Recent Film Restorations

[hearthesilence]

A few years ago, the legendary 1982 opus The Man Who Saved The World (aka Turkish Star Wars) had a small-scale UK cinema release - but they didn't charge admission. From what I gather, George Lucas is well aware of that film's existence, but has opted not do do anything unless people are seen to be making money out of it - although even aside from the purloined Star Wars footage, that film is a music-rights lawyer's wet dream. That actually did get a paid-for BD-R release not long ago, but presumably the distributors were aware of the risks they were taking, and it was for a limited time only.

Never heard of this before, and it's up on archive.org!

Anyway, I think it's a similar deal with the homemade Raiders of the Lost Ark remake where the studio and the filmmakers hold all the cards but in an act of benevolence have allowed it to exist AND be shown under severely limiting terms. IIRC Lucas couldn't care less if the film was wiped out of existence but Spielberg was flattered and had a much kinder view about it.

[senseabove]

I jokingly asked elsewhere how long it would be before the Superstar restoration leaked, and apparently the answer is "quite a while," as I was informed it actually screened in 2018 at the Orphan Film Symposium.

[swo17]

Anyway, I think it's a similar deal with the homemade Raiders of the Lost Ark remake where the studio and the filmmakers hold all the cards but in an act of benevolence have allowed it to exist AND be shown under severely limiting terms. IIRC Lucas couldn't care less if the film was wiped out of existence but Spielberg was flattered and had a much kinder view about it.

Disney also allows Escape from Tomorrow to exist, even acknowledging it on their official fan club website!

Also, a court made the no-distribution decision, yes? Can't another court just un-Roe it?

On what grounds? As it currently stands, the film is wall to wall copyright infringement, and I can't see how there'd be any wiggle room.

Some strain of fair use doctrine? I think a case could at least be made for the right to screen it without turning a profit

[GaryC]

I saw Superstar at the BFI Southbank back in 2002 - it was a surprise item following a Q&A with Haynes and Julianne Moore following a preview screening of Far from Heaven. My reasoning was (I'm not a lawyer) that what we had paid for was the Q&A so no commercial transaction had taken place regarding Superstar. It wasn't announced beforehand, and I only found out at the start of the Q&A when the woman from the BFI introduced the evening and said there would be a surprise at the end of it.

[swo17]

Would the Carpenter estate have any legal standing if a non-U.S. company tried to release Superstar? Or if, say, the UK still had laws against it, is there another country where a release could still happen? For instance, it's my understanding that Song of the South is considered to be in the public domain in Japan, which has provided a decent source for bootleg Blu-rays of the film

[Calvin]

Would the Carpenter estate have any legal standing if a non-U.S. company tried to release Superstar? Or if, say, the UK still had laws against it, is there another country where a release could still happen? For instance, it's my understanding that Song of the South is considered to be in the public domain in Japan, which has provided a decent source for bootleg Blu-rays of the film

I suspect that Song of the South is probably still copyrighted in Japan; my understanding of TRIPS and the Berne Convention is that, under international law, if a work is under copyright by a citizen or company of one of the signatories then it is recognised by all signatories of the convention.

[hearthesilence]

After 70 years, does the film's music enter into the public domain in the UK and the EU, in which case it could be releasable?

EDIT: I guess it's actually 70 years after Richard passes away.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I suspect that Song of the South is probably still copyrighted in Japan; my understanding of TRIPS and the Berne Convention is that, under international law, if a work is under copyright by a citizen or company of one of the signatories then it is recognised by all signatories of the convention.

That's what the Berne Convention says, but domestic law in Japan doesn't conform to it even though Japan is a signatory. Back in 2006 Paramount sued a budget label selling unauthorized DVDs of Roman Holiday and the court ruled that films which had lapsed into the public domain before 2004 (when Japanese law extended the term from 50 to 70 years) remained in the public domain. Under that rubric, Song of the South has been public domain in Japan since the end of 1996. There was at least one DVD release in Japan, and there was also a Blu-ray labeled "Made in Japan," but the text on the packaging was entirely on English and I suspect the "Made in Japan" bit was a dodge. One complication as far as the Japanese market is concerned is that the first Japanese dub wasn't made until 1986, so that won't be public domain for a long while yet.

[pianocrash]

Would the Carpenter estate have any legal standing if a non-U.S. company tried to release Superstar? Or if, say, the UK still had laws against it, is there another country where a release could still happen?

