News

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSLeviathan.A Russian court has sentenced the Ukrainian-born film producer Alexander Rodnyansky to eight and a half years in prison in absentia for anti-war statements, which the state characterizes as “fakes” motivated by “political hatred.”The documentary Undercover: Exposing the Far Right was pulled on short notice from the BFI London Film Festival due to safety concerns for staff and audience members, though it is not clear if a credible threat was made.Thousands of artists from across the cultural industry have signed a statement to artificial-intelligence companies, which reads in its entirety: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.

Alvin Rakoff, the Canadian-born filmmaker who directed Laurence Olivier in A Voyage Round My Father, has died. He was 97.

His death was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his longtime publicist, Nick Pourgourides. He passed away on Oct. 12 surrounded by family at home in Chiswick, a neighborhood in London.

Rakoff as a writer, director and producer of over 100 TV, film and stage productions, as well as novels, directed Olivier and co-stars Alan Bates and Jane Asher in the 1982 TV drama A Voyage Round My Father, a film written by John Mortimer and which earned the director his second Emmy Award.

Alvin and Olivier also worked together on Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson and A Talent for Murder, both shot in 1983. The two-time Emmy Award winner also gave a young Sean Connery his first leading role in the 1957 film Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Alan Rickman as a young actor was...

Alvin Rakoff, the veteran Canadian filmmaker best known for pics like the 1982 feature A Voyage Round My Father starring Laurence Olivier, died in Chiswick, London, October 12 surrounded by his family. He was 97.

Rakoff’s former personal agent confirmed the news with Deadline this morning.

Born on on February 6, 1927, in Toronto Rakoff was the third of seven children. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a psychology degree, Rakoff spent time as a news reporter. His first job as a writer was with the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), which later sponsored Rakoff to visit the UK. Within days of arriving, he sold his first fiction script to the BBC. He was soon invited to join the BBC’s director’s training course and, the following year at the age of twenty-six, Rakoff became the youngest producer/director in the BBC drama department.

As Rakoff once recalled: “I trained at the BBC as a director-producer.

Canadian director, writer and producer Alvin Rakoff, best known for directing Laurence Olivier in “A Voyage Round My Father,” has died at the age of 97.

The cause of death was “old age,” his publicist told Variety. He died on Oct. 12 at home, surrounded by his family.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, which began when television was still only available in black-and-white, Rakoff was involved in over 100 television, film and stage productions as well as writing novels. According to his representatives, he was still working into his ’90s.

Rakoff was the third of seven children born to Sam and Pearl Rakoff in Toronto in 1927. His parents owned a dry goods shop but the director grew up in poverty after the Great Depression hit in 1929. He would later recount the experience in his novel “Baldwin Street.”

After seeing his first film in a theater at the age of 6, his...

To celebrate the release of The Comedy Man, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from 18th March, we are giving away Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!

Boasting a career-best performance from Kenneth More and skilfully directed by Alvin Rakoff, this often-forgotten example of the late British New Wave features an outstanding supporting cast including Cecil Parker, Dennis Price, Edmund Purdom and Billie Whitelaw.

The Comedy Man depicts the life of a struggling actor in Swinging London. Fired from his job in repertory theatre after seducing the producer’s wife, Chick Byrd (Kenneth More) moves to London. At 40 years old, he realises this is his last chance to make it as an actor. After moving into digs in London with Julian (Edmund Purdom), a fellow actor, Julian’s career soars after a successful screen test, but Chick’s meets with continued failure.

After a tumultuous event, Chick finally gets a break and finds...

Adapted from the hit play by award-winning novelist, playwright and screenwriter John Mortimer (Rumpole of Bailey), A Voyage Round My Father, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on April 27, 2010. Also adapted for screen by Mortimer himself, this touching story of father and son stars stage and screen legends Laurence Olivier and Alan Bates (Gosford Park), and garnered multiple awards, including an International Emmy® for best drama (1982). By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, A Voyage Round My Father captures the special bond between father and son, which at times seems unbearable-but ultimately proves unbreakable (80 min., $29.99, www.AcornOnline.com).

DVD Playhouse: March 2010

By

Allen Gardner

Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire (Lionsgate) In-your-face, but undeniably powerful film that follows the plight of an overweight inner-city teen (Gabourey Sidbe, a real find) who must deal with an abusive mother (Mo’Nique, in a career-making turn for which she won a most-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar), a baby born of her abusive, and absent, father, and trying to survive day-to-day with few people to offer her help, save for a sympathetic teacher (Paula Patton) in a special ed program. Director/producer Lee Daniels, a former personal manager/producer-turned-filmmaker, brings a kitchen sink authenticity to the proceedings, along with a cast of famous powerhouse performers, who manage to disappear into their roles. Tough stuff, but not to be missed. Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). Bonuses: Commentary by Daniels; Featurettes; Interviews with Sapphire and Daniels; Deleted scene. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.

Alan Cox admits to reservations about doing an interview with his father, Brian Cox. Brian, of course, is the esteemed character actor known for his imposing turns in fare as varied as the Oscar-winning Braveheart and the Johnny Knoxville comedy The Ringer. He will next be seen as a convict seeking to break out of prison to visit his ailing daughter in The Escapist, opening in limited release April 3. Says the younger Cox, "I do think it's interesting to talk to different generations working in the same industry with shared sensibilities. But a bit of me goes, 'God, I'm nearly 40, I don't want to be thought of as somebody's son.' " He pauses a moment before adding, "But I also want to sell my show, so if that's the hook, fire away."The show in question is the current touring production of Frost/Nixon, the Tony-winning play by Peter Morgan...