Australia’s Transmission Films has acquired Australian and New Zealand rights to Ruba Nadda’s romantic drama Cairo Time from E1’s sales company Maximum International.
Produced by Daniel Iron of Toronto’s Foundry Films (Away From Her) and David Collins of Dublin’s Samson Films (Once), the Canada-Ireland coproduction stars Patricia Clarkson as a diplomat’s wife who finds herself engaged in a brief and unexpected love affair with a local, played by Alexander Siddiq (Syriana, Kingdom of Heaven).
Co-stars include Spanish actress Elena Anaya (Savage Grace, Sex and Lucia) and Canadian veteran Tom McCamus (Shake Hands With The Devil, The Sweet Hereafter). Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Charles Pugliese are executive producers.
Transmission, launched in January of this year, is headed up by former Dendy Films executives Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie. The deal was brokered by Mackie and Maximum’s executive vice-president Charlotte Mickie. Writer-director Nadda’s previous film was the well-received Sabah.
“We saw footage during the Toronto Film Festival and we were very impressed,” said Mackie, in a statement. “It’s simply gorgeous and Patricia and Alexander have real magic together. We haven’t seen a real on-screen romance like this in some time.” Mickie and producer Irons both expressed confidence in Transmission’s market savvy.
In launching Transmission, Mackie and Payten signed a three-year joint venture with Paramount Australia that will see as many as ten Transmission films released through the studio’s Australia and NZ arm.
Transmission Films is pleased to announce it has acquired rights to JCVD, fresh from opening the Midnight Madness section of the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.
Transmission is proud to announce Charlie & Boots starring Paul Hogan and Shane Jacobson as a father and son who travel from Victoria to Cape York to fulfil their lifelong ambition to fish off Australia’s northern tip. The comedy, to shoot later this year, is written by Strange Bedfellows writers Dean Murphy and Stewart Faichney and will be produced by Shana Levine, David Redman and Dean Murphy.
Transmission and Footprint Films will work together again on Footprint’s upcoming titles BALIBO and MY YEAR WITHOUT SEX:
MY YEAR WITHOUT SEX
One family. One year. No Sex. What else is there? Try shopping, singing, sport, storage solutions, Santa, the stock market, spiritual stuff …
A wry look at twelve months from the award-winning writer-director of Look Both Ways, Sarah Watt.
BALIBO
Anthony Lapaglia plays war correspondent Roger East in BALIBO, the incredible true story of the 1975 murders of five Australian Journalists. BALIBO is a powerful political thriller about the struggle for the truth, directed by Robert Connolly (THE BANK) and written by Connolly and David Williamson.
Both titles will release in 2009.
ANNOUNCED TODAY FROM TORONTO
GALA WORLD PREMIERE IN TORONTO FOR ‘DEAN SPANLEY’
STARRING PETER O’TOOLE
Confirming its position as the prime North American launch pad, the Toronto International Film Festival has added more world premieres to its line-up. Among the new titles announced today is director Toa Fraser’s Dean Spanley starring 8-times Academy Award nominee, Peter O’Toole.
The film will have a red carpet Gala screening during the opening weekend in Toronto, on Saturday 6 September.
Dean Spanley joins a select list of others premiering at Toronto, including new films from critically acclaimed filmmakers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner, Caroline Link and Anees Bazmee and feature performances by Brad Pitt, Rachel McAdams, John Malkovich, Julie Christie, Vincent Cassel, Ellen Burstyn, Edward Norton, Christina Ricci, Colin Farrell, Akshay Kumar, Jon Voight, Scarlett Johansson, James Caan, Natalie Portman, George Clooney, Jeremy Northam, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Matt Dillon, Tim Robbins, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Angela Bassett.
The Gala programme is described by the Festival as a ‘high profile showcase of films with major impact’. The film will premiere at the 2,600 seat theatre, the Roy Thomson Hall.
“The gala screening represents a spectacular launching pad for Dean Spanley” says director Toa Fraser. “We put our hearts and souls into making the movie and I can’t wait to see it up there on the big screen at one of the world’s most prestigious festivals.”
Toa Fraser will be in Toronto to introduce his film along with his cast - Peter O’Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown. They will be joined by screenwriter Alan Sharp and producers Matthew Metcalfe and Alan Harris.
Set in the early 1900s, Dean Spanley is a whimsical, poignant tale of a father and son, and their encounters with an eccentric stranger.
NZ Film, which is the sales arm of the NZ Film Commission, is handling world sales of the film.
Dean Spanley will be released in Australia and New Zealand Feb 26th 2009 by Transmission Films in association with Paramount Pictures.
Following Toronto, the subsequent Canadian release of the film is being handled by of Alliance Pictures (The World’s Fastest Indian; The Lord of the Rings).
A UK-NZ co-production, Dean Spanley was financed by Aramid Entertainment, the NZ Film Commission’s Film Fund 2, Lipsync Productions and Screen East. Executive Producers are David Parfitt, Finola Dwyer, Simon Fawcett and Alan Sharp.
The thirty-third annual Toronto International Film Festival will be held from September 3 to 13, 2008
Seen SALUTE? Don’t forget to vote for it as part of the IF Awards. Head to www.ifawards.com now and make your vote felt.
From the letters page of the Sydney Morning Herald, June 19;
Athletics Australia obviously does not care about relations with China (Letters, June 18) if it is at the expense of winning. Decisions by Athletics Australia have always been difficult to understand, which has recently been highlighted by Matt Norman’s brilliant film Salute, about “the white guy”, Peter Norman, the 200-metres silver medallist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Norman supported Tommie Smith and John Carlos in their famous black-gloved salute during the medal presentation.
Why didn’t Peter Norman represent Australia in the 1972 Olympics? Why wasn’t he invited to participate at some level in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, when his 1968 run still stood as the Australian 200-metres record?
Karen Fisher, Summer Hill