TV Rankings: 'Allen Gregory' On Slow Start, 'Once Upon A Time' Stays Solid

FOX The Philadelphia Eagles' domination from the Dallas Cowboys throughout Sunday Evening Football gave a obvious rankings victory for NBC last evening, using the network calculating 16.8 million audiences for that evening, having a 6.7 rating in grown ups 18 to 49. ABC also worked out well, seeing slight increases on Desperate Average women (9.3 million, 3.1) and Pan Am (5.six million, 1.9). Not so long ago also had a great deal to enjoy a throughout its second outing. Total viewership only ended up with a million, lower to 11.6, while losing little hold in grown ups 18 to 49, generating a 3.9. FOX's animated block came back following a several-week hiatus, using the notable addition of Allen Gregory. The series premiere only worked out much better than the 9:30 broadcast from the Cleveland Show, though, debuting to 4.7 million having a 2.4 within the key demo. The Simpsons' annual "Treehouse of Disasters" Halloween special was received by 8 million, with 4. in grown ups 18 to 49. Overall, CBS arrived second to NBC, calculating 14.5 million during the period of the evening having a 3.7 in grown ups -- assisted, without doubt, by National football league runover. Fox (5.six million, 2.7) adopted in grown ups but was capped by ABC (7.9 million, 2.5) as a whole audience. NBC - 6.7 - Football Evening In The Usa: 1.4 million, 4.7 - Sunday Evening Football (Philadelphia versus. Dallas from 8:30 - 11 p.m.): 20.4 million, 8.2 CBS - 3.7 - Football runover/an hour: 23.5 million, 6.8 - Amazing Race 19: 14.3 million, 3.5 - The Great Wife: 10.a million, 2.2 - CSI: Miami: 10.a million, 2. FOX - 2.7 - The Cleveland Show (R): 4.8 million, 1.9 - The Simpsons (R): 5.4 million, 2.5 - The Simpsons: 8 million, 4. - Allen Gregory: 4.7 million, 2.4 - Family Guy: 5.96 million, 3.2 - The Cleveland Show: 4.six million, 2.3 ABC - 2.5 - Not so long ago (R): 5.two million, 1.2 - Not so long ago: 11.six million, 3.9 - Desperate Average women: 9.3 million, 3.1 - Pan Am: 5.six million, 1.9 TV Rankings The Simpsons Not so long ago Sunday Evening Football

'Untouchable' wins Tokyo, japan, japan Grand Prix

Tokyo, japan, japan -- "Untouchable," French helmers Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's drama in regards to the oil-and-water relationship from the paralyzed French aristocrat and also the ex-disadvantage medical expert, won the Tokyo, japan, japan Sakura Grand Prix within the 24th Tokyo, japan, japan Film Festival, which ended its nine-day run Sunday.The pic's leads, Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy, shared the most effective actor prize.In the video message from Paris, Toledano and Nakache mentioned they were busy marketing the pic'supcoming French release, but guaranteed get to Japan due to its bow in 2012.The second-place special jury prize visited Shuichi Okita's "The Woodsman as well as the Rain," really the only Japanese pic inside the competition.Ruben Ostlund won director honors for "Play," while Glenn Close needed the actress laurel on her behalf perf in Rodrigo Garcia's "Albert Nobbs."The most effective artistic contribution honors visited Du Jiayi's "Kora" and Tony Kaye's "Detachment," while Sylvain Estibal's "When Pigs Have Wings" needed everyone else award.Inside the Winds of Asia-Middle East section, Filipino helmer Jeffrey Jeturian's "Trespasser" was selected best film while special mentions visited "The Mirror Never Lies," "Tatsumi" and "The Robot."Keiichi Kobayashi's helming debut, "In regards to the Pink Sky," won japan Eyes section, focusing on homegrown indies.The Toyota Earth Grand Prix to find the best pic by getting an eco-related theme visited "The Mirror Never Lies," Indonesian helmer Kamila Andini's drama in regards to the impact from the fisherman's loss at sea on his wife and daughter.There has been 41,648 admissions to 315 tests of 128 photos inside the fest, when compared with 275 tests a year ago, together with an overall total of 172,231 admissions to all or any fest-related occasions, like the Tiffcom market.Held March. 24-26, Tiffcom attracted nearly 800 registered customers, about 10% greater than a year ago. Deals, however, were thin on the ground, though the majority of the Japanese companies, especially Toho, Shochiku, Toei, NTV and also the best spinner's, had full meeting agendas.One buyer complaint was the relative inadequate Japanese game game titles with worldwide potential. Even new photos that stirred up buzz among the press and experts, for instance Gu Su-yeon's bad-boy fist-fest "Hard Romanticker" and Yuya Ishii's pregnancy dramady "Mitsuko Provides," did not seal deals. Basically, to the American Film Market in Santa Monica. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Trio of photos top Doha Tribeca

