"We've got a hit on our hands," proclaimed a rep for distributor ThinkFilm, reporting opening weekend box office estimates for the racy new documentary "The Aristocrats". Indeed. The film made a whopping $260,000 on just four screens this weekend in New York and Los Angeles, according to a ThinkFilm estimate reported to indieWIRE a few minutes ago. That's an estimated average of $65,000. (Final numbers will be available tomorrow.)

The unrated film, about a graphic inside joke told among comedians since the Vaudeville days, will expand to 8 - 10 screens in NY and LA this coming Friday and then screen in the top 15 markets in the country beginning August 12th.

In the past year, the highest per screen opening was Fox Searchlight's "I Heart Huckabees" which made more than $100,000 per screen on 4 screens last October, while this summer "March of the Penguins" from Warner Independent made $55,000 per screen on 4 screens in late June. - Eugene Hernandez

Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, known as a cinematic risk-taker, is now taking chances in an unexpected way -- by flirting with the mainstream in his latest movie, "Broken Flowers." The comedy starring Bill Murray drops the stark settings associated with the art house darling's earlier work and instead offers a tour of the suburbs and a reflection on life and love. Larry Fine reports for Reuters.

Bathed in spotlight on a darkened stage, Michael Moore sounded downright conciliatory toward his detractors while welcoming a capacity crowd to a film festival in his adopted hometown. "This is the America we want to believe in, where we can all have our various beliefs but come together for the greater good of the community," the left-wing documentary filmmaker said to a thunderous ovation. John Flesher reports in A.P.

From August 8-30, BAM Rose Cinemas, presents "Lonely Heart: Philippe Garrel." Philippe Garrel is one of the greatest French filmmakers of the past 40 years and also the most precocious; his first feature, "Marie pour mémoire," was released when he was just 20 years old. A child of the May '68 revolts, Garrel has created a unique filmography, both experimental and narrative, silent and with sound.

From August 5-21 BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn will present "Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting: The Shaw Brothers," a series of films from the legendary Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong. With roots dating as far back as the silent era, the studio was formed by a trio of brothers and lead by the charismatic Run Run Shaw, revolutionizing the way movies were made in China and around the world. Known mainly for their martial arts epics, the Shaws also produced dramas, comedies and musicals. The studio established the careers of legendary actors such as Gordon Liu and Betty Loh Ti, and enlisted top-notch directors like King Hu and Li Han Hsiang.

Ladyfest, an international DIY cultural festival providing a platform for women and queer-based projects, is seeking film submissions from up-and-coming filmmakers as well as those already established in their field. The festival will run from October 19-23, 2005 in various locations in Brighton and Hove, England. All genres of film are welcome including features, shorts, music videos, documentaries, animations, installations and live soundtrack pieces. The final deadline for submissions is September 5, 2005.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will present Bharatbala's romantic comedy "Hari Om" and Mani Ratnam's genre-twisting family saga "A Peck on the Cheek" from August 19-28 as part of their ongoing "Cinema India" series. Ghazal singer Kiran Alhuwalia will also perform on Wednesday, August 17 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the museum's "Concerts in the Courtyard" series.

The "call for entries" period is still open for the inaugural SoCal Independent Film Festival, which will take place from October 12-15 at the Huntington Beach Public Library and Cultural Center. The SoCal fest is not limiting itself to a particular genre, but is "just looking for good movies." The final entry deadline is August 19.

BAM Rose Cinemas presents "The Best of NewFest 2005" from August 26-28 in Brooklyn. Each June, NewFest presents 250 films and videos showcasing the most recent and best work by, about, or of interest to the LGBT community. Each summer the festival comes to Brooklyn with a selection that includes award winners and films that sold out during the June festival.

The Indo-American Art Council Film Festival (IAAC) is looking for entries for this year's fest, which will take place from Nov 2-6, 2005 in New York City. All entries must be postmarked by August 1, 2005. Only DVDs and NTSC-VHS formats will be accepted for submissions. The IAAC film festival is looking for independent films made in India as well as films made by people of Indian origin living outside India, or films made by non-Indians with Indian content.

