News

Meanwhile, Swedish director Daniel Fridell has signed on to Van Gogh biopic.French name their Price

Canadian outfit Filmoption International has sold Harold Crooks’ corporate tax avoidance doc The Price We Pay to Arp for distribution in France.

The deal was negotiated by Andrew Noble and Alexandra Wermester of Filmoption and Laurent Pétin and Michèle Halberstadt of Arp.

Red Army marches north

Edge Entertainment has picked up Gabe Polsky’s hockey documentary Red Army for Nordic territories from Wild Bunch.

The deal includes rights in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. Sony will distribute in Us, Canada, Central Europe and Asia.

Van Gogh biopic gets director

Swedish director Daniel Fridell (Swedish Beauty) has been set to direct English-language Vincent Van Gogh biopic Van Gogh for production outfit Kalliope Films.

Rutger Hauer is executive producing the film, which has been written by Kira Madallo Sesay of Kalliope who will produce alongside Emiel Pijnaker.

Art buffs, here's some exciting news out of the Toronto International Film Festival. Us and European production company Kalliope Films has announced that Swedish director Daniel Fridell ("Say That You Love Me") will helm its biopic of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. "Van Gogh" will be the first English-language feature about the 19th-century painter since Kirk Douglas' 1956 "Lust for Life." The filmmakers have spent over six years as "Van Gogh detectives," doing the groundwork to uncover previously unseen aspects of Van Gogh's life--traveling to places he lived and worked, probing archives, police reports and testimonies.  The film, which will span the painter's entire life, will be filmed on location in Europe -- many of Van Gogh's residences are still standing. The producer/writer is Kalliope's Kira Madallo Sesay. Fridell has won Guldbagge Awards (i.e. the "Swedish Oscar") for "Say That You Love Me" as well as.

Swedish director Daniel Fridell (Swedish Beauty) has been set to direct English-language Vincent Van Gogh biopic for production outfit Kalliope Films.

Rutger Hauer is executive producing the film, titled Van Gogh, which has been written by Kira Madallo Sesay of Kalliope who will produce alongside Emiel Pijnaker.

The project is currently out to cast.

Swiss-based financier Blue Pencil Investments is backing the film with company MD Stuart Wilkins also serving as executive producer.​...

Some rentals are too good to be true. Hell yeah, we have something grrrrreat to share with you, and that is a completely new TV spot and trailer for Michele Taverna‘s horror movie Apartment 1303 3D. Now you expect me to say – the movie will open on… But, unfortunately, there’s still nothing about the release date! Can you believe it? Anyway, don’t let that bother you, check out the rest of this report to see two great videos!

In case you’re not so familiar with this project, I’m here to inform you that the movie comes from director Michele Taverna, and it’s actually an adaptation of Kei Ôishi‘s novel. While we’re still at the beginning of the report, I will just add that the Swedish director Daniel Fridell had originally been set to direct the project but was later replaced by Taverna.

The New York International Latino Film Festival ended its festivities by honoring various films at an Awards Ceremony last week. Prizes were handed out for Best Domestic Feature, Best International Feature, Best Director, Best Documentary, and Best Short. Venezuelan Alejandro Bellame Palacios won big, taking the prize for Best Director as well as Best International Feature for his film, El Rumor de Las Piedras (The Rumble of the Stones). A Swedish-Cuban co-production, El Médico: The Cubatón Story, took home the prize for Best Documentary.

Charged with picking the winners, the jury was made up of distinguished filmmakers, journalists and industry professionals. The Domestic and International Features jury was comprised of Sheila Walcott, Director of Development at HBO Films; Tamir Muhammad, Director of Feature Programming at the Tribeca Film Institute; and Mario Diaz, an award-winning filmmaker and editor. The Documentary jury included Cristina Ibarra, documentary filmmaker; Raphaela Neihausen, Executive Director of Doc NYC (New York's Documentary Film Festival); and Araceli Cruz, Senior Associate Editor at the Village Voice. And the Short Films jury was Renata Florio, Chief Creative Officer at Wing; Ernesto Quiñonez, novelist and Associate Professor at Cornell University's Mfa program; and Alberto Ferreras, Creative Director at Latino Media Works.