London-- Merzak Allouache's "Normal," Nadine Labaki's "Which Side We Proceed Now?Inch and Namir's Abdel Messeeh's "The Virgin the Copts and Me" were among the prize individuals who win as of this year's third edition in the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, which wrapped on Saturday evening. 5-day fest, which closed by getting an outdoors screening of Luc Besson's "The Lady,Inch saw "Normal," a pic of a disillusioned Algerian youth inside the wake in the Arab Spring, nab the Arab film competition's best narrative award while Messeeh's docu nabbed best documentary film inside the Arab competish. "The Virgin, The Copts and Me" follows a French-Egyptian filmmaker likely to Egypt to locate apparitions in the Virgin Mary. Both honours incorporated a $100,000 cash prize. Labaki, whose second feature pic "Which Side We Proceed Now?Inch remains selected as Lebanon's language Oscar entry, walked away while using audience award within the fest.Story follows several Lebanese women who make an effort to diffuse the tensions between Christian followers and Muslims inside their village. Rania Stephan, helmer of "The Three Disappearances of Soad Honsi" and Roschdy Zem, helmer of "Omar Destroyed Me," needed honours for top documentary director and greatest narrative director correspondingly with both acquiring a $50,000 cash prize. "Omar Destroyed Me" thesp Sami Bouajila also won a prize for top performance in the pic and needed a $15,000 cash prize. The most effective Arab online video prize visited "Where Are You Currently Presently?Inch by Abdulaziz Al-Nujaym while a decent mention inside the same category visited "My Father remains a Communist - Intimate Strategies for Be Launched" directed by Ahmad Ghossein. Ghossen can get $10,000 in development services within the Doha Film Institute. Amanda Palmer, professional director of DFI mentioned: "You will discover lots of exclusive filmmakers here as well as the reason we've the festival is always to uncover new talent. Hopefully these gifted people meet each other here and may make films together consequently."Mohammed Malas, jury prexy in the Arab narrative film competish, mentioned that DTFF was "one of the better festivals to enhance the profile of youth cinema, developing our future."Carrying out a screening in the closing evening pic "The Lady,Inch Brit popstar Leona Lewis completed for the crowd. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Primetime for daytime

