Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee drops bin Laden film probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One day after “Zero Dark Thirty” failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers‘ contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, said it was in touch with the filmmakers but had no immediate comment. Screenwriter Mark Boal said he had no comment. But attacks by Washington politicians may have damaged its prospects at the Academy Awards. “Zero Dark Thirty” was nominated for a best picture award, which it did not win. Also, in what industry watchers considered a snub, director Kathryn Bigelow did not receive a best director nomination.

The Senate committee launched its review of the film, a dramatization of how the U.S. government located and killed Osama bin Laden, after its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, expressed outrage over scenes that implied that “enhanced interrogations” of CIA detainees produced an breakthrough that helped lead to the al Qaeda leader.

In December, as “Zero Dark Thirty” was about to premiere nationwide, Feinstein joined fellow Democrat Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator John McCain in condemning “particularly graphic scenes of CIA officers torturing detainees” in the film.

A source familiar with contacts between the filmmakers and intelligence officials said the CIA did not tell the filmmakers “enhanced interrogations” led to bin Laden. Instead, the agency helped develop characters in the film, said the source.

The political fallout prompted Bigelow to write in an op-ed piece: “Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time.”

The government cooperated as much, if not more, on “Argo,” the film about the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Iran that won the best picture Oscar. Actor-director Ben Affleck and his team were allowed to film scenes in the lobby of the CIA building in Langley, Virginia; the “Zero Dark Thirty” crew did no such filming.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

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“Scary Spice” Mel B joins “America’s Got Talent” panel

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former Spice Girl Mel B will join the judging panel on summer TV talent show “America‘s Got Talent,” broadcaster NBC said on Thursday.

The 37-year-old Briton, known by the nickname Scary Spice when she was part of the chart-topping 1990s British girl band, will replace Sharon Osbourne who quit the series in a dispute with NBC over their decision to drop her son Jack from another reality show.

Mel B, whose full name is Melanie Brown, will join “shock jock” Howard Stern, who has agreed to return for his second season, and comedian Howie Mandel.

“This exciting addition of the dynamic Mel B to our lineup of judges promises that fans will see a strong, talented and opinionated woman match up against our equally outspoken judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel,” NBC president of alternative programming Paul Telegdy said in a statement.

Mel B said she was thrilled to join the talent show, adding in a statement, “It’s so exciting to be bringing some Girl Power to the panel!”

The singer recently finished a two-season stint as a judge on singing contest “The X Factor,” which like “America’s Got Talent” was created by British entrepreneur Simon Cowell.

NBC said nationwide auditions for the new season of “America’s Got Talent” will start on March 4 in New Orleans.

The network is seeking to turn around a fall in audiences last year when the finale in September was watched by a record low of under 11 million viewers, according to ratings data.

The show remained the top-rated summer series among adults aged 18-49, the demographic most coveted by advertisers.

NBC attributed the overall 2012 audience decline partly to an earlier start that pitted “Got Talent” against end-of-season original programming in May and the start of new TV shows in September.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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“The Americans” renewed by FX for second season

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “The Americans” has been picked up by FX for a 13-episode second season, network president John Landgraf said on Thursday.

The renewal comes just four episodes into the first season of the series, which premiered in January with 5.11 million total viewers to become the most-watched debut of any FX series.

FX’s newest hit drama to join the roster of original programming stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as two KGB spies posing as an American married couple in suburban Washington D.C.

“‘The Americans’ has quickly established itself as a key part FX’s acclaimed drama line-up,” Landgraf said. “Executive Producers Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Graham Yost and their collaborators are telling riveting and deeply emotional stories and the performances of Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich and the entire cast are simply outstanding. The show is truly worthy of its widespread critical acclaim and we are confident that its quality will continue to yield a robust and passionate audience.”

“We’re very grateful to John Landgraf, Nick Grad, Eric Schrier and everyone at FX for their unwavering support of our show,” Weisberg, the show’s creator, said. “We’re thrilled to be able to continue writing stories for such an incredibly talented cast led by Keri, Matthew and Noah. We appreciate the support of the audience and we believe they have a lot to look forward to the rest of this season.”