And the winners are...

Best Domestic Feature

Presented by HBO. Winner receives $5,000 cash award.

Under My Nails

Director: Arí Maniel Cruz

Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos

Cast: Marilú Acosta, Maite Bonilla, Kisha Tikina Burgos, Iván Camilo, Dolores Pedro

Puerto Rico, USA | 100 Min

Solimar, a Puerto Rican woman who works in a nail salon, becomes intrigued by the violent sexual practices of her new neighbors, Roberto and Perpetuel. When Perpetuel returns home to the Dr, Solimar goes from voyeur to participant in Roberto's games of sex and power.

Best International Feature

Presented by El Diario-La Prensa. Winner receives $1,000 cash award.

El Rumor De Las Piedras (The Rumble of the Stones)

Director/Producer: Alejandro Bellame Palacios

Writers: Alejandro Bellame Palacios & Valentina Saa

Cast: Alberto Alifa, Veronica Arellano, Aminta de Lara, Rossana Fernandez, Ariette Torres

Venezuela | 100 Min

Single mother Delia struggles to raise her sons, William and Santiago, in a shanty town of Caracas, but it seems that everyday they slip farther away from her and closer to a life of crime and delinquency.

Best Director

Presented by Tribeca Film Institute and Heineken Voces. Winner receives $1,000 cash award.

Alejandro Bellame Palacios for El Rumor De Las Piedras

Best Documentary

Presented by HBO. Winner receives $1,000 cash award.

El MÉDico: The CubatÓN Story

Director: Daniel Fridell

Cuba, Sweden | 85 Min

High up in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where Castro's revolution began, "El Médico," a doctor and musician, serves the cause. When a Swedish music producer sees "El Médico" as the next big thing, Communist ideals collide with capitalist dreams, with the magic and beauty of Cuba and her music as backdrop.

Best Short

Presented by Avid. Winner receives a Media Composer 6.

Pescadora

Directors: Daniel Enrique García and Ahna Terpstra

Peru, USA | 20 Min

Dora has always dreamed of becoming a fisherman like her father. However, everyone in her Peruvian fishing village wants her to marry instead.

Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on  SydneysBuzz  that highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow  @LatinoBuzz  on twitter.

Raynier Casamayor Griñán is a twenty something year-old doctor who lives high up in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Santiago de Cuba. Known as ‘El Médico’ he serves his community, treating patients at the town clinic and making home visits. But he longs to be a musician, a rapper, a reggaetonero. He’s been making music for years, singing and rapping whenever he gets a chance. As soon as he heard the early songs of the Panamanian, ‘El General’ he knew he wanted to mix reggae, hip-hop and Cuban rhythms--transforming him into one of the pioneers of Cuban reggaetón, known as Cubatón.

Enter two Swedes--Michel Miglis, a music producer determined to make the young doctor an international star and Daniel Fridell, a film director who documented the ups and downs of El Médico’s fledgling music career. Fridell captured everything in his documentary: Michel pressuring El Médico to use sexy ladies in bikinis for his music videos, El Médico’s mother’s disapproving glances, and the euphoria of topping the charts with “Chupa Chupa,” El Médico’s first international single. The result is El Médico: The Cubatón Story, a rollercoaster ride of a film, that takes you on a journey with an artist determined to succeed in spite of various obstacles--set to the thumping bass of the hottest Cubatón and with Cuba’s

El Médico: The Cubatón Story will have its New York premiere at the New York International Latino Film Festival on Wednesday, August 15. Despite attempts to bring El Médico to New York for the screening, an exit visa was denied for the musician by his home country. So, here’s the next best thing--an interview with El Médico himself.

El MÉDico: The CubatÓN Story

Director: Daniel Fridell | Cuba, Sweden

Screening at 7:00 Pm | Wed, Aug 15 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

Buy Tickets Here

Which would you rather be--a doctor or a musician?