Pictured Wednesday at the Grand Classics event in Manhattan, which featured a screening of Ken Loach’s 1969 film, "Kes" are Katrina Pavlos (co-founder Grand Classics), Rebecca Miller and Daniel Day Lewis (hosts of the evening), and Vanessa Wingate (co-founder of Grand Classics). Benefitting American Film Institute, Grand Classics this week sponsored by The Week, Hugo Boss, and Stoli Vodka, presents events in NY, London, and LA.
[Photo provided by Grand Classics]

At the Cannes Film Festival in May, many U.S. distributors walked away empty-handed, griping all the way home about the overwhelming number of challenging, arty movies that had no chance of making it in the U.S. market. Not everyone agreed—especially not U.K.-based distributor Tartan Films. Matthew Ross takes a look at Tartan Films in the Village Voice.

The video revolution is here and has been for some time. George Lucas, among other once and future filmmakers, is rapidly changing our viewing habits, and along the way, making questions of format increasingly irrelevant. Manohla Dargis reports on the festival in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

DreamWorks SKG, the live-action entertainment company co-founded by the director Steven Spielberg, is in talks to be acquired by its longtime partner, NBC Universal, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. The news is the latest in a series of twists for DreamWorks, a company co-founded in 1994 by Mr. Spielberg, the music mogul David Geffen and the film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. More than a decade after opening its doors, DreamWorks has not turned out to be the media giant the founders had hoped it would be. Laura M. Holson reports in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

Kayo Hatta, an independent filmmaker whose 1995 film "Picture Bride" won an audience award for best dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival, has died. She was 47. A.P. reports.

The term "box office bomb" has taken on new meaning at the Venice Film Festival this year. Fearing terrorist attacks or other security breaches, Marco Muller who runs the festival told the AP that "the number of films that can be projected daily in the main movie theater had been cut to allow time for security personnel to thoroughly check the space between screenings." (54 films are being screened this year compared to 71 in 2004.) In the meantime, celebrities and the paparrazzi alike fret over what these new concerns will mean to the near-sacred red carpet ritual.

UCLA's Film and Television Archive is kicking off a monthlong series of "recently restored rarities" tonight with a screening of Jean Renoir's 1926 "Nana" with live musical accompaniment. Other films featured are Frtiz Lang's 1928 silent thriller "Spies," John Ford's 1917 silent Western "Bucking Broadway" and Han Hsiang Li's 1963 period piece, "The Love Eterne." The series continues through August 26.

For a full schedule of events go to UCLA Film & Television Archive.

by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

Sadly we report on the passing of Timothy Gruver, founder of the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas and also founder of WAMPA (Wichita Association for the Motion Pictures Arts). He was born January 6, 1972.

According to The Wichita Eagle, Tim suffered a seizure near his home and died on Tuesday. The article also include information on Saturday's service for Tim.

While I certainly didn't know him well enough, Tim was a familiar face on the festival circuit in recent years, always wearing a bright smile (punctuated by a laugh) and advocating passionately on behalf of his festival. indieWIRE reported on the launch of his festival more than 2 years ago and we are saddened to hear of his passing. Tim, your absence will be noticed.

Peter Jasso, director of the Kansas Film Commission, wrote in an email forwarded to indieWIRE late tonight, "He was someone who dared to dream big and served as an example of what is possible in this state. The independent film community in this state is better off because of Tim and his memory will not be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

Supporters are committed to continuing the festival this year in his honor. We cannot think of a more appropriate tribute. We salute Tim and send our deepest condolences to his loved ones and colleagues.

The Wichita Eagle has also created a link to a guest book for memories and condolences.

Tim's bio follows, as published on the Tallgrass website:

Bob Weinstein today announced that Matthew Stein has been named senior vice president of production for Dimension Films at The Weinstein Company. Stein will continue to work at Miramax, in his current position as vice president of production for Dimension Films, through September 30, segueing to a full-time employee with The Weinstein Company as senior vice president of production on Oct. 1, 2005, when the Weinsteins’ separation from Disney is complete. He will report to both Richard Saperstein, recently appointed executive vice president and head of production for Dimension Films, and Bob Weinstein.