"Day for evening" is really a production term for techniques accustomed to create the look of evening in shots really taken throughout your day.However watching television recently, the word is dealing with another meaning, with programs and formats typically connected with daytime -- an progressively moribund medium -- finding second existence on night time agendas.This phenomenon is not exactly new. Indeed, it had been twelve years back when "Who would like to be considered a Uniform" set TV scrambling to produce primetime quiz- and gameshows, prior to the trend cooled -- among inevitable saturation -- faster than you are able to say "You're the 'Weakest Link.' Goodbye."The most recent salvo, however, is much more varied, and may come as daytime approaches a substantial crossroads. The cancellation of countless lengthy-running cleaning soap operas -- most lately ABC's "My Children" and "One Existence to reside,Inch changed by cheaper talk/lifestyle shows -- highlights a change in viewer designs and habits, in addition to economic forces compelling developers to reexamine every daypart.Nothing better reflects the drip of day into evening than "The Rosie Show," Rosie O'Donnell's fledgling talk program for The famous host oprah Winfrey's battling OWN network. Love her or otherwise, the show was initially created with distribution in your mind and definitely wouldn't look unnatural at 3 p.m. on the local station.On the other hand, possibly consistent with Winfrey's sensibility from her talk days, a lot of OWN's programming approximates daytime -- including "Oprah's Lifeclass," which repackages old episodes and dresses them track of Winfrey meting out Modern knowledge.OWN is not alone in mining genres typically connected with daytime as traditional lines of demarcation between day-parts fade, with a lot more good examples premiering within the next couple of days.MTV's "Friend Zone" may be airing at 7 p.m. beginning November. 1, however the series -- featuring teens confessing a concealed infatuation towards the friend who's the item of this desire -- seems patterned following the "secret crush" instances of Maury Povich's talkshow. By featuring a set of tales within each half-hour, the presentation does not allow additional time to grow around the "good or badInch facts than Povich's daytime combinations did.Elsewhere, BBC America will unveil a U.S. original patterned after British panel shows, but additionally resembling ancient items like "What's My Line?" Within this situation, it's "Can You Rather? With Graham Norton," in which a quartet of panelists (to give them a call "celebs" could be unnecessarily charitable) softball bat around hypothetical questions, like whether they'd rather eat pet food for any year or perhaps be shot within the knee.What appears obvious is by using the industry's business design in flux, things are in play -- including, potentially, restored efforts emigrate soaps in to the evening. While ABC's Soapnet is certainly going away and MyNetworkTV's dalliance with British-language-style telenovelas flopped, any genre by having an established history merits consideration -- especially if it may be mounted cheaply enough to outlive inside a heavily fragmented atmosphere.The primary challenge is the fact that cleaning soap sensibilities happen to be co-elected by reality implies that replicate their narrative dynamics, on channels for example Analysis Discovery along with a&E. Such programs did to daytime serials what newsmagazines did to TV movies -- approximating the thrills a lot sooner, at a lower price.Because the quizshow flameout indicates, systems -- even niche-oriented ones -- have to be careful about getting caught up and finding yourself having a surplus of programming where "cheap" may be the first adjective that involves mind.It had been 5 years ago, in the end, when NBC first sailed intends to air only less-costly unscripted programs at 8 p.m., with then-NBC Universal TV Group Boss Shaun Zucker saying from the network business, "I'm not sure if it's irreparably damaged, however the economic model is within considerable amount of pressure." NBC adopted that initiative a couple of years later with "The Jay Leno Show" experiment at 10 p.m. And that we all saw how that exercised.Nonetheless, there appears to become little question systems continues seeking programs to balance selection costs, that also includes getting talent for example Physical Violence Worsens put on multiple hats, straddling daytime and primetime with separate shows. Which might explain the present wave of "day for evening" production, as systems appear going to tap probably the most economical avenues available -- trying, as well as they are able to, to help keep the lights on. Contact John Lowry at john.lowry@variety.com

Spirit Honours searching for Feb. 25

Film Independent formally introduced the 2012 Spirit Honours will return to its traditional Saturday mid-day on Feb. 25 in the tent round the beach in Santa Monica, while using premiere broadcast airing at 10 p.m. ET/PT on IFC. The nominees will probably be introduced in the press conference on November. 29 within the London West Hollywood Hotel. Film Independent people and many types of past Spirit Award individuals who win and nominees will probably be capable of election with this particular year's individuals who win. "The Film Independent Spirit Honours honors filmmakers who create original tales and takes note of artists with fresh, authentic voices," mentioned Film Independent senior director Sean McManus. "While using ongoing support within our extended-standing broadcaster, IFC, the Spirit Award nominees in addition to their work will acquire a national audience." Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

Depp Channels Friend Thompson Again for 'Rum Diary'

