Walker: Cine Esteli Fundraiser

The next fundraiser for the Nicaraguan cinema, CINE ESTELI, will be a screening of Alex Cox's seminal acid western WALKER. A film that was neglected upon its release, it's a Herzogian cult classic starring Oscar-winners Ed Harris and Marlee Matlin, and features a fantastic score (and cameo) from Clash frontman Joe Strummer. The film was written by Rudy Wurlitzer, who also wrote Peckinpah's PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID. Peckinpah's spirit lives on in WALKER in the slow motion, the dust, and the madness that takes over a band of mercenaries in pursuit of cash and glory. The screening will be preceded by a video introduction from filmmaker Alex Cox, also a patron of Cine Esteli.



The campaign for CINE ESTELI has raised around £1,500 and our objective is £5,000 for the end of the year. Many other elements are in motion to save the endangered historical cinema: we are applying for European funds to restore the building, and a recent visit from the Mayor of Esteli was quite promising, with assurances that the local Esteli authority would help protect the building. Other partners in the project include Nicaragua's Ministry of Culture and Cinemateque; and filmmaker Florence Jaguey, whose feature LA YUMA will play as part of the CINECITY Film Festival.

Get your tickets

UK Box Office 25-27 June

Another dire week, and now that England are out all we need is some rain! These figures dont include the SHREK FOREVER AFTER preview numbers, which will make it number one film next week. WHATEVER WORKS and TETRO opened to dismal numbers, but you cant gauge anything right now due to weather and football.

1- GET HIM TO THE GREEK (£1,062,927)
2- KILLERS (£385,425)
3- SEX AND THE CITY 2 (£353, 362)
4- PRINCE OF PERSIA (£151,909)
5- DEATH AT A FUNERAL (£118,041)
6- STREETDANCE 3D (£112,606)
7- THE COLLECTOR (£107,453)
8- LETTERS TO JULIET (£102,966)
9- WILD TARGET (£87,700)
10- ROBIN HOOD (£86,922)

New Flick's Flicks

Slash and Burn

The Department of Culture Sports and Media announced cuts last week to its budget, of which around 50% come from the British Film Institute. The biggest cut wasn't a regularly funded programme or organisation, but rather the Gordon Brown promise to give the BFI £45 million for a British Film Centre on the South Bank, which would have costed £166 million altogether.
The UKFC-BFI merger I wrote about last summer is also off the table, and DCMS minister Jeremy Hunt promises a review of film policy.
While I have always argued that UK film policy is fundamentally flawed, I fear that the coalition government, in the new climate, will take an even more harmful approach, so where Labour spent money in the wrong places, this crew might just cut off funding altogether, leaving the industry in the wasteland of the 1980s.
So while I never was a fan of the British Film Centre proposal to begin with, any cuts in film are always a worry. In the context of the larger cuts across the board this might seem petty, but remember that funding for film means jobs, means investment and ultimately Britain's capacity to compete in the new worldwide media landscape.

Uk Box Office 18-20 June

Another terrible weekend for exhibitors everywhere...nobody will say it, but I bet you anything that cinema operators are hoping for an early England exit from the tournament.

1- KILLERS (£748,730)
2- SEX AND THE CITY 2 (£708,458)
3- STREETDANCE 3D (£446,461)
4- PRINCE OF PERSIA (£359,375)
5- LETTERS TO JULIET (£304,150)
6- DEATH AT A FUNERAL (£286,677)
7- WILD TARGET (£282,741)
8- THE TOOTH FAIRY (£249,407)
9- ROBIN HOOD (£239, 619)
10- BROOKYLN'S FINEST (£202,623)

72 Hours in Amsterdam

The Dutch have a theory about why they are good at cooperating. "It's the dam concept" said Raymond Walvarens, head of the prestigious Rialto cinema, over a plate of couscous. "If thirteen farmers have to build a dam, they all need to agree on it, cause if one doesn't participate, the dam won't work." On that simple concept, all the major cities of the Netherlands were built, turning a hostile enviroment into a powerful and rich nation.
Amsterdam, (the dam on the Amstel river) is home to 13 individual arthouse cinemas, all distinct and unique in their own quirky way. I visited five of them. They're all part of a network called CINEVILLE, which has an unlimited card that people can subscribe to, and is designed to fight Pathe's dominance of the exhibition sector.
Set up a year ago by four twentysomething film enthusiasts, Cineville is hugely succesful and is helping little independent cinemas thrive in a difficult market.
I spent some time over the last few days looking at this network and some of the cinemas, and was happy to find a diverse bunch of 'theatres' showing everything from SEX AND THE CITY 2 (made me feel a little better about us doing it) to MAO'S LAST DANCER.

UK Box Office 11-13 June

Get used to it folks. As long as there is sun and a world cup, these figures will be this bad. New entries LETTERS TO JULIET failed to turn DEAR JOHN numbers, BROOKLYN'S FINEST didn't become TRAINING DAY 2 and GREENBERG (which Universal seemingly dumped out there with no marketing push) didn't crack £2,000 screen average.

1- SEX AND THE CITY (£1,482,906)
2- STREETDANCE 3D (£676,997)
3- LETTERS TO JULIET (£584,444)
4- PRINCE OF PERSIA (£476,944)
5- DEATH AT A FUNERAL (£411,222)
6- THE TOOTH FAIRY (£365,327)
7- ROBIN HOOD (£359,712)
8- BROOKLYN'S FINEST (£333,595)
9- SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE (£175,003)
10- 4.3.2.1 (£131,618)