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2005

Canada

8/9 -

Deepa Mehta 's Water receives its world premiere as the opening film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.   The film is set in the 30s and explores the plight of an 8-year-old Hindu child widow. [MORE] [ADD]

17/9 -

Tsotsi, a UK/South African co-production about a Johannesburg gangster who finds a toddler in the back seat of a car he has just stolen, wins the People's Choice award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, while the Australian film Look Both Ways wins the event's Discovery award [MORE] [ADD]

China

15/12 -

Disney announces it is to make its first movie in China.   The Secret of the Magic Gourd, an adaptation of a local children's book, will be a co-production with local investors Centro Digital Pictures and The China Film Group Corp. [MORE] [ADD]

Colombia

22/6 -

The Ministry of Culture introduces a revised film classification scheme. [MORE] [ADD]

Germany

9/2 -

A film co-production agreement is signed with New Zealand. [MORE] [ADD]

19/2 -

South African film U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, an updated version of Bizet’s Carmen set in the South African townships, wins the Golden Bear award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. [MORE] [ADD]

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Michael Haneke’s French thriller Caché (Hidden) wins six awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor, at the 18th European Film Awards in Berlin. [MORE] [ADD]

6/6 -

Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, which documents the life of Timothy Treadwell who lived amongst the grizzly bears of Alaska until he was clawed to death in 2003, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Holland

31/1 -

The Amsterdam Filmmuseum announces that the recently re-discovered 1922 film Beyond the Rocks, starring screen legends Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson, will be screened on 5^th April at the second annual Filmmuseum Biënnale. [MORE] [ADD]

Hong Kong

28/3 -

Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle is voted the best film of 2004 at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards.   Derek Yee wins the best director award for One Nite in Mongkok. [MORE] [ADD]

7/12 -

China Daily reports that Peter Chan Ho-sunis’ Yu guo. Oi (Perhaps Love) has set box-office records on the Chinese mainland by earning $2.2 million in its first weekend. [MORE] [ADD]

Italy

30/8 -

Tsui Hark’s martial arts film Qi jian (Seven Swords) opens the Venice Film Festival.  [MORE] [ADD]

10/9 -

Ang Lee's gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain wins the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. [MORE] [ADD]

15/11 -

Screenwriter Agenore Incrocci dies in Rome at the age of 86.    [MORE] [ADD]

Japan

1/2 -

Domestic box office revenue rises to $2.03 billion, up 3.8 percent from 2003.   Revenue from domestic movies rose to 37.5 percent while revenue from Hollywood films declined 3.1 percent. Ticket sales were up 4.8 percent to 170 million. [MORE] [ADD]

28/10 -

Three Extremes, a compilation of three horror tales by directors from Hong Kong (Fruit Chan), Korea (Chan-woo Park) and Japan (Takashi Miike) is released.    [MORE] [ADD]

New Zealand

9/2 -

A film co-production agreement is signed with Germany. [MORE] [ADD]

Norway

1/1 -

VAT of 7% on cinema tickets is introduced. [MORE] [ADD]

Palestine

28/10 -

Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now is released.   The film follows two Palestinian men, Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), as they are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. [MORE] [ADD]

Philippines

– Ellen Ramos and Paolo Villaluna’s Ilusyon is released.   The film, which was shot in five days with a budget of $16,000 is the first R-18 digital film to receive a Grade A rating from the country’s Cinema Evaluation Board.  [MORE] [ADD]

Romania

14/7 -

The government establishes a system for granting state aid to domestic film production through a small percentage of revenue from advertising being paid by TV companies to the National Cinematographic Centre (CNC). [MORE] [ADD]

Saudi Arabia

Nov -

Films are shown in Saudi Arabia for the first time since the 70s when children’s cartoons are screened as part of celebrations of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.   [MORE] [ADD]

Somalia

12/11 -

At least 12 people are killed in fighting between local militia and gunmen loyal to Mogadishu’s Islamic courts, which have ruled that the city’s entertainment centres should be closed because the western and Indian films they show promote immorality. [MORE] [ADD]

South Korea

18/4 -

The Korean film industry produced 194 films exported to 62 countries and earning $58.3 million overseas in 2004. [MORE] [ADD]