Whether Roman Polanski was wise in bringing his action against Vanity Fair for what the magazine came to admit was a dubiously founded story about his conduct on the way to his first wife's funeral is a moot point. Going to America, Polanski's view of the world as cruel, absurd and randomly violent found expression in the first of the two pictures he made there, "Rosemary's Baby," where a wife is handed over to Satanists by her treacherous husband, and "Chinatown," possibly his masterpiece. Philip French gives is take on Polanski's career in The Guardian.

hile they rush to catch up with the onslaught of year-end film releases with Oscar aspirations, Academy voters will have one more week to mark their nomination ballots in 2006 than they did this year. The 78th Annual Academy Awards are set to take place Sunday, March 5 -- one week later than they were held this year because the Academy didn't want to go head-to-head with the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Gregg Kilday reports in the Hollywood Reporter.

Concerns about piracy and a maturing DVD sell-through market dominated the opening session of the 24th annual Video Software Dealers Assn. convention Tuesday. In his state of the industry address, VSDA president Bo Andersen took aim at the growing threat of movie piracy and called on the industry to attack piracy through public education. Erik Gruenwedel reports in Reuters.

You may not know him, but Scotsman Hamish McAlpine wants to make a dirty name for himself. Outfitted in furs (and sometimes brass knuckles), McAlpine is the man behind Tartan USA, the company that released Michael Winterbottom’s controversial, sexually explicit “9 Songs.” Seeking to infuse American culture with the kind of culture that starts with a capital “C,” the 21-year-old British company is doing it one blowjob at a time. Matthew Ross of the Voice reports that months before Carlos Reygada’s “Battle in Heaven” screened at Cannes, Tartan had already acquired all distribution rights for the Mexican director’s film which begins and ends in an act of Fellatio. But sex isn’t Tartan’s only culture spreading/money making strategy—it will also focus on releasing Japanese and Korean horror films in the U.S.

The Sundance Institute has announced the list of six musicians participating in the 8th Annual Sundance Institute Composers Lab from July 26 - August 11. This year’s Composers Lab Fellows include: Don Byron, Barbara Cohen, Marco d’Ambrosio, Andrea Kapsalis, Ljova (Lev Zhurbin), Gyan Riley.

The two-week program will include workshops and creative exercises led by leading industry composers and film music professionals. According to the Institute, "Composers Lab participants also collaborate with filmmakers from the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program as well as the Sundance Documentary Program to explore the process of writing music for film and to create accompanying scores for scenes shot by the Filmmaker Fellows during the Institute’s Filmmakers Lab."

Biography information for the Fellows follows:

Nancy Buirski has been named Artistic Director at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC. She founded the event in 1998. David Hughey, the former president and publisher of Durham’s Herald-Sun, will takeover the role of Interim Executive Director of the Festival next week.

Based on an autobiographical novel by Rumer Godden, "The River" (1951), directed by Jean Renoir, is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. This is not so much a critical judgment as the recognition of a mathematical truth. A.O. Scott profiles the film in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

Mohammed Bouyeri, who has joint Dutch-Moroccan nationality, had made a courtroom confession and had vowed to do the same again if given the chance.
The murder in Amsterdam stunned the Netherlands. The court ruled that it was a terrorist act. BBC reports.

A movie based on Canada's most notorious female serial killer will receive its world premiere next month at the Montreal World Film Festival. Laura Prepon ("That '70s Show") stars in "Karla" as Karla Homolka, who teamed up in 1993 with her husband, Paul Bernardo, to torture and murder two schoolgirls in a case that gathered international attention because the attacks were recorded on video, which was shown in court. Homolka also helped Bernardo rape and murder her own sister. Misha Collins ("24") will play Bernardo. Joel Bender will direct. Etan Vlessing reports in Reuters.

If only Europeans would stop thinking they can make better movies about America than Americans, >says John Patterson in The Guardian.

Scant pickings indeed for fans of the divine Miss M., who has entered the third decade of her career more popular than ever before. Few Hong Kong stars have been able to escape the gilded cage of their industry to attain true global stature -- except, of course, in roles that are narrowly defined by genre. But part of what makes Cheung so fascinating is that she defies definition. Jeff Yang reports on Maggie Cheung in the San Francisco Chronicle.

By tradition, a Bollywood heroine is a one-dimensional creation who may wear eye-popping bustiers or writhe passionately during a song in the rain. But she is unfailingly virtuous. Whether girlfriend, wife or mother, she is the repository of Indian moral values. As if heeding his exhortation, Bollywood heroines have rarely stepped out of line, even for a kiss. Anupama Chopra reports in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

A new film based on a novel by John le Carre highlights what the master spy writer calls the "appalling" practices of drug companies in Africa. Mike Collett-White reports in Reuters.

indieWIRE Alert: As widely expected within industry circles, Walt Disney Studios has tapped Daniel Battsek, their own Buena Vista International exec, as the new President of Miramax. The move will take effect October 1st following the departure of company founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

indieWIRE will publish more on this story in Tuesday's edition.