I like to help people as a doctor. In a perfect world I would be able to sing and work as a doctor at the same time.

When did you realize you wanted to be a musician? Do you remember the first time you performed in front of an audience?

I always liked music. I was always singing on the street. When I was studying at the Camilo Cienfuegos military school, there was a show and I was asked to sing. I didn’t know what to sing. But then I remembered Shaka Sankofa. He was an African American on death row in Texas who was executed without real evidence by then Governor George W. Bush. I remembered watching it on television, with my mother. We watched his friends and family cry, it was very touching and at the same time made me angry. I started to write a song about it and the words found themselves on the paper.

So at my very first performance I sang the first song I wrote, about Shaka Sankofa. First, I thought that nobody liked it. After my performance everybody was quiet. Then, suddenly, everybody stood up and applauded and shouted the last words of the chorus “negro sigue adelante”, “black people keep on moving forward”. It was very touching.

What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up? Who are some of your musical influences?

My parents listened to Salsa, Son Cubano, and American Rock and Roll. I was very influenced by Jamaican musicians like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and also Cuban Conga. There are many Merengue bands that influenced me and some American hip-hop artists like Tupac and Biggie. If I had to just name one it would have to be Compay Segundo.

Explain how you met and started working with your Swedish musical producer, Michel Miglis.

I was working at my medical clinic, doing my social service for el Comandante, up in the Sierra Maestra mountains. One day a tourist, Michel, showed up. He said he had heard a tape of my music in Havana and wanted to make music with me. I did not want to work with this guy at first.

Back in 2003, a producer from the Emi record company came to Santiago and made music with a lot of local artists. He promised us fame and fortune but left Cuba without giving us anything. Later, I found out that they sold our music all over the world, even in the United States. They never gave any Cuban artists a dime. So I was scared. But, then I thought to myself: “This crazy guy came here, walking for many hours, carrying his recording stuff and wants to make a song in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, why not give it a try? It won’t take too much effort.”

I had many seriously-ill patients in the clinic that weekend. A child and an older woman caught Dengue so I had to make Michel wait. But, the next day I sat in front of his microphones and wrote the song “Chupa Chupa.” And to my surprise, two months later, the song went on to be a hit all over the world. Every week, I would meet tourists who had heard the song in discotheques and in clubs in Israel, Jamaica, Canada, Italy and Japan. It was crazy.

Your song, “Chupa-Chupa” was included on the album "Cubatón, Reggaetón a lo cubano" with other Cuban artists like Candyman, Cubanito 20-02, Klan Destino y La Familia. It reached the top ten in Spain. How did everyone around you react to the news?

I heard the news from a Spanish tourist. I was very happy, my friends were very supportive. It was very big news in Cuba. No Cuban artist had reached the top of the charts for many years. My mother did not like it. For her it meant less of a focus on my work as doctor.

Your music had already been very popular inside of Cuba - did it feel different to know that people outside of Cuba were listening to your music too?

Of course it was nice have an international hit, but it was hard to know that these people in other countries liked my music. I wanted really badly to go there to perform, to meet them, to see them.

How did you meet the film’s director, Daniel Fridell? What did you think when he asked you to be in his documentary?

He was introduced to me by my then producer, Michel. Well, it was kinda exciting to be in a film. A actual film that was all about me. But, at the same time scary, what would my mother think? What would my friends think? What would my patients think? Also, could I trust these guys? So many foreigners come to Cuba and take photos, make films and music and when they leave you never hear of them again. Another thing that was important was, how were they going to portray Cuba? It is so easy to generalize and say we are good or bad or the cliches: the beautiful and happy but poor people.

But, then again you must ask yourself what is poor? And what is happy? People who visit Cuba see the facades of our broken-down deteriorating houses, but they don’t see the inside. Tourists see our smiling faces, but they don’t hear our inner voices. Cuba is very very complicated, multifaceted and very very special. I love Cuba, and didn’t want to be part of something that created a bad image of my people. But, after a while, I realized that these guys also loved Cuba. That, I think, was the point that made me trust them fully.