“Working with Joe Weisberg, Graham Yost, Josh Brand, Adam Arkin, our writing staff, and the brilliant cast and crew has been a blast and I’m delighted we get to keep doing it,” co-executive producer Fields added. “We couldn’t have made it happen without the constant support of Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank at Amblin TV, David Madden at Fox Television Studios and Eric Schrier at FX Productions and their wonderful teams as well.”

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Afghan teens of ‘Buzkashi Boys’ stargazing in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The teenage stars of an Oscar-nominated short film from Afghanistan arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday for the Academy Awards after an Internet campaign raised enough money to pay for their trip.

“Buzkashi Boys” actors Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz will walk the red carpet and rub shoulders with Hollywood‘s biggest stars at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

The film focuses on two children growing up in Kabul who dream of becoming Buzkashi riders, horsemen who compete in the dangerous Afghan national sport similar to polo in which riders try to carry a headless goat across a goal line.

The film garnered U.S. director Sam French an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.

Its producers launched the campaign because, they said, they lacked a travel budget for the 14-year-old actors.

“I’m so happy and excited,” Mohammadi told Reuters at Los Angeles International Airport after flying more than 18 hours from the Afghan capital. “I can’t say my feelings.”

Some 237 people donated money to the travel fund, which raised $ 11,751, eclipsing its $ 10,000 goal, fundraising website Rally.org said. Donations were received from 13 countries, including the United States, Afghanistan, India and Germany.

Turkish Airlines donated the tickets for Mohammadi, Paiz and a chaperone.

Mohammadi, an amateur actor with piercing green eyes, gained international attention following the film’s release last year for his personal story as a fatherless youth who grew up selling maps of Kabul to tourists in its Chicken Street market.

Both teens said they wanted to see all the actors during their week in Hollywood in which they also plan to visit amusement parks Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Speaking of famous actors, Mohammadi said: “I can’t say ‘This one’ or ‘That one,’ (but) I want to see Rambo, Sylvester Stallone.”

One of the boys in the film is a street kid like Mohammadi, the other the son of a blacksmith forced to spend long hours in his father’s dark workshop sharpening ax heads.

French said the goal is to make the week-long trip culturally relevant for the teens.

“Just the fact that we’re talking about something other than the war, other than bombs and bullets, I think is a huge step forward,” French said. “And hopefully we can show that these kids are like normal kids everywhere.”

Mohammadi and Paiz will fly to Washington for screenings of the film on February 27 and begin their journey back to Kabul on March 1.

“Buzkashi Boys,” which runs for just 28 minutes, is the first film to be produced by the Afghan Film Project, a non-profit group that aims to train filmmakers in Afghanistan.

(Writing by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip barbara)

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‘Good Day to Die Hard’ debuts with $28.6M take

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bruce Willis’ action sequel “A Good Day to Die Hard” hauled in $ 28.6 million to lead the box office over the long President’s Day weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. “A Good Day to Die Hard,” Fox, $ 28,640,657, 3,553 locations, $ 8,061 average, $ 36,879,773, one week.

2. “Identity Thief,” Universal, $ 27,456,470, 3,165 locations, $ 8,675 average, $ 74,744,255, two weeks.

3. “Safe Haven,” Relativity Media, $ 24,469,155, 3,223 locations, $ 7,592 average, $ 33,298,073, one week.

4. “Escape from Planet Earth,” Weinstein Co., $ 21,101,976, 3,288 locations, $ 6,418 average, $ 21,101,976, one week.

5. “Warm Bodies,” Lionsgate, $ 10,550,103, 2,897 locations, $ 3,642 average, $ 51,770,634, three weeks.

6. “Beautiful Creatures,” Warner Bros., $ 8,945,261, 2,950 locations, $ 3,032 average, $ 11,487,578, one week.

7. “Silver Linings Playbook,” Weinstein Co., $ 7,413,756, 2,202 locations, $ 3,367 average, $ 99,788,228, 14 weeks.

8. “Side Effects,” Open Road Films, $ 7,299,145, 2,605 locations, $ 2,802 average, $ 20,119,981, two weeks.

9. “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” Paramount, $ 4,176,456, 2,103 locations, $ 1,986 average, $ 50,405,251, four weeks.