La (AP) The Actor-brad Pitt strongly recalls the very first time he met Hunter S. Thompson, sparks flying because the author separated a bar crowd having a cattle push along with a Taser.17 years later, Depp is making good on a single of his close friend's last wishes, creating and starring inside a film adaptation of Thompson's "The Rum Diary," written in early sixties although not released until Depp happened around the manuscript one fourth-century after.Depp and Thompson, who died of the self-caused gunshot wound in 2005, glued instantly at this first meeting in 1994, once the actor was investing Christmas in Aspen, Colo., close to the author's home. Keen on Thompson's since reading through the gonzo journalist's "Fear and Loathing in Vegas" in the late teens, Depp leaped in the chance whenever a mutual friend requested if he desired to meet him.Depp was told to show up in the tavern at night time. Right after, Thompson joined brandishing his cattle push and Taser."Everyone was hurling their physiques, jumping taken care of to save themselves out of this maniac," Depp stated within an interview. "He then made his method to me. The sparks passed away lower, he just walked up to me and set his hands out and stated, 'How is the next step? I'm Hunter.'"Thompson and Depp rapidly discovered both of them were born in Kentucky and shared many literary heroes, included in this Ernest Hemingway and Nathaniel West. Around 2:30 that morning, these were at Thompson's house, where Depp respected a nickel-plated shotgun around the wall."'Would you love to fire it?'" Depp remembered Thompson saying. "I stated, 'Yeah. Great, guy.' He states, 'All right, great. We should build tanks.' Therefore we built tanks in the sink from gas tanks and nitroglycerin. Only then do we required them out back and that he stated, 'All right, you receive first crack.' And So I equalized that 12-gauge and that i blew up 80-feet fireball."I believe which was my type of coming of age with Hunter. I believe which was my test which i was OK."Depp continued to experience Thompson's alter ego within the 1998 movie adaptation of "Fear and Loathing." While planning for your role, Depp stayed within the basement of Thompson's home, sorting through boxes of "Fear and Loathing" items "cherry stems and cocktail serviettes and all sorts of these strange notations, photos of apes. Who understood that which was inside?Inch Depp remembered.He then opened up another box and located a manuscript entitled "The Rum Diary" in red-colored letters. He figured Thompson hadn't checked out it since writing it decades earlier, the storyline in line with the author's encounters like a youthful reporter in Puerto Rico.Sitting mix-legged on the ground, Depp and Thompson passed pages backwards and forwards. Within about 30 minutes, Depp had convinced Thompson to write the novel. In exchange, Thompson was adamant they ought to perform a film version.They developed the project together for a long time, and Depp grew to become much more devoted to getting the storyline towards the screen after Thompson wiped out themself among assorted maladies and decreasing health."There is nothing more wonderful rather than see an actress may play a role he puts everything into," stated Graham King, a producer on "The Rum Diary.""I am not to imply he does not put everything into every movie, but it was different. It was something which am near to his heart. It had not been a gig. It had not been employment for him.""Johnny is Hunter in lots of ways. Hunter set to make a move that nobody else tried before, and that i seem like Johnny does that in lots of things," stated co-star Amber Heard. "He's doing precisely what he really wants to do, and i believe it's wonderful and vital that you battle to make projects he feels have artistic integrity."A box-office risk at the start of his career for oddball films that rarely made money, Depp continues to be in a position to call their own shots within the years since he grew to become a Hollywood breadwinner with hits like the "Pirates from the Caribbean" movies and "Charlie and also the Chocolate Factory."Still, it had been challenging to locate backers for "The Rum Diary," which stars Depp as Paul Kemp, a Thompson alter ego in the childhood, coming in San Juan being an aimless tenderfoot who encounters corrupt designers despoiling a tropical paradise and finds out his purpose to defend myself against "the bastards" wherever he finds them.Aaron Eckhart co-stars like a slimy pr guy whose girlfriend (Heard) becomes Kemp's object of lust. The cast includes Giovanni Ribisi, Richard Jenkins and Michael Rispoli.To create the script and direct, Depp and Thompson enlisted Bruce Robinson ("Withnail & I"), a filmmaker who recognized themself and Thompson as kindred spirits."I was writing within the same vernacular, a voice of comedy rage," Robinson stated. "What will you have, a hands grenade or perhaps a word? Hunter find the word."Though Thompson vanished, Depp made him a spectral producer from beyond, insisting there be considered a chair with Thompson's title around the set, beside it an ashtray, a packet of Dunhill cigarettes, a bottle of Chivas Regal along with a highball glass.Every morning, Depp and Robinson would pour a glass or two for Thompson."Everyone was there for Johnny, and Johnny was there for that passion for the guy," Eckhart stated. "Which was palpable around the set, between Hunter's chair as well as their sacrament to him every day.InchIf Thompson were around to examine his performance, Depp figures he'd "develop some unbelievably witty, clever remark that will just kind of chop me off in the ankles. ... After which seconds later, he'd have recognized it, In my opinion.InchAfter I known as him for 'Fear and Loathing,' I had been scared which was the finish in our friendship, because I'd performed him, I believe, pretty near to the bone," Depp stated. "I told him in early stages, 'If I actually do this right, you may hate me forever.' He stated, 'Well it is a chance you need to take, is not it?' And So I made it happen, but after 'Fear and Loathing,' I known as him and that i stated, 'All right, you first viewed it? Would you hate me?'"And i believe by me saying, 'Do you hate me?' he understood I had been in discomfort. He could not stand the thought of (playing) beside me, and that he stated, 'No, no, guy. It had been as an eerie trumpet call on the lost battleground.' I am talking about, that simply arrived on the scene of his mouth around the telephone. ... It does not improve.InchCopyright laws 2011 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Independent Theaters Join Tower Heist Boycott

