The Silences of the Palace

Mongrel Media, Hussain Amarshi’s one-person distribution company which deals in educational markets, some tv and home video, has had success with its first theatrical release, The Silences of the Palace. In its first week at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema on one screen, the film topped the list of titles at the Carlton. In its second week, Amarshi says the film was holding steady in second place after Christopher Hampton’s u.k. indie Carrington.

The film has pulled in almost as much as its p&a budget, says Amarshi, a figure in the neighborhood of $15,000.

The Promise

The Promise, Margarethe von Trotta’s latest film, distributed by Alliance Releasing, has fallen short of expectations with $20,320 on five screens in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The film opens in Vancouver on Nov. 24. Expect No Mercy did so little at the box office in its first weekend, Alliance is not reporting numbers.