10. “Zero Dark Thirty,” Sony, $ 3,602,315, 1,522 locations, $ 2,367 average, $ 88,530,983, nine weeks.

11. “Mama,” Universal, $ 3,081,765, 1,648 locations, $ 1,870 average, $ 68,561,940, five weeks.

12. “Argo,” Warner Bros., $ 2,625,357, 903 locations, $ 2,907 average, $ 127,288,409, 19 weeks.

13. “Life of Pi,” Fox, $ 2,074,617, 647 locations, $ 3,207 average, $ 111,376,518, 13 weeks.

14. “Lincoln,” Disney, $ 2,063,120, 1,007 locations, $ 2,049 average, $ 176,651,047, 15 weeks.

15. “Django Unchained,” Weinstein Co., $ 1,857,164, 1,017 locations, $ 1,826 average, $ 157,350,147, eight weeks.

16. “Quartet,” Weinstein Co., $ 1,624,647, 333 locations, $ 4,879 average, $ 7,200,664, six weeks.

17. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” Warner Bros., $ 1,276,940, 605 locations, $ 2,111 average, $ 300,161,285, 10 weeks.

18. “Wreck-It Ralph,” Disney, $ 1,102,070, 506 locations, $ 2,178 average, $ 185,835,929, 16 weeks.

19. “Les Miserables,” Universal, $ 1,098,445, 676 locations, $ 1,625 average, $ 145,764,425, eight weeks.

20. “Amour,” Sony Pictures Classics, $ 858,412, 306 locations, $ 2,805 average, $ 4,081,541, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Tony Sheridan, early Beatles supporter, dies aged 72: media

BERLIN (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Tony Sheridan, an early supporter of the Beatles, has died in Hamburg aged 72 following a long illness, German media reported.

Sheridan used the Beatles, then known as the Silver Beatles, as his back-up band when they played in seedy nightclubs in Hamburg’s red light district in the 1960s well before numerous No. 1 hits made the British band famous.

Sheridan died on Saturday, Feb 16, Hamburg-based magazine Der Spiegel reported on its website, citing a post by the musician’s family on social media website facebook. A search by Reuters found no such post.

The Beatles, then playing as “The Beat Brothers” also backed Sheridan on his song “My Bonnie” and Sheridan last year played at the 50th anniversary of the legendary Hamburg Star club, Der Spiegel reported.

A 1962 performance including Ringo Starr on the drums at the Star Club with songs such as “Roll Over Beethoven” was a watershed performance that helped catapult the Beatles to fame. They were Sheridan’s warm-up act that night.

“Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with from the early days in Hamburg,” former Beatle Paul McCartney said in a statement on his website on Monday.

“We regularly watched his late night performances and admired his style. He will be missed.”

(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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“Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” win top Writers Guild Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. film and television writers gave their top two movie awards on Sunday to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” in the final Hollywood guild awards show before next week’s Oscars.

Writer Mark Boal won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Original Screenplay for “Zero Dark Thirty,” which chronicles the intense U.S. manhunt and daring raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Asked backstage what message he hoped to send to audiences with the film, Boal said: “I think (director Kathryn Bigelow) said it best when she said she wanted to shine a light on a dark decade. I don’t know that I could put it any better than that.”

“Argo,” about the Hollywood-assisted rescue of American hostages in Iran during the 1979 revolution, earned writer Chris Terrio WGA‘s trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay.

“I’ve never actually won a call-your-name award before,” an overwhelmed Terrio said backstage at the awards.

The WGA awards gave the winning films a last boost in the race for the Oscars, the world’s top film honors, because many guild members also belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that hands out the Oscars on February 24.

The guild gave a special nod to “Lincoln,” honoring screen writer Tony Kushner with a special award recognizing work that embodies the spirit of civil rights and liberties. “Lincoln,” a drama about President Abraham Lincoln‘s fight to abolish slavery, was up against “Argo” for WGA’s Best Adapted Screenplay.

“Argo” and “Lincoln” are considered front-runners for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, although “Argo” recently has taken a slight edge after also nabbing the top prize from both the director and producer guilds, which each have strong records of predicting Oscar winners.

