News

Buffalo 8 has acquired worldwide rights to sci-fi fantasy thriller Devil’s Play (fka The Wheels of Heaven), starring Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler).

Directed by Ben Charles Edwards, inspired by Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, the film explores themes of faith, destiny, and the duality of good and evil.

Starring alongside Rourke are Dessy Tenekedjieva (The Profession of Arms), who also produced the movie via Black Sea Films and Nova Film, Gary Stretch, and Geoff Bell (RocknRolla). The cast features rising Bulgarian actors Eleonora Ivanova and Dimitar Nikolov in lead roles, with special appearances by Lee Ryan (The Heavy) and Nicky Whelan (Hall Pass).

Devil’s Play follows Iva (Ivanova), a troubled teenager trapped between an abusive stepfather (Stretch) and a distant, deaf mother (Tenekedjieva). She finds unexpected salvation in a mysterious boy claiming to be Lucifer (Nikolov), a fallen angel sent to guide her.

The Passion Of The Christ producer, director and co-writer Mel Gibson is mourning Christo Jivkov, one of the stars of his 2004 blockbuster, who died Friday night in Los Angeles after a long private battle with cancer. He had just turned 48.

“My dear friend Christo has lost his heroic battle with cancer. Right to the last moment he was filled with hope and his spirit was strong,” Gibson said. “I’ll miss him but I know his suffering is over and he has eternal bliss. God keep him.“

Jivkov played John opposite Jim Caviezel and Monica Bellucci in The Passion Of the Christ, which grossed $612M worldwide. After the movie came out, he remained in touch with Gibson, with the two meeting a number of times over the past 19 years. Jivkov was expected to be involved in the long-rumored sequel if/when it came to fruition.

Actor-producer Jivkov also was known...

Actor-producer Christo Jivkov, known for his starring role as John in Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster The Passion Of The Christ, died last night in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer. He was 48.

Jivkov was born Feb. 18, 1975 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Shortly after graduating from the Bulgarian Film & Theater Academy where he majored in film directing, he was cast as the lead, Giovanni de Medici, in Ermanno Olmi’s 2001 feature The Profession of Arms, which swept the 2002 David di Donatello Awards with nine wins, including Best Film. That led to a career in Italian cinema and television.

Jivkov went on to play John opposite Jim Caviezel and Monica Bellucci in Gibson’s The Passion Of the Christ, which grossed $612M worldwide. He was expected to be involved in the long-rumored sequel if/when it came to fruition.

Production is wrapping up on The Wheels of Heaven, a dramatic thriller starring Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), produced by Dessy Tenekedjieva’s Bulgarian-based Black Sea Film and co-produced by UK’s Goldfinch, an independent production house and financier.

Ben Charles Edwards

The film, directed by Ben Charles Edwards (Quant) from a screenplay by Mike Shilliam, also stars Gary Stretch (Dead Man’s Shoes), Dessy Tenekedjieva (The Profession of Arms), Geoff Bell (RocknRolla) as well as Eleonora Ivanova and Dimitar Nikolov, featuring Lee Ryan (The Heavy), Nicky Whelan (Hall Pass) and Sadie Frost (Quant). Shilliam wrote the screenplay from a story by Edwards and Tenekedjieva. Dennis Madden (Home Alone TV series) serves as Dp.

Principal photography took place in Bulgaria this past summer, followed by additional filming in Los Angeles and London. Post-production is currently underway in the UK.

In The Wheels of Heaven, a troubled young girl, Iva (Ivanova...

14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.

Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)

International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors

1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)

Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)

2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)

Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)

3. The Sapphires

Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)

4. The Wall (Die Wand)

Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)

5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)

Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)

6. Augustine

Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.