Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein who was at the Berlinale for the opening film Cold Mountain said he was impressed by Swedish director Mikael Håfström and liked the visual style in Evil and what he got out of his actors. He spent time speaking with Håfström while in Berlin. Evil is one of the nominated best foreign language films for an Academy Award. When Håfström is in Hollywood later this month he will be speaking with producers, in particular about a Miramax project called Derailed.
Weinstein claimed that the theme of war in Cold Mountain was controversial in the US just now, a film about deception in the name of honor and patriotism. Perhaps the timeliness of the film in the midst of soldiers going to war in Iraq was too close to home, said Weinstein who believes the antiwar theme will be better received in Europe.
Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella and Weinstein are collaborating on a new project—a supernatural thriller.

Moira Sullivan