Your mom is a big part of the film. She wants you to be a doctor and does not approve of the sexy music videos. Has she seen the film? Does she feel differently about your music since seeing the film?

She was very suspicious, she still is. It was a very, very, very long process. We started shooting the film a long time ago. Five years later, she accepts my singing career a little bit more, but not totally.

Have you seen the film? What did you think about it? Is there anything you would change about the film?

I like it, I am proud of it. But, I would put some more songs from me in there.

Are you recording new music?

I write a new song every day. Santiago de Cuba inspires me every day, in every which way, and I come up with new material.

In the film - you say that, in Cuba, you don’t need to use sex to sell music. Michel constantly pushed to have female dancers who are wearing very little clothes be in your music videos. Has this changed with your new music? Are you still working with Michel?

Many people use sexy dancers here too. Even Cuban producers push that. But, I prefer sensuality, not selling out. If you use only sex, you’re probably trying to cover up that your music isn’t very good. I do my own thing now, more influenced by Conga, African roots, and Merengue. The images for my new stuff will come out of the music and not out of the marketing mind.

Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.

Just a few days ago, The New York Times highlighted English-language television’s failure to attract Latino audiences in an article called “ NetworksStruggle toAppealtoHispanics”. As the fastest growing demographic whose purchasing power exceeds $1 trillion, it’s no surprise that, “...they desperately want to appeal to the more than 50 million Latinos in the United States...” What is hard to believe, though, is that they still haven’t figured out how to do it. It’s really not that difficult. We want to see true-to-life characters that reflect the diverse experience of Latinos, not stereotypes.

In response to the Nyt article Esther Cepeda, NBC Latino Contributor, says it well, “...give the maids, bad boys and victimized immigrants a rest. Yes, those are real-life characters, but there’s no reason why art can’t imitate a diversity of life...How about casting Latinos as up-and-coming-politicians, overachieving college students, folksy-vegan-all-organic environmental activists, or the overscheduled suburban soccer mom-slash-superstar mommy blogger?” I would totally watch that show!

Maybe the execs should take advice from people like Cepeda. Better yet, they should hire people like Cepeda! But, instead of hiring bilingual and bicultural Latinos and Latinas to write, produce, and direct TV shows, American television executives run focus groups, spend money on market research, and scratch their heads--dumbfounded and unable to solve the conundrum. Meanwhile, other organizations have it figured out.

Year after year--the New York International Latino Film Festival packs Manhattan theaters with bilingual, bicultural Latino moviegoers. The very same demographic that TV execs and movie studios are clamoring to attract but fail to. Why is it that the entertainment industry’s most sought after group of consumers attends this festival by the tens of thousands? Because, the stories they see are diverse, complicated, new, different, multilingual, and reflect their own experiences. Television and studio executives might benefit from coming to the festival and taking some notes. These are the true-to-life kind of stories Latinos want to see on their T.V. and movie screens (and on their computer screens too.)

Documentaries at the New York International Latino Film Festival

Buscando A Larisa (Looking for Larisa)

U.S. Premiere/ 79 Minutes/ Mexico

Director: Andrés Pardo

Screening at 4:50 Pm | Wed, Aug 15 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

One day filmmaker Andrés Pardo stumbles across 2,000 feet of Super 8 footage at a flea market in Mexico City. Home movies shot during the 1970s, at their center is a lovely young blond-haired girl, Larisa. Teaming up with a photographer friend, Pardo decides to track down Larisa. He takes his search to Facebook, the internet, and the press.

Tickets: http://nylatinoff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/buscandoalarisalookingforlarisa_andrspardo_nylatinoff2012

El MÉDico: The CubatÓN Story

New York Premiere/ 85 Minutes/ Cuba-Sweden

Director: Daniel Fridell

Screening at 7:00 Pm | Wed, Aug 15 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

High up in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where Castro’s revolution began, “El Médico,” a doctor and musician, serves the cause. When a Swedish music producer sees “El Médico” as the next big thing, Communist ideals collide with capitalist dreams. Should “El Médico,” listen to his mother and serve his community as a doctor or take advice from his producer and make “sexy ringtones”?

