According to Lehto, he and his partner, Juha Siltanen, wrote a treatment inspired by In a Room and a Half, an essay by Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Brodsky, in 1988. They then approached Gherman to work with him on the project. 

"I had met Brodsky in New York and obtained his permission to use the story," said Lehto. "He also provided me with further information on the subject. Gherman did not know the story, since it was written in English, but he was very interested in collaborating." 

Lehto received a total of $10,500 from the Finnish Film Foundation to develop the screenplay for what was then called Puolitoista huonnetta (In a Room and a Half). During this time, added Lehto, Gherman went to Finland and worked with him on the script, and they decided to change the title. 

"The original screenplay was written as a collaboration between Mr Lehto, KinoFinlandia Ltd and Mr Gherman, but all copyright is vested with Mr Lehto and his company, KinoFinlandia Ltd," said Lehto yesterday through his lawyer. "Accordingly, any public screening of the film is impossible until the legal and economic questions have been resolved."  

Foreign sales agent Eric Lagesse of Flach Pyramide International expressed surprise at the news and said that, as far as he was concerned, it was business as usual. "I am selling this film as part of my deal with PolyGram France," said Lagesse, "and suggest Mr Lehto gets in touch with them if he has a problem." 
Jorn Rossing Jensen 

***** 
 

Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum's Lakeshore International has signed Demi Moore for the much sought after lead role in Ronald Bass' drama Passion in Mind, which is to be directed by Alain Berliner (Ma vie en rose). 

Passion in Mind, which is being introduced to the market in Cannes, will be among the first films to be distributed in the US through Paramount Pictures' new speciality film division, Paramount Classics, headed by co-presidents Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein. 
Moore will play Martha Marie Willis, a woman who creates an imaginary existence in her dreams in an attempt to come to terms with tragic childhood events. CP 

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Spacey signs up for life of crime 

Kevin Spacey signed Tuesday night to star in Ordinary Decent Criminal, a new feature to be handled by Icon Entertainment International, the London-based sales company owned by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey's Icon Productions. The film is to be directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan and produced by Little Bird's Jonathan Cavendish.  
Billed as a classic gangster movie set in modern-day Ireland, Ordinary Decent Criminal will begin principal photography in Ireland in autumn 1998. 

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Filmmakers rally round 

French daily Le Monde provided the latest platform yesterday for Gallic artists to sound off against government legislation which calls for the expulsion of illegal immigrants, many of whom work in the film industry. 

Pleading the case of the sans-papiers, director Patrice Chereau, whose film, Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train, is in competition in Cannes, and legendary film-maker Jean-Luc Godard were among those who signed an appeal to their compatriots to act "before it is too late". 

"There is no risk of invasion. Letting people believe that immigration has dangerous consequences is an easily refutable untruth," claim the writers. "On the contrary, immigration is an opportunity, a source of future richness for a society like ours, which is getting old." 

The party of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has previously said it would put an end to this type of law, but has yet to do so. Nancy Tartaglione

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Universal makes Italian cable bow

Universal Studios' first all-movie TV channel in Europe, Studio Universal, premieres on cable in Italy a week from today, on 21 May. The channel will mix films from Universal's own vast library with a selection of European films as part of the Blu Stream basic TV package distributed by cable and satellite TV provider Stream, a unit of Telecom Italia. 
Initially, Studio Universal will screen 18 hours of programming daily. The channel expects to broadcast a full 24 hours by the end of the summer, and should begin satellite broadcasts by June. 

"We will be looking for ways to support and develop filmmakers in Italy and to contribute in an important way to the growth of the Italian film industry," said Tony Garland, president of Universal Studios Networks. CP

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Titanic's brazil record

After surpassing Ghost's long-held Brazilian gross record, Titanic has become the most-seen film in Brazilian history after 14 weeks in release. Titanic has now sold over 13.4 million tickets in Brazil, surpassing the 22-year record of 13,035,000 held by Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Titanic has grossed more than $60 million from Brazil, five times the the take of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the highest grossing film of 1997 in the territory. CP