“Searching for Sugar Man” writer-director Malik Bendjelloul nabbed the WGA award for documentary screenwriting.

“Breaking Bad” won for Best TV Drama Series and the writers of “Louie” claimed the prize for TV Comedy Series. “Girls” was named for Best New TV Series.

(Reporting By Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Romanian movie ‘Child’s Pose’ wins at Berlin fest

BERLIN (AP) — A Romanian drama that centers on a woman’s effort to cover up her son’s responsibility for an accident in which a boy is fatally injured won the Berlin film festival‘s top Golden Bear award on Saturday.

“Child’s Pose,” directed by Calin Peter Netzer, emerged as the winner from a field of 19 films that included a strong eastern European contingent this year — the 63rd edition of the event, the first of the year’s major European film festivals. Netzer said he was “a little bit speechless” at the award.

The tale of corruption and guilt depicts the efforts of an upper-class mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, to bribe witnesses to give false statements and keep her son — the driver, who was speeding at the time of the accident — out of prison.

“This is about a … pathological relationship between mother and son,” he told reporters later. “The rest is really just a backdrop,” Netzer told reporters, stressing that it is “a very universal story” and that “corruption is not something which is only taking place in Romania.”

A runner-up Silver Bear went to “An Episode In the Life of an Iron Picker,” in which a Bosnian Roma, or gypsy, couple re-enact their own struggle to get treatment after their baby died in the womb. The movie was made on a tiny budget by Danis Tanovic, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2002.

Nazif Mujic, the husband, was voted best actor by the festival jury.

“Of course, I’m not an actor — I simply played my own story. I played myself in my family. I don’t know what I should say,” Mujic, who says that he still has no regular job and collects scrap metal as he did at the time the drama played out, told 3sat television.

Best actress was Paulina Garcia for the title role in Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s “Gloria.” Garcia plays a divorcee at the end of her 50s trying to stave off loneliness, rushing into singles’ parties but struggling to overcome disappointment.

American filmmaker David Gordon Green was honored as best director for “Prince Avalanche,” a movie about two road workers whiling their way through a long, monotonous summer with little more than each other for company. It’s a remake of an Icelandic film, “Either Way.”

The best script award went to dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for “Closed Curtain,” a movie he co-directed with longtime friend Kamboziya Partovi in defiance of a ban on filmmaking.

The film, in which the two directors play the main roles, reflects Panahi’s frustration at being unable to work officially — it’s set inside an isolated seaside villa, much of the time with the curtains drawn.

Partovi accepted the award on behalf of Panahi, who wasn’t allowed to leave Iran, telling the audience that “it’s never been possible to stop a thinker and a poet.”

The prize for outstanding artistic achievement went to Aziz Zhambakiyev for his camerawork in Kazakh director Emir Baigazin’s “Harmony Lessons,” which centers on a teenager tormented by his schoolmates.

The festival’s Alfred Bauer prize for innovation went to Canadian director Denis Cote’s “Vic+Flo Saw a Bear.”

A seven-member jury led by filmmaker Wong Kar-wai chose the winners.

Wong said the jury gave “special mentions” to two more films that didn’t win awards, acknowledging “the integrity of their vision and their conviction that cinema can make a difference.”

Those were Matt Damon’s Gus Van Sant-directed drama on shale gas drilling, “Promised Land,” and South African director Pia Marais’ “Layla Fourie.”

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Dylan McDermott cast in CBS’s “Hostages” pilot

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Dylan McDermott will join Toni Collette in “Hostages,” a CBS drama pilot about a family caught in a vast political conspiracy.

The star of FX’s “American Horror Story” will play Duncan, a righteous FBI agent at the center of it.

Collette, the star of Showtime’s “United States of Tara,” was cast last month as Ellen, a surgeon chosen to operate on the President. When her family is swept into the conspiracy, she has to save her husband and children.

McDermott has previously starred on shows including “The Practice,” “Big Shots” and “Dark Blue.” He also appeared recently in the film “The Campaign.”

“Traitor” director Jeffrey Nachmanoff is writing, directing and executive producing the pilot, which is based on an Israeli format created from Alon Aranya, Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir.