Tickets: http://nylatinoff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/elmdicothecubatnstory_danielfridell_nylatinoff2012

Esperando A Los Bitles (Waiting for the Beatles)

New York Premiere/ 92 Minutes/ Mexico

Directors: Diego Graue & Raymundo Marmolejo

Screening at 6:30 Pm | Fri, Aug 17 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

Beatlemania is alive and well…in Mexico, where a fervent following pays continuous tribute to the groundbreaking Liverpool quartet. Fans compete in cover band competitions, obsessively collect memorabilia, and bemoan the fact that ‘Los Bitles’ never performed in Mexico. This hilarious and touching documentary shows that the genius of the Beatles transcends decades, continents, language and culture.

Tickets: http://nylatinoff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/esperandoalosbitleswaitingforthebeatles_diegograue_nylatinoff2012

Hija (Daughter)

U.S. Premiere/ 84 Minutes/ Chile

Director: María Paz González

Screening at 2:30 Pm | Sat, Aug 18 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

Filmmaker María Paz González and her mother journey across Chile in a Volkswagen Beetle, searching for long-lost family members. María's mother, who was adopted, knows little of her personal history and goes in search of a sister she has never met. María hopes to connect with her father, a man she knows little about.

Tickets: http://nylatinoff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/hijadaughter_marapazgonzlez_nylatinoff2012

Closing Night Film + After Party

Lemon

88 Minutes/ U.S.A.

Directors: Laura Brownson, Beth Levison

Screening at 6:30 Pm & 7:00 Pm | Sat, Aug 18 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas

Three-time felon, one-time Tony Award winner, Lemon Andersen is an acclaimed poet who broke out on Broadway in Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam. But Lemon has landed back in the projects and is desperate for a way out. He turns to the only things he has left, his pen and his story. This beautifully crafted film follows his efforts to stage a comeback at the Public Theater as he battles demons from his past.

Tickets: http://nylatinoff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/lemon_laurabrownson_nylatinoff2012

The New York International Latino Film Festival runs through August 19th at the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas.

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Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.

Here are the first trailer and three posters for the upcoming horror film Apartment 1303 3D. The Us-Canadian co-production, directed by Swedish director, Daniel Fridell, is the English-language remake of the Ataru Oikawa’s 2007 Japanese film of the same name. The remake stars Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense) , Rebecca De Mornay (Mother’s Day, The Hand [...]

Continue reading Apartment 1303 3D Trailer and Posters on FilmoFilia.

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Daniel Fridell's 'Apartment 1303 3D' has revealed itself a new trailer for fans of supernatural remakes. Based on the J-horror movie the three-dimensional chiller stars Mischa Barton ('Homecoming'), Rebecca DeMornay ('Mother's Day'), Julianne Michelle ('Horrorween'), Corey Sevier and Robert Blanche. Jim Steele and Michele Taverna penned the script developed from the original story written by Kei Oishi....

Cannes – Final financing is coming together in Cannes for A Private Story, a big-budget biopic on the life of Swedish porn king Berth Milton Jr. Sweden’s Daniel Fridell will direct the film, which aims to tell the Milton’s life story, explaining how he went from a small town boy in Sweden to reluctantly taking over his father’s failing porn business, Private Media Group, and turning it into a $200 million global empire. Photos: Cannes 2012: Competition Lineup Features 'Cosmopolis,' 'Moonrise Kingdom,' 'Killing Them Softly' According to Fridell, Milton Jr. was motivated to run Private Media primarily

read more...

Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths,...

Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977

Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen

screens as part of 24 Beats per Second

SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:

Narrative Feature Competition

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.

With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.