Following the example set last week by Cinemark, a number of independent theater chains and movie theaters have pledged not to screen Universal’s Tower Heist in protest over the studio’s plans to drastically shorten the release window. Lyndon Golin, chief executive of Regency Theaters (which is joined by the Emagine and Galaxy chains) explained: “We certainly support Cinemark… If their position is they won’t run it, then we won’t run it either. Movies shown in the home on such a short window is a dagger to our business.” [LA Times]

Real Steel: Film Review

Rocky the Robot would have been the most accurate title for this bot-boxing melodrama, which feels like a mashup of spare parts from Transformers, The Champ, Star Wars and Sylvester Stallone's series, among other cash cows of various vintages. Attempting to tell a heartwarming tale of the redemption of a washed-up fighter in a sports world dominated by metal-crunching mechanical pugilists, this punishingly predictable tale will test whether sci-fi action fanboys can stomach having their cherished genre infiltrated by sentimental hokum about a down-on-his-luck dad and his spunky long-lost son. The likeliest box-office outlook is a split decision.our editor recommends'Real Steel' First Look: Hugh Jackman in Dreamworks' Robot Boxing FilmHugh Jackman Explains Robot Boxing in Real Steel Featurette (Video)Hugh Jackman Unveils 'Real Steel' Airplane PHOTOS: 'Real Steel' First Look: Hugh Jackman in DreamWorks' Robot Boxing Film Guided by a large and august creative team seemingly dedicated to making a film without a speck of originality, this DreamWorks production for Disney is based on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, who seven years later adapted it for an episode ofThe Twilight Zone. In it, Lee Marvin starred as a former boxer who, in a future world (1974) in which human boxing has been outlawed and replaced by android combatants, disguises himself as a robot to fight a mechanical opponent. With Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks on board, the Transformers connection is felt heavily, even if the bots are neither so enormous nor numerous. In fact, the first ramshackle tin can of a fighter promoted by bottom-feeding hustler Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) isn't even strong enough to put up a fight against a live bull at a Western county fair in the film's opening action sequence. As close to the gutter as Mickey Rourke was at his ebb in The Wrestler, Charlie is crude, argumentative and dumb. He's not even sensitive, willing to care temporarily for his 11-year-old son by an ex-girlfriend who has just died only in exchange for cash. Abusive toward the kid, Charlie lucks out in that the great-looking blond boy, Max (Dakota Goyo), is a whiz with machinery, just the guy to help bring a robot to fighting trim. Greeting Max's efforts at seeking love and approval with gruff rejection, Charlie scrapes up some low-end bouts, first with a bot that gets destroyed then with a makeshift old sparring robot named Atom that looks like it belongs on Tatooine. After a couple of amazing victories, the relatively slight machine with bright-red eyes acquires a following, and father and son eye a long-shot match against the undefeated Zeus, a towering black thing controlled by a filthy-rich Russian superfox (Olga Fonda) and a vain Japanese designer (Karl Yune). It goes without saying that gruff Charlie eventually will succumb to his inner dad and embrace Max, but it's a big problem that Charlie is genuinely unlikable. Impatient, defensive and rude, he's thoroughly deficient in redeeming human qualities. Max is forced to tolerate him, but not for a moment is it credible that his comely former girlfriend Bailey (Evangeline Lillyof Lostfame) would still hang around her late dad's old Dallas gym, which she allows Charlie to use as a robot workshop, and welcome such a loser back into her life. Working hard to deliver the accent and externals of an American "street" character, Jackman doesn't provide Charlie with a glimmer of heart until the very end. It's easy to imagine, say, Mel Gibson of 15 years ago giving such a role just the right balance between jerk and hidden softie, but Jackman's Charlie comes off as almost entirely abrasive, someone you'd go out of your way to avoid. Taking up the slack to an extent is young Goyo, recently seen in Thor, who is natural and unaffected in front of the camera and instantly winning. Despite the preprogrammed feel of John Gatins' script (Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven get story credit, despite the foundation provided by Matheson's original), director Shawn Levy, in a change of pace from his usual comedies, makes sure the old Rocky underdog charge sets when the climactic bout gets under way. With the slim Atom looking like he has as much of a chance against Zeus as Pee-wee Herman would against the Rock, it's hard not to engage with the momentum as it swings wildly from one extreme to the other. Charlie, enacting outside the ropes the moves he wants Atom to make, summons all of his boxing knowledge to achieve something through this mechanical proxy that he never quite pulled off in the ring. The ending has the right feel of resolution, but it's still a question how much of a rooting interest audiences will take in robots trying to send one another to the junkyard. Loaded with enough product placement to make Jerry Lewis proud, Real Steel is technically seamless. Opens: Oct. 7 (Disney) Production: Touchstone, DreamWorks, 21 Laps, Montford/Murphy Prods. Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda Director: Shawn Levy Screenwriters: John Gatins, story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven, based in part on the short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson Producers: Don Murphy, Susan Montford, Shawn Levy Executive producers: Jack Rapke, Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Steven Spielberg, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen Director of photography: Mauro Fiore Production designer: Tom Meyer Costume designer: Marlene Stewart Editor: Dean Zimmerman Music: Danny Elfman PG-13 rating, 127 minutes Evangeline Lilly Hugh Jackman Shawn Levy Real Steel Dreamworks Studios