Shamir and Givon are also executive producing, along with Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and Chayim Sharir. The series comes from Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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Helena Bonham follows Lindsay Lohan into Liz Taylor’s shoes with BBC biopic

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Move over, Lindsay Lohan – another actress is taking a crack at playing Elizabeth Taylor, and just might have the chops to one-up you.

Helena Bonham Carter will play Taylor in an upcoming biopic “Burton and Taylor.” “The Wire” actor Dominic West will play Taylor’s on-again, off-again husband, Richard Burton, in the production, which will air on BBC Four.

“Burton and Taylor” will tell the story of the pair’s ” ill-fated appearance in a 1983 revival of Noel Coward‘s stage play, ‘Private Lives,’” according to the BBC.

William Ivory (“Women in Love”) is writing the BBC Drama Productions project, with Richard Laxton (“Effie”) directing.

Fans of guilty-pleasure television will recall that “Mean Girls” star Lohan tackled the role of Taylor last year in the Lifetime film “Liz & Dick,” with Grant Bowler playing Burton.

While “Liz & Dick” racked up a respectable 3.5 million total viewers with its November premiere, the film drew rancorous reaction across the Twitterverse.

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“Midnight Express” editor Gerry Hambling dead at 86

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Gerry Hambling, the British film editor whose credits include “Midnight Express,” “Pink Floyd: The Wall” and “Mississippi Burning,” died February 5 in England. He was 86.

Hambling, who entered the film industry at 16 as an editor’s apprentice, was a longtime collaborator of director Alan Parker, editing 14 of his films.

“He was undoubtedly one of the finest film editors that the British film industry has produced,” Parker remembered.

John Grover, vice chairman of the Guild of British Film Editors, which Hambling helped found in 1966, remembered Hambling as a man of “warmth and understanding.”

“He was a hard working technician who loved loud music and fast action sequences; he was rather hard on equipment but never got used to editing electronically as he preferred to handle film, something he could ‘see and feel,’” Grover said. “He will be missed by friends and colleagues for his warmth and understanding. It was an honor to have known him.”

Hambling won three BAFTA Awards, and received the Career Achievement Award from the American Cinema Editors in 1998. He had also been nominated for six Oscars.

Hambling’s last editing job was on the 2003 Parker drama “The Life of David Gale,” starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey.

Hambling died in Burwell, Cambridgeshire.

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Stars show skin, but adhere to Grammy dress code

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – There were no “wardrobe malfunctions” but stars at the 55th Grammy Awards were not covering up either, despite being asked to dress “appropriately.”

Presenter Jennifer Lopez, wearing a black off-the-shoulder Anthony Vaccarello gown slit up her thigh on one side, joked about her attire.

“As you can see, I read the memo,” said the diva who caused a stir a few years ago when she appeared at the Grammys in a Versace gown with a neckline that dropped below her navel.

“You inspired the memo!” said her co-presenter Pitbull, getting a big laugh from the audience.

Broadcaster CBS last week issued a memo asking that Grammy performers and presenters keep their breasts, buttocks and genitals covered up.

“I thought about the dress code. And thought about it again. And that’s about it. I respect it. See, I wore clothes,” Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland told reporters backstage of her black Georges Chakra gown that featured several strategically placed cutouts.

Singer Kimbra, who recorded “Somebody That I Used to Know” with Gotye, and won Record of the Year, wore a sheer, sparkly dress with a skin-colored layer beneath, giving the illusion she was covered by strategically placed baubles. “I’m fine with the dress code,” she said on the red carpet.

Katy Perry bared her cleavage in a green gown, but Beyonce covered up in a black pantsuit for the red carpet and Rihanna chose an elegant red gown.

Redfoo, the flamboyant 37-year-old LMFAO singer, had some fun and showed off his legs on the red carpet, sporting knee length pants to go with his suit.

“I couldn’t wear no Speedo … so I got my suit on,” he told Reuters on the red carpet.

Singer Adele’s look was a little too conservative for some people’s tastes. Her red and pink, flowered-covered frock featured a high neck.

As usual, there were some kooky outfits on display. Al Walser, who was nominated for Best Dance Recording for his single, “I Can’t Live Without You,” donned an astronaut’s space suit.

Born in Switzerland to a mother from Lichtenstein and an African father, Walser explained that being from Lichtenstein was like being from another planet because it is so small.

