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Actor Gérard Depardieu is being considered for a Russian fantasy feature.

Actor Gérard Depardieu has come into the sights of Russian producer Yuri Kuznetsov-Taizhnov of Pervaya Kinostudia (First Film Studio) for children’s fantasy film Games Of Time. Exile by the newcomer Alexandr Olkov.

The project, which is budgeted at $2.6m (RUB90m) and reportedly has $1.5m (RUB50m) already in place, was presented by Kuznetsov-Taizhnov as one of 15 features looking for production support from the Ministry of Culture at its public pitching for children’s feature films.

The producer explained in the pitch that the film about a little girl from another world arriving unexpectedly in our reality is intended to be shot in IMAX 3D, although he reportedly admitted that the film’s budget could mean the makers would have to choose between either Depardieu or the big-screen format.

Games Of Time. Exile was one of five projects recommended by the Ministry’s expert committee...

Co-directors Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’ second feature In Bloom has continued its successful run of winning prizes by picking the Grand Prix at the 4th edition of the Vologda Independent Cinema From European Screens Festival (Voices).

The Georgian-German-French co-production, which premiered at the Berlinale in February and won the main prize at Wiesbaden’s goEast Festival in April, beat competition from such titles as Salvo, A Caretaker’s Tale and Berberian Sound Studio, to convince the International Jury headed by Hungarian film-maker Bela Tarr.

The top prize was even sweeter for Ekvtimishvili as it came on the same day as her birthday.

It was also the birthday of Polish actress Katarzyna Kwiatkowska who received the award for Best Actress for her tour de force performance in Maria Sadowska’s Women’s Day.

Sadowska told ScreenDaily that it was fitting that her lead actress should now receive what was her first prize for this film, since all of...

Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell's The Fighter (top); Jacki Weaver in David Michod's Animal Kingdom More Oscar Veterans: From 1996 to 2010 Christian Bale Christian Bale nominated as Best Supporting Actor for David O. Russell's The Fighter. This is Bale's first Academy Award nomination. He began his film career as a child actor in 1987, in Steven Spielberg's World War II drama Empire of the Sun and Vladimir Grammatikov's Swedish-Soviet-Norwegian fantasy adventure Mio in the Land of Faraway. Bale became a bankable star after landing the role of Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).   Jacki Weaver Jacki Weaver has been acting in Australian films, plays, and television shows for more than four decades. Her Best Supporting Actress nomination for David Michod's Animal Kingdom isn't technically a "comeback," nor was Weaver ever a Hollywood star. However, I chose to include her here because,...