Ultraviolet looking for global roll-out

CANNES -- The brand new cloud storage system Ultraviolet, which bows within the U.S. March. 11, will announce a worldwide roll-in the approaching several weeks with launches imminent both in the U.K. and Canada. Warner Bros. professional Justin Herz, speaking throughout a celebration session at Mipcom Tuesday, stated which more than 50% from the studio's film and TV catalog could be available via Ultra violet through the finish of the coming year while Fox established that "a substantialInch quantity of its fare would soon be Ultra violet-enabled. The galleries which have registered for Ultra violet, including NBC Universal and Fox -- an organization that Disney is plainly absent -- hope the brand new technology will re-ignite the house entertainment market and prove a significantly-needed boost to revenues following a collapse of DVD sales, and also the failure of Blu-ray to create common excitement among film and TV enthusiasts. Ultra violet-enabled dvds allow customers to look at exactly the same bit of content on 12 different products, whether it is connected Televisions, laptops, pills or mobiles, all over the world after they open a merchant account providing them with use of online streaming. The very first Ultra violet release, Warners' "Horrible Bosses," bows March. 11, with further releases due within the coming days. The very first TV skein is going to be CW's "One Tree Hill," and it is expected within the coming several weeks, indicated Herz. Regardless of the imminent launch Mark Teitell, gm from the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, rejected to express just how much the service would cost. This is exercised between content providers and retail partners. But Herz, senior Vice president, direct-to-consumer, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and gm, Warner Bros. advanced digital services, was not tight-lipped how digital distribution needed to date disappointed the general public. He stated: "We now have done a dreadful job at presenting digital product and also the consumer has chosen vociferously against what we should did.Inch Whether Ultra violet does much better remains to appear, but Teitell seemed determined, if realistic. He stated: "There's a great deal to be exercised. We're just getting startedThe goal would be to make Ultraviolet available everywhere Blu-sun rays and Dvd disks are available." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

New Zealand sets 'Orator' for Oscar

It's a story of firsts for New Zealand, as tyro helmer Tusi Tamasese's pic "The Orator" has become New Zealand's first-ever foreign-language Oscar entry. Backed by the New Zealand Film Commission and the Samoan Government, the pic bowed at Venice where it received a special mention and Commission topper Graeme Mason says he hopes it is the first of many entries for the Pacific region which has been underrepresented in the past.Pic tells the story of a small-statured Samoan named Saili who must fight for his land and his pride and is filmed on and around the islands of Upolu in Samoa."It's fantastic lyrical exploration of bravery and love," says Mason who also chaired the selection committee. "But on top of that it is also an extraordinary portrait of a place and a way of life and I think that is something which resonates with the foreign-language voters." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com