Blues singer Dr. John wore a Mardi Gras-inspired feathered headdress for his performance with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

(Reporting By Nichola Groom and Susan Zeidler; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)

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New Polish film tackles homosexuality in Catholic Church

BERLIN (Reuters) – Polish director Malgoska Szumowska tackles the controversial topic of homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood in her film “In the Name of” that had its world premiere on Friday but she said her aim was not to deliver a political message.

“In the Name of”, the first of 19 competition entries to screen at this year’s Berlin film festival, focuses on a priest’s struggle with his sexuality while working with troubled youths in a deprived corner of rural Poland where drug and alcohol abuse are commonplace.

The film takes a swipe at the Catholic Church, which still wields huge influence in Poland, and Szumowska said she expects Polish conservatives to react negatively, but she said her main concern was to depict the loneliness of a priest’s life.

“They (the Catholic Church) don’t want to change anything. The church does not fit in with modern society,” Szumowska told a news conference after the screening.

“Out of this conflict only bad things happen. I think they are extremely closed and intolerant… But I am not a politician or an intellectual,” she added.

“We did not want to make a movie about an oppressive church… We wanted to make a movie about love.”

The priest Adam, played by Andrzej Chyra, has a good rapport with the dope-smoking, hard-talking young men in his care, playing soccer and swimming in a lake with them. He wards off his growing sexual frustration with long runs in the forest.

After rejecting the advances of a young woman parishioner Ewa, Adam strikes up a friendship with the taciturn son of a simple local family who returns his affection.

In one of the more memorable scenes in a film characterized by furtive glances, whispered confessions and a tense mood that swings swiftly from joy to despair, Adam dances with a portrait of the Pope to loud music after downing a bottle of vodka.

“It is hard to imagine a more lonely person than a priest… I spoke to many priests and they told me that it is very hard,” said Szumowska.

“I wanted to understand my character (Adam), not judge him,” she told the news conference where she was joined by Chyra and Mateusz Kosciukiewicz who played his young lover.

CHANGING TIMES

“We have very strong discussions now in Poland, about the church, about homosexuality. We now have priests leaving the church,” she said.

The film’s premiere comes just weeks after the Polish parliament rejected draft laws that would have given limited legal rights to homosexual couples in a move that disappointed many younger, urban Poles with liberal views about sex.

And yet Poland – whose parliament includes its first transsexual lawmaker – is changing.

“It was not hard getting money to make the film. The Polish Film Institute is not afraid of controversial issues. Poland is a democracy and you can say whatever you want,” she said.

Szumowska, 39, is a graduate of the famous Lodz film school where some of Poland’s greatest directors including Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski also studied.

Asked why she thought there were so many films from former communist central and eastern Europe screening at this year’s Berlin festival, Szumowska said it may be because of the rapid pace of change in a region that has had to embrace capitalism and democracy in a short period of time.

“Everything is still fresh… There are so many things going on, always we have strong discussions. We are always talking about who we are,” she said.

Though somber in tone – one of the boys hangs himself after a homosexual affair with another boy – “In the Name of” ends on a disconcertingly ambiguous note, showing the object of Adam’s love joining a seminary to train as a priest.

“The ending is ironic and kind of confusing but realistic,” said Szumowska.

(Reporting by Gareth Jones, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Recovering ‘Good Morning America’ host Robin Roberts sets return

(Reuters) – “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts will rejoin the ABC morning television show on February 20 after treatment for a rare blood disorder, the show said on Thursday.

Roberts’ doctors deemed her healthy enough to return to work five months after receiving a bone marrow transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disorder triggered by treatment for breast cancer five years ago.

“I’m excited to rejoin my wonderful ‘GMA’ family,” Roberts, 52, said in a note posted online on Thursday. “I’m also looking forward to thanking YOU … for your many prayers and well wishes. Your compassion has been an enormous source of comfort to me and my family.”

Roberts will begin appearing on an abbreviated schedule and eventually return to working five days a week, co-anchor Sam Champion said on the show.

