Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) hadn't been harbouring a strong desire to do a dramatic film. "The pleasure of documentaries are in the spontaneity," he says. But after working with actors in his last film, the documentary re-enactment Touching the Void, and feeling the need to expand his technique, Macdonald decided to venture i...

  After years of sequels and prequels and remakes of successes from the past, there are signs at last that Hollywood may have begun to listen to filmgoers saying they want to see good original films....   Almost 150 new films will be released in the US between September to December, including a crop of Oscar hopefuls  and high-concept stories featuring star names, ...

  Nightclub Bouncer Talent Spotted For Gangster Role A nightclub bouncer who was talent-spotted as a gangster while at work in Blackburn, Lancashire, is carving out a career in TV and film. Billy Hodge, 40, will appear in the film Diary of a Bad Lad as Big Billy - a businessman and gangster's right-hand man. His talents will hit the big screen when Diary of a Bad Lad reaches ...

  Award-Winning Film Gets an Outing at Last It was supposed to be a cinema blockbuster - the true story of a German scientist trying to deliver Scottish mail by rocket. But five years after shooting ended, and two years after the director died, The Rocket Post has only now landed a distribution deal. The film appears to have set the record for the longest time taken for a m...

  Wilderness (93 mins, 15) Directed by Michael J Bassett; starring Sean Pertwee, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell   Alpha Male (100 mins, 15) Directed by Dan Wilde; starring Jennifer Ehle, Danny Huston, Patrick Baladi, Trudie Styler   Sisters in Law (104 mins, PG) Directed by Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi 

  200 UK Cinemas go Digital - One of the Biggest Film Advances in Cinematic History   UK film fans from St Ives to Inverness are about to experience unprecedented film choice at the cinema thanks to the roll-out of the world's most advanced Digital Screen Network, the UK Film Council has announced.

  In Prague, Some Work Together; Others Offer New Events As multiplexes continue to flood the country, traditional single-screen movie houses are struggling to stay afloat and are having to come up with new strategies to compete. This trend is particularly pronounced in Prague, where only 13 small theatres remain, down from 57 in 1990. Most have simply been unable to compete with...

  Stormbreaker stormed the UK Box Office over its opening weekend, taking over £1m, according to producer Marc Samuelson who was attending a gala presentation of Stormbreaker in Douglas, Isle of Man, where the film was made. The event brought a real taste of Hollywood to the Manx capital with the film's star Bill Nighy, author Anthony Horowitz and movie producer Marc Sa...

  After 30 years in film, Australian Rolf de Heer gets a commercial hit. After only two weeks in cinemas, Ten Canoes, the film by Rolf de Heer and the people of Ramingining, has taken over one million dollars at the Australian box office, it was announced by Palace Films today. Ten Canoes had its World Premiere at the Adelaide Festival in March, was awarded a Special Jury Prize a...