This would also have to do with infringing on Carpenter's music publishing licenses, which usually are arranged within the EU & other territories - but even so, the film is depicting him, and I can't imagine anyone trying to wrangle one without the other, lest lawyering up.

[Matt]

The use of recorded music in a film requires licensing both the song (the written, notated work) as well as the master recording. It’s conceivable that Haynes could license the songs but not the recordings and make sound-alike recordings for the two dozen or so songs that appear in the film. But that would be expensive and rather against the aims of the film itself.

At some point, Richard Carpenter will die, all the songwriters and performers of all these songs will die, and the mutual funds that own or will own all these rights will not have a personal investment in continuing to deny permission for use of the music. Then the film can be released, the Broadway musical version will be produced, and a lot of people unconnected with the Carpenters or Haynes will be made even wealthier.

[Stefan Andersson]

Clara Law´s Floating Life restored:
https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2022 ... ating-life

[Stefan Andersson]

Wim Wenders on restoring his films:
https://lwlies.com/interviews/wim-wende ... -the-film/
Discusses OCN of Wings of Desire, music rights for Goalkeeper´s Anxiety and other subjects.

[criterionsnob]

Todd Haynes Says Re-Release of Banned ‘Superstar’ Short is ‘Going to Happen’

[Calvin]

Satyajit Ray's Distant Thunder

[Stefan Andersson]

Program for the 2022 Stummfilmtage in Bonn - includes a Photoplay resto of Mark of Zorro (1920), Meinert´s Laster der Menschheit (new reconstruction), Gunnar Hedes saga (new resto), Atlantis (1913) in 4K, Moral (Willi Wolff, Germany 1928, new resto):

https://www.foerderverein-filmkultur.de ... ge2022.pdf
https://www.foerderverein-filmkultur.de ... ramm-2022/

[Ribs]

Venice Classics 2022 line-up

[Big Ben]

Hopefully that restoration of The Profound Desire of the Gods is a sign that it will eventually be getting a home media release here in the states.

[L.A.]

A Rainha Diaba / The Devil Queen (Antonio Carlos da Fontoura, 1974) has been restored in 4K.

[andyli]

Venice Classics 2022 line-up

As usual they don't provide specs for these restorations. We do know The Draughtsman's Contract is BFI's 4K resto, and the Ozu, Yang, and Eustache should be brand new. The Ear may or may not be the same as Second Run's 2019 release. Canyon Passage and The Black Cat could also be replicating their most recent blu-ray transfers (I'd love to be wrong on both counts, though). I'm most curious about the two Nikkatsu productions. Fingers crossed that they are brand-new 4k restos, and translate into new blu-ray/4k releases.

[afilmcionado]

The 46th HKIFF just announced six restorations

Obviously, we already knew about the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Boat People that were acquired by Janus. Interestingly, Millennium Mambo and Suzhou River are listed alongside them. I wonder if they’re available/have been snapped up by Janus as well?

[JakeStewart]

À nous la liberté was recently given a 4K restoration and is streaming on the Channel in its restored version.

[andyli]

À nous la liberté was recently given a 4K restoration and is streaming on the Channel in its restored version.

Not just that. Four René Clair films (Sous les toits de Paris, À nous la liberté, Le million, Les Grandes Manœuvres) have recently received 4k restos and had Japanese blu-ray releases.

[tenia]

Les grandes manoeuvres also had a French BD.

[Stefan Andersson]

Capricci Films, France, will re-release in Sept. 2022 these German Douglas Sirk films, restored by F W Murnau-Stiftung:
LA FILLE DES MARAIS (Das Mädchen vom Moorhof) – 1935, restauration 2K
APRIL, APRIL ! – 1935, restauration 2K
LES PILIERS DE LA SOCIÉTÉ (Stützen der Gesellschaft) – 1935, restauration 2K
LA NEUVIÈME SYMPHONIE (Schlußakkord) – 1936, restauration 2K
DU MÊME TITRE (Das Hofkonzert) – 1936, restauration 4K
PARAMATTA, BAGNE DE FEMMES (Zu neuen Ufern) – 1936, restauration 2K
LA HABANERA – 1936, restauration 2K
Source: https://capricci.fr/wordpress/product/r ... glas-sirk/
Also: https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/dougl ... 2-969.html

[Calvin]

Half of them have already been released by Kino