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Mamoru Hosoda’s ‘Summer Wars’ Makes Oscar Bid Via Gkids
Toy Story 3 may be the heavy odds-on-favorite for the upcoming Oscar's Best Animated Film category, but there'll always be place for the little guys aka Japanese anime to make the noms more robust. In actually, Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars is actually pretty big in its' own right, having won Japan Best Animated film award it probably had some crazy, domestic box office run, but in the U.S. it's perhaps lucky to receive a one week qualifying [12.10] run via Gkids - the folks who distributed The Secret of Kells.
Indomina Releasing Ends Mystery and Pick Up ‘Detective Dee’
IndieWIRE's Anne Thompson certainly pleased by this bit of news. If my count is good, this is title number eight for the Indomina Releasing folks - and it may be their crown jewel in their mad streak of pick-ups. The Venice and TIFF preemed Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame has been acquired by the new genre label and they'll want to make sure they roll the epic title quickly.
Shadow Distribution Makes Sure that ‘Silent Souls’ Isn’t Cremated
After you see Alexsei Fedorchenko's Silent Souls sometime in the second quarter of 2011, you can send Shadow Distribution's Ken Eisen a kind thank you note for championing this pearl of a film and saving it from what would have been a certain death after its showings on the film festival circuit.
Film Movement Locate a New ‘Human Resources Manager’
Film Movement have picked up their third Foreign Oscar hopeful by adding Eran Riklis' The Human Resources Manager to their list of two comprised of Olivier Masset-Depasse's Illegal (Belgium) and Florin Serban's If I Want to Whistle…I Whistle (Romania).
Lorber Lands Explosive ‘Armadillo’
Finally. Someone has picked up the rights on one of the best documentary films you might see all year. Collecting tons of accolades since it premiered and won in the Critic's Week section in Cannes, Lorber Films have nabbed Janus Metz’s Armadillo before it goes unto more damage on the awards front. A 2011 release is expected for the Afghanistan war doc and should grab a couple of wins from its six Cinema Eye nominations.