The Blue November MicroFilmFest STAGE III, a film festival taking place on November 4-5, 2005 at OSU-Tulsa Auditorium in Tulsa, Oklahoma is looking for entries. The festival focuses on Oklahoma film and art. Entries must be NTSC DVD or VHS, and will not be returned. Submissions need to include your name, address, phone, email, title, format, bio and synopsis, and running time. All genres accepted. There is no entry fee and the deadline is Sept. 15, 2005. For an entry form or additional information, contact Captain Chambers at captain@blue-november.com.

Scheduled for October 18-23, 2005, CineKink NYC, the self-described “really alternative” film festival, will feature a program of films and videos that explore and celebrate a wide diversity of alternative sexuality. In addition to screenings, plans for the film festival also include a short film competition, audience choice awards, presentations and a gala kick-off party. Film topics will include S/M, leather and fetish, roleplay, swinging, polyamory and non-monogamy, and gender bending. Offerings will range from documentary to drama, camp comedy to hot porn and everything in between. The festival program line-up for 2005 will be announced in September.

The Center for Jewish History in New York City will present a special screening of Colin Still’s “No More to Say and Nothing to Weep,” on Monday, August 1 at 7 p.m. The documentary is about the life and work of American poet Allen Ginsberg. Bob Rosenthal, poet and Ginsberg’s literary executor, will open the evening with a brief reading of Ginsberg’s poetry, and will lead a post-screening discussion.

The Northwest Film and Video Festival is looking for entries for this year's fest, which will take place from November 5-13, 2005. All entries must be postmarked by August 1, 2005. There is no entry fee, but you must be a permanent resident of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho or Montana to participate.

As a special presentation of the New York International Latino Film Festival, the Valladolid International Film Festival is bringing its 50th anniversary celebrations to New York City, by presenting a special series of five recent award-winning films including “Las Horas Del Dia” (The Hours of the Day) and “La Caja 507” (Box 507). All screenings are part of New York International Latino Film Festival and will be shown at Tribeca Cinemas, which is located at 54 Varick St. (at Laight St.).

A filmmaker who portrays his fellow Germans as a mass of collectively depressed moaners burdened with their dark history and fearful of a bleak bankrupt future. Konstantin Faigle, whose light-hearted film "The Great Depression -- Made in Germany" won widespread cheers at the Munich Film Festival in June, told Reuters that he believes a pronounced pessimism is ingrained in the German mentality.

Miramax veterans Bob and Harvey Weinstein have teamed up with IFC Films to acquire North American rights to the thriller "Unknown." Reuters reports.

Fox Searchlight says it has secured the rights to a film about slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. that is to be produced by the artist's mother and his former managers. The studio is in negotiations with Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") to direct the biopic. Cheo Hodari Coker, who wrote the biography "Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G., " has been tapped to write the script, Fox Searchlight announced Tuesday. A.P. reports.

Civilian Content, owner of the Film Consortium and the Works, has launched Works U.K. Distribution. Works plans to release 8 pictures during its first year. Leo Barraclough reports for Variety (subscription required.)

Filmmaker Magazine announces their "25 New Faces of Independent Film 2005" in their Summer 2005 issue. Read the article here.

THINKFilm has acquired all North American rights to James Marsh’s Un Certain Regard ’05 world premiere feature “The King” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Oscar-winner William Hurt. THINKFilm is planning a release in the first quarter of 2006.

A man suspected of being part of a group linked to the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh is to be extradited to the Netherlands. Racid Belkacem, 32 was arrested in London in June after a request from Dutch authorities. BBC reports.

Daylight streams through the windows of George Lucas's gleaming new $350 million headquarters, situated conveniently - and to some degree, surprisingly - in the middle of the Presidio, a former Army post on the edge of this city, where the public can mingle beside the Yoda fountain with company employees. Sharon Waxman reports on the new complex in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

Film director David Lynch wants to raise $7 billion to bring about world peace through a massive transcendental meditation program. Lynch, 59, known for the quirky, avant-garde works like "Mulholland Dr