Roberts revealed her illness in June and started medical leave in August.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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Broadway Motown musical features civil rights, love story

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. watched with approval on Thursday as the cast of upcoming Broadway show “Motown: The Musical” tore through the storied record label’s hits at a 42nd Street rehearsal studio.

The show traces Gordy’s rise from a struggling boxer and autoworker to a music mogul who made stars of Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5 and others.

“So many other people were telling the story in different ways who were never there and never understood it, just for the sake of exploitation,” Gordy, 83, a producer of the show, told Reuters.

The media preview featured hits ranging from The Contours’ “Do You Love Me” – sung as a segregated audience in Birmingham, Alabama, breaks through a rope to hear the group – to “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas.

Director Charles Randolph-Wright, who grew up in South Carolina in the 1960s, said Motown was in his DNA.

“Motown opened the emotional door to the civil rights movement,” he told Reuters. “Motown is the thing that brought people together. We started dancing to the same music and listening to the same music.”

Gordy’s relationship with Ross – the couple had a daughter together – is shown beginning in Paris, to the hit “My Girl” by The Temptations.

“That’s the love story in our show,” Randolph-Wright said.

The musical begins previews on March 11 and officially opens on April 14. It features a book by Gordy and music and lyrics from the Motown catalog.

Although the show is from Gordy’s perspective, it doesn’t duck some of the criticism that surrounded him, especially in Motown‘s early days, Randolph-Wright said.

As Gordy explained: “At one time, people were feeling that how could a black kid from Detroit do a Motown without being a crook, without being in the Mafia, without being something bad, because it was such a big endeavor.”

Gordy, the creator of what was once the largest black-owned business in the United States, was an inspiration to him, Randolph-Wright said.

“Berry Gordy was someone who had his own company, who literally changed the world with what he did,” he said. “And to see that, it gave me and so many people like me – black, white, whatever color – that gift of possibility.”

Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Gordy, said it was “hard to have a greater honor than having Berry Gordy respect you as an artist.”

Valisia LeKae, who appeared in “The Book of Mormon,” plays Ross. “It is the soundtrack of people’s lives,” LeKae said of the music. “I definitely expect people to sing along.”

(Reporting By Noreen O’Donnell, editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)

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Hollywood to the FAA: Let Us Use Drones

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s …

If the Motion Picture Association of America has its way, it soon could be a camera-equipped pilotless drone shooting the overhead chase scenes for Hollywood’s action thrillers.

The MPAA is pushing the Federal Aviation Administration to allow the use of what have been called “drones” – but in the movie business are far more likely the size of model planes and model helicopters than anything like what the U.S. is using to target terrorists.

Studios see the airborne vehicles as a way to get better long shots with fewer safety risks and at reduced cost. Currently, such drone use is legal in some foreign countries, but not in the U.S.

In fact, some of the opening scenes in “Skyfall” were shot in Turkey using a helicopter drone system. France has also approved use of the drones, and one was used last year for scenes in “The Smurfs 2.”

“What we are looking for is line-of-sight things that can be utilized in innovative ways,” MPAA spokesman Howard Gantman told TheWrap. “These could be used much more safely than going up a tree and much more cheaply than renting a helicopter,” he said.

Under language in the FAA’s reauthorization by congress, the agency must in the next 18 months develop rules for commercial use of what it calls “unmanned aircraft systems” of 55 pounds or less.

The language is intended to resolve a quirk in current FAA rules: Recreational use of model planes and model helicopters – including those carrying cameras – are currently allowed, but commercial use is banned.

Model airplanes can only be flown below 400 feet above ground level and away from airports and air traffic – but not by individuals or companies flying them for business purposes.

This means, for example, that student videos and films can use drone camera shots, but not commercial films; commercial use is limited to experimental research and development and flight trainings.

“A private company can obtain a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category, but experimental certificate regulations preclude carrying people or property for compensation or hire,” FAA spokesman Les Dorr told TheWrap.

While the MPAA acknowledges its interest and the MPAA’s lobbying form filed with the U.S. Senate says specifically the organization is pushing on the issue of “unmanned aerial aircraft,” so far such lobbying has been informal, and the MPAA has not had actual written communications with the FAA.

Dorr said the agency will seek written comments from potential users only after it announces a formal ruling.

