of 20% for investment in infrastructure and equipment on the Island.
The Cypriot film incentive scheme run by Invest Cyprus – CIPA (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) has an annual budget of 25 m EUR (initially 1.5 m EUR). The scheme provides Cypriot and foreign producers cash rebates and/or tax credits of up to 35% on qualifying production expenditures and it also provides tax allowances of 20% for investment in infrastructure and equipment on the Island.
Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #147. Sous le ciel d’Alice – Chloé Mazlo
Sous le ciel d’Alice
For her directorial debut, celebrated short film director Chloé Mazlo will have Sous le ciel d’Alice (translated as Under Alice’s Sky) on hand for 2020. Produced by Moby Dick Films’ Frederic Niedermayer (Mademoiselle de Joncquières), Mazlo has nabbed Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Lebanese-Quebecois playwright Wajdi Mouawad (Incendies, 2009) to headline the production. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart (Happy as Lazzaro, 2018; Invisible Life, 2019) is lensing the Moby Duck Films production. Mazlo’s 2015 short “The Little Stones” received a Cesar while her animated 2010 short documentary “Deyrouth” was well-received and well-traveled on the festival circuit.
We are very happy that we shot part of the film in Cyprus from the talented Chloe Mazlo.
Looking forward to watching the final film soon...
Torna a casa, Jimi! Press Releases and Reviews
https://www.zerkalospettacolo.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-recensione/
...una gran bella sorpresa, un film che lancia un messaggio profondo e serissimo attraverso la leggerezza di un’avventura paradossalmente rocambolesca.
… un piccolo e prezioso gioiello che invita ad abbattere i confini attraverso l’unione, la collaborazione e la coesistenza pacifica.
Una deliziosissima commedia, assolutamente da vedere, che mostra le assurdità delle guerre, delle invasioni, della politica degli umani, attraverso la storia di un cane che si perde a Cipro… Piperides, vincitore al Tribeca Film Festival per questa buffa, ingegnosa e arguta commedia, con ritmo, con un linguaggio chiaro e semplice scandito da dialoghi pungenti, è riuscito a catturare l’assurdità e la tragedia di una complicata situazione politica.
https://thespot.news/2019/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-un-allegro-paradosso-sullesistenza-dei-confini/
Decisamente un buon debutto nel mondo del lungometraggio per Marios Piperides... riesce a sfruttare in modo coinvolgente, e senza essere didascalico, la leggerezza della commedia per arrivare a fare della seria critica sociale.
Torna a casa, Jimi!
Reviews:
Cinema e spettacolo
https://www.cinematografo.it/news/torna-casa-jimi-nicosia-divisa/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQvg2hSWPBE
https://www.spettacolo.eu/torna-a-casa-jimi-festival-cinema-lecce/
https://www.kikapress.com/gallery/torna-a-casa-jimi-una-commedia-made-in-cipro-da-non-perdere
http://filmup.leonardo.it/sc_tornaacasajimi.htm
http://www.celluloidportraits.com/film/8056_1_Torna_a_casa,_Jimi!_10_cose_da_non.html
http://it.cinetrailer.tv/movie/Torna-a-casa,-Jimi!/117332
https://spettacolomusicasport.com/2019/04/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-10-cose-da-non-fare-quando-perdi-il-tuo-cane-a-cipro-opera-prima-del-cipriota-marios-piperides-sara-presentata-il-9-aprile-in-anteprima-italiana-al-20-f/ https://www.ilprofumodelladolcevita.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-di-marios-piperides-jimi-hendrix-la-musica-trova-sempre-la-strada-per-entrare/
News
https://stream24.ilsole24ore.com/video/lifestyle/torna-casa-jimi-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-ridere/AB8cnZnB (da Askanews)
https://ilmanifesto.it/la-fuga-di-un-cane-per-raccontare-la-divisione-di-cipro/
http://www.ilfogliettone.it/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-tutta-ridere/ (da Askanews)
Femminili e lifestyle
https://www.vanityfair.it/show/cinema/2019/04/10/torna-casa-jimi
Animali
https://amicidicasa.it/cane/il-18-aprile-film-imperdibile-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Portali
https://spettacoli.tiscali.it/video/articoli/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-a-tutta-ridere-00001/ (da Askanews)
Locali
https://tv.iltempo.it/tv-news/2019/04/11/video/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere-1134874/ (da Askanews)
https://corrieredellumbria.corr.it/video/tv-news/785707/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrieredirieti.corr.it/video/tv-news/785716/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrierediarezzo.corr.it/video/tv-news/785713/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
http://www.today.it/eventi/cinema/programmazione/torna-a-casa-jimi-1hpgsf.film
https://www.vivavox.news/mercoledi-10-aprile-in-anteprima-al-visionario-di-udine-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Menzioni
Variety: “Cyprus Joins the Battle for Foreign Filmmakers”
“Cyprus offers a cash rebate or tax credit of up to 35% on qualifying local spending for feature films, TV series, animation, documentaries and other projects that promote Cyprus and its culture, provided they meet certain financial criteria and pass a cultural test."
SEE Cinema Network: AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
Cypriot production house AMP Filmworks had a big break-through when its feature film Smuggling Hendrix directed by the company’s founder Marios Piperides had its world premiere and won the Best International Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival and was picked up by German sales agent The Match Factory. Now the 14-year-old company is developing a slate of four feature films to keep the momentum going.
As FNE write, producer Janine Teerling and director Petros Charalambous, who is attached to their next film Patchwork, following their presentation at the pitching forum Connection Cottbus, about the slate of films and the situation for filmmakers in Cyprus, Patchwork is likely to be AMP Filmworks’ next film to go into production, with 60% of the budget already in place.
With the introduction of a 35% cash rebate programme in October 2018, Cyprus is poised to join its EU neighbours on the film production scene. Applications for the rebate programme are now open to both film and TV projects with a minimum spend of 200,000 EUR and a cap of 1.5 m EUR. The rebate will apply to funds spent in Cyprus and is expected to increase domestic production, minority coproductions and production services on the island.
Funding is coming from the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture for production, and development funding from the SEE Cinema Network. The film has a Greek coproducer attached, Boo Productions, and is awaiting funding results from the Greek fund and ERT. The producers have interest from other producers from different countries from the Balkans and Western Europe, and it is likely to be a four countries` coproduction.
The film’s story, set in a patriarchal society, is the drama of a young mother troubled by her ambiguous feelings about motherhood and the broken relationship with her own mother. Patchwork, which will be Charalambous’s second feature, is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2019 or early 2020.
Cypriot writer/director Kyros Papavassiliou is working on the final draft of his second feature film, Embryo, Larva, Pupa, Imago, which is scheduled to shoot in the spring of 2020. The Cypriot/Greek coproduction with a budget of 850,000 EUR is looking for a third coproducer for this surreal drama, a love story of a couple who live in a world where time is arbitrary. Kyros presented his short film in the Official Competition of the Cannes Festival in 2007, while his first film premiered in Rotterdam in 2016.
Writer/director Adonis Florides is working on his third feature film, Africa Star. The film will be a Cypriot production that tells the story of a family stigmatised by crime in the past. The company is also producing Spyros Charalambous`s first feature film Common Good. His latest short film premiered in Clermont Ferrand.
The company has other projects in scriptwriting stages, including Marios Piperides`s second feature film.
Source: Film New Europe