It's been a little while since we bought you anything on Daniel Fridell's new English language remake of J-horror flick 'Apartment 1303' but here's a freaky looking one-sheet for the new 3D project which certainly is effective in the shit-your-pants stakes. Mischa Barton ('Homecoming'), Rebecca DeMornay ('Mother's Day'), Julianne Michelle ('Horrorween') and Robert Blanche all star. Check out the new poster and plot synopsis below....

Bloody Disgusting just scored two new pretty awesome sales one sheets for Daniel Fridell's 3-D remake of Apartment 1303, which will star Mischa Barton (Homecoming, Walled In, The Sixth Sense), Rebecca De Mornay (Mother's Day, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), John Diehl (Stargate, Jurassic Park III), Julianne Michelle (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and Robert Blanche ("Crash," "Ghost Whisperer"). Penned by Kei Ohishi and Michele Taverna, the redo of the 2007 Japanese flick is "a modern ghost story which turns a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror. Some rentals are too good to be true." No word on release info, or if it has even gone behind cameras yet.

Check out the new one-sheet for Apartment 1303 which seems to have an Elm Street and The Frighteners influence to it with the creepy crawly wall factor.

The Us remake  has an impressive cast including Mischa Barton, Rebecca De Mornay, John Diehl, Julianne Michelle and Robert Blanche with Daniel Fridell directing. No set release date is set but we'll keep you posted. Dig on the one-sheet courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting.

Plot:

A modern ghost story which turns a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror. Some rentals are too good to be true.

Did you know that someone was remaking Ataru Oikawa’s “Apartment 1303″? Nobody told me about it, either. Then again, who would have thought there would be any interest whatsoever in an American remake of a less-than-spectacular Japanese horror movie? If this was 2002, I could see that happening, but given that the genre is just about played out here in the States, I’m actually kind of shocked that this article is even being written. But, I digress. The sales poster for director Daniel Fridell’s remake, which will star Mischa Barton, Rebecca De Mornay, John Diehl, Julianne Michelle, and Robert Blanche, honestly doesn’t look half bad. Given that I wasn’t a fan of the original film, I suppose this production has nowhere to go but up. Good for them. via Bloody Disgusting...

The upcoming 'Apartment 1303 3D' is the remake of the Ataru Oikawa J-horror flick of the same name (without the 3D bit). It comes courtesy of Swedish helmer Daniel Fridell and co-writers Jim Steele and Michele Taverna. A new one-sheet for the spooky movie has arrived which you can check out below which is pretty creepy itself. The remake stars Mischa Barton ('Homecoming'), Rebecca DeMornay ('Mother's Day') and Julianne Michelle ('Horrorween'). Check out the poster and synopsis below along with a nice pic of Miss Barton....

Bloody Disgusting just scored a pretty awesome sales one sheet for Daniel Fridell's 3-D remake of Apartment 1303 3D, which will star Mischa Barton (Homecoming, Walled In, The Sixth Sense), Rebecca De Mornay (Mother's Day, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), John Diehl (Stargate, Jurassic Park III), Julianne Michelle (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and Robert Blanche ("Crash," "Ghost Whisperer"). The poster, featuring a wall coming to life, looks inspired by the infamous sequence in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Penned by Kei Ohishi and Michele Taverna, the redo of the 2007 Japanese flick is a modern ghost story which turns a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror. Some rentals are too good to be true.

Another new upcoming ghost story is Daniel Fridell's 3-D remake of 'Apartment 1303'. The original Japanese horror tale, of the same name, from writer/director Ataru Oikawa came out in 2007 so it was only time before an English-speaking remake would be shoved in our faces. And according to the IMDb (yikes!) the likes of Mischa Barton (below), Rebecca De Mornay, John Diehl, Julianne Michelle and Robert Blanche are all set to star in the remake. De Mornay can be seen this April in the 'Saw II', 'Saw III' yada-yada director Darren Lynn Bousman's new crime horror 'Mother's Day', which stars hotties Jaime King and Briana Evigan....

Some casting news came in from the Internet Movie Database today for Daniel Fridell's upcoming 3D (of course) remake of the overseas spooker Apartment 1303, and we've got the skinny for you right here.

