- Montreal's film and TV market may seem quiet this year but its director Gilles Bériault says that's really not so. 'The screening rooms are quite full, the theatres are full, I hope with buyers.' Among the sales reported are Fortissimo Film's acquisition of worldwide rights to Sabu's quirky Postman Blues, CFP's sale of Karmina to the Belgian TV stations RTBF and Canal+, and Aska Film's pick-up of The Dress, which it acquired from Attitude in the US.
- Montreal-based ZCA Communications Inc, through its president and ceo Michel Zgarka, has announced an eight-picture output deal with LA-based Cascante Entertainment Organisation. The deal, which will be worth $25-30 million will see ZCA executive produce the titles, which will be launched with the thriller Over the Edge. ZCA also announced an $8 million co-production entitled Southern Cross, which will be produced with Jack Dorfman's French company Tesson SA. The thriller, to be filmed in French Polynesia, will star Mickey Rourke.
- The result of saving 20 Belgian franc (75 cent) coins for over five years to finance a short can be seen, in world premiere, in Montreal. Tito's Home Sweet Home, 'a documentary wrapped in fiction', wants to make people think about their old age, and where they will end up. Not an easy subject, but the director says that it's time for the film medium to return to its function as a medium to express ideas.
- Two films don't exactly constitute a new genre, but the domestic and international success of Morita Yoshimitsu's Lost Paradise and Koji Yakusho's Shall We Dance? suggests that romantic dramas about the love affairs of sorrowful businessmen ('salary men') are the latest craze in Japanese cinema. 'There are sure to be more films on the subject,' Morita predicts. He attributes Lost Paradise's robust domestic box-office performance (three million admissions so far) to its appeal to women and its questioning of blind company loyalty. Morita is planning a new romantic comedy which will again probe family relations and 'the communication between men and women'.
- Alliance Communications announced a more than 400% increase on its net income for its first quarter of 1997. The company also reported earnings of $3.2 million, excluding a one-time gain, on its revenue of $44.022 million for the quarter ending June 1997.
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