The World Digest - October 7, 2005

Strike action

ROME — Responding to planned budgetary cuts that some estimate will cut available funds for the financing of Italian films from 2005's €80 million ($97.47 million) to just over €50 million ($60.92 million) next year, industry leaders have called for an industrywide strike and protest to be held Oct. 14. The strike and accompanying protest in Rome is being coordinated by a broad array of professional and trade organizations including production and distribution organizations Agis, Anica and Anac, and actors unions Sindacato Attori Italiani and Forum Attori Italiani, among others. Theater workers are also being urged to walk out.



Last samurai

SYDNEY — Japanese entertainment major Shochiku announced Thursday that it will produce and distribute "Bushi no Ichibun," the third and final installment of Yoji Yamada's acclaimed samurai trilogy that began with his 2004 Oscar-nominated "The Twilight Samurai." Based on a story by Shuuhei Fujisawa, "Bushi no Ichibun" follows the relationship between a samurai who loses his eyesight during a mission and his wife, who eventually sacrifices herself in order to save her husband's honor. Principal photography on "Bushi no Ichibun" is slated to start in early 2006.



'Three' opening

MEXICO CITY — Tommy Lee Jones' "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" will open the third edition of the Morelia International Film Festival, one of Mexico's top movie showcases, while John Leguizamo starrer "Sueño" is set to close. Festival organizers said Jones and Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga will attend the festival, which runs Oct. 8-16. Jones directed and stars in "Three Burials," which won best screenplay and actor at the Festival de Cannes. Comedy "Sueño," the first feature from writer-director Renee Chabria, is a Destination Films release.