Another reason for the MPAA’s interest now is that the price for the drones has begun to drop.

Rental of a real helicopter runs about $ 1,700 an hour, for example, with a pilot another $ 1,900 a day – and crew is additional. One Indiegogo ad seeking development money for the company’s “Alpha Dragonfly,” says a drone that can be used for camera work will retail for from $ 119 to $ 249, depending on accessories.

The ad, which offered a Dragonfly for development supporters for $ 99, sought $ 110,000 in development money and raised more than $ 1.1 million.

The website of Flying-cam.com whose helicopter drone system was used in “Skyfall” and “The Smurfs 2″ in Paris and movies in China and South Korea, also features pictures taken of its use in America for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Alaska’s Tourism Board and commercials or videos by Bridgestone and others.

All that said, the movie industry is only one among many looking at the technology.

“Many industries are realizing how unmanned aircraft could help their bottom lines,” Melanie Hinton, senior communications manager for the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a group pushing robotic devices, told TheWrap.

Indeed, it’s expected that the TV and movie industry will be small players in the drones use. Companies that originally developed smaller drones for the military and wanting to now expand the drones use for civilian purposes have been pushing hardest for the FAA to act.

They hope FAA action will make it easier both for law-enforcement agencies and private companies to use the devices.

Steven Gitlin, VP-marketing for AeroVironment Inc., a company that makes several military drones it wants to market to civilian market. The company’s 5-pound Qube drone is among those that come with video capability.

He notes that the high cost of helicopters means relatively few police departments can afford them. Those same departments might be candidates for drone purchases.

Then there is the civilian market.

“We have been pushing to use airborne vehicles for mapping and surveying,” Gitlin said, adding the company also hopes to market the products both for search-and-rescue and policing missions and for uses in agriculture; monitoring of bridges and microwave transmitters; and security for public events including marathons and concerts.

In addition, oil and gas companies want unmanned aircraft to efficiently monitor oil rigs, pipelines and other infrastructure, said Hinton, and farmers “want to use unmanned aircraft to monitor the health of their crops, detect for drought conditions, or more efficiently distribute pesticides.

“And in addition to helping the private sector, unmanned aircraft have helped firefighters battle wildfires, police search for missing persons and researchers study everything from hurricanes to wildlife. The potential for unmanned aircraft to help save time, save money and even save lives is virtually limitless,” she said.

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NBC Universal reshuffles, Hammer takes over cable networks

(Reuters) – Longtime NBC Universal executive Bonnie Hammer will soon be running all of the media company’s cable networks besides sports and news, as part of a reshuffling, NBC‘s CEO Steve Burke said on Monday.

In a memo to staff, Burke said that starting immediately, Hammer will oversee the entire cable portfolio, including Bravo and Oxygen, which are cable networks previously controlled by Lauren Zalaznick. The new unit, which also includes USA Network, SYFY and E!, will be renamed the cable entertainment group.

Burke said this new division will “represent approximately 50 percent of the company’s operating cash flow.”

In the first three quarters of 2012, NBC generated $ 2.9 billion in operating cash flow. Comcast, which has been the majority owner of NBC since 2011, will report its fourth quarter and full year results on February 13. Cable networks, including sports and news channels overseen by other executives, by far generates the most revenue and profit at NBC Universal.

“I know that with this structure Bonnie and her team will maximize the power and profitability of this portfolio,” Burke said in the memo.

Zalaznick, who will no longer run any cable networks, will become the executive vice president of NBC Universal and will focus on digital initiatives such as “TV Everywhere” as well as “windowing strategies,” which means how soon to make shows available on the Internet after they air on television. She will continue to oversee NBC’s digital assets such as movie ticketing website Fandango.

NBC also said that Joe Uva, a former Univision executive, will become Chairman of Hispanic Enterprises and Content in April, a newly created position. UVA, along with Hammer and Zalaznick will report to Burke.

The moves come a few days after NBC News President Steve Capus said he would be leaving the network after struggles at the unit, including lower ratings for its flagship morning TV show, “Today.”

(This version of the story changes the last word in second paragraph to reflect that new unit name will be “cable entertainment group” and not “cable entertainment business.”)

(Reporting By Liana B. Baker; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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