As always, we're working to confirm this so take the following announcement as more of a rumor until we do, but it appears as if Mischa Barton (pictured below; Homecoming, Walled In, The Sixth Sense), Rebecca De Mornay (Mother's Day, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), John Diehl (Stargate, Jurassic Park III), Julianne Michelle (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and Robert Blanche ("Crash," "Ghost Whisperer") have all been cast.

Dig on the synopsis for the original Japanese film below, and look for more soon!

Apartment 1303 is white, bright and airy with a sheer white curtain blowing from the wind off the balcony and is on the 13th floor of a large building. The view onto the sea is breathtaking,...

Apparently Daniel Fridell's 3-D remake of Apartment 1303 is already casting up. The untrustworthy IMDb reports that Mischa Barton (Homecoming, Walled In, The Sixth Sense), Rebecca De Mornay (Mother's Day, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), John Diehl (Stargate, Jurassic Park III), Julianne Michelle (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and Robert Blanche ("Crash," "Ghost Whisperer") have all be cast, although this should be considered Rumor until otherwise reported. Penned by Kei Ohishi and Michele Taverna, the pic is a modern ghost story which turns a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror. Some rentals are too good to be true.

John Diehl ( Jurassic Park III) and Jullianne Michelle are set to star in Apartment 1303 for director Daniel Fridell and writers Jim Steele and Michele Taverna. The IMDb listing for this film also has Mischa Barton, Rebecca De Mornay and Robert Blanche credited as starring, but that is unconfirmed until we hear something more official. Apartment 1303 is a remake of Ataru Oikawa's 2007 chiller about a mother grieving over the mysterious death of her daughter who jumped from the 13th floor of her apartment. With her surviving daughter, the mother sets out to learn more about the residence which has a history of suicides.

Apartment 1303, the American remake of the Japanese ghost film, is one of the horror flicks making a splash at this year's American Film Market. Now, a very reliable source is telling us that actors Mischa Barton and Rebecca De Mornay are rumored to have signed on to the film. More after the jump. Our souce is also telling us that the remake might begin shooting in Detroit early next year. As we reported yesterday, Apartment 1303 revolves around a rental unit that has the distinction of driving young women to suicide.  The director behind the project is Daniel Fridell. And the film is expected to shoot in 3D.

A sweet coming-of-age story with just enough of that trademark Swedish sexuality to make it attractive to art house audiences, "Swedish Beauty" plays like a combination of "Cinema Paradiso" and "Summer of '42". The tale of a 15-year-old boy's near simultaneous introductions to the world of sex and filmmaking, Daniel Fridell's film represents the triumph of the young film geek grown up to be a real movie director working with beautiful actresses. It recently received its world premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.

The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.

The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.

SWEDISH BEAUTY

Scanbox International

Director: Daniel Fridell

Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking

Producer: Hakan Bjerking

Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen

Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen

Set designer: Eva Noren

Color/stereo

Cast:

Anders: Francisco Jacob

Borje: Victor Kallander

Sofia: Jenny Ulving

Angelika: Nadine Kirschon

Billy: Mats Helin

Running time -- 89 minutes

No MPAA rating...

A sweet coming-of-age story with just enough of that trademark Swedish sexuality to make it attractive to art house audiences, "Swedish Beauty" plays like a combination of "Cinema Paradiso" and "Summer of '42". The tale of a 15-year-old boy's near simultaneous introductions to the world of sex and filmmaking, Daniel Fridell's film represents the triumph of the young film geek grown up to be a real movie director working with beautiful actresses. It recently received its world premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.

The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.

The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.

SWEDISH BEAUTY

Scanbox International

Director: Daniel Fridell

Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking

Producer: Hakan Bjerking

Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen

Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen

Set designer: Eva Noren

Color/stereo

Cast:

Anders: Francisco Jacob

Borje: Victor Kallander

Sofia: Jenny Ulving

Angelika: Nadine Kirschon

Billy: Mats Helin

Running time -- 89 minutes

No MPAA rating...