26 Palms

[Bikey]

Palms



I would like the film to answer the need for community - to show how people are tied together, sometimes paradoxically —Artur Aristakisyan

Palms is Aristakisyan's astonishing portrait of people who live on the margins of life and exist outside normal society. Profound, spiritual and hallucinatory, Palms is remarkable at every level and one of the most visionary films of recent years.

Narrated by the director addressing his unborn son, the film is compassionate, revelatory and bold in its originality and was awarded the NIKA (Russian Oscar) for Best Documentary in 1994. This is its first-ever release on DVD.

Special Features

• Newly filmed interview with director Artur Aristakisyan.
• Digital transfer with restored image and sound, approved by the Director.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Optimal quality dual layer disc.
• Booklet featuring a new Essay by Graeme Hobbs.



....
Palms (Ladoni)
A film by Artur Aristakisyan
Russia / 1993
Second Run DVD 026

" A wholly remarkable experience" - The Guardian

A hundred years after the invention of the cinema, an original film is a rare discovery. The sense of wonder, the magic of cinema, is sadly very rare. The closest we have got to it recently is to see Palms. Poetic, spiritual and hallucinatory, Palms is remarkable at every level.

Aristakisyan grew up in Kishinev, the capital of Moldova. For a number of years he lived amongst the tramps and beggars of the city: drug addicts, the emotionally disturbed, and the physically handicapped. Palms, his graduation film, is the result of those four years.

The winner of many international awards, this will be the first ever DVD release of this unique film.

[tavernier]

Where's 23, 24 and 25?

[Bikey]

Christ. So I post about us releasing a stunning piece of work such as Palms and all you are worried about is the titles that aren't there.

23, 24 and 25 (and 27) are detailed in the new Second Run catalogue that will be inserted in all new releases from A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda onwards. You can also find copies of it at various London cinemas.

I will post threads on 23, 24 and 25 later in the week. Oh, and we've just confirmed 28 too.

Has anyone out there seen Palms by the way? Any thoughts on it?

[colinr0380]

I've not heard of it but it sounds very interesting. I did a quick search on Google and came up with a couple of links to information:

This site talks more about the film:

Acclaimed docudrama that received many international awards.

Hands is an innovative film which returns us to the very roots of cinema. Although usually described as docudrama, like any new phenomenon in art it defies clear cut definition.

The film delivers an anarchic messianic message, similar to that of the early Christians: ANY AUTHORITY, ANY POLITICAL, SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS SYSTEM IS DETRIMENTAL TO HUMAN FREEDOM. IF YOU WANT TO BE FREE, LEAVE THE SYSTEM EVEN AT THE PRICE OF SUFFERING AND DEPRIVATION.

There is no soundtrack to Hands except the voice-over of the author, Artur Aristakisyan, who is addressing his yet unborn son. Yet unborn, and most likely "to be scooped out of the womb". Artur offers him a path to salvation, the path of sacred "madness".

We do not know whether the son ever existed or whether the extraordinary stories Artur relates, are true. But if they are not, is one capable of inventing them?

The film's "heroes" are a woman who has been lying on the ground for forty years, a disabled young man who has promised not to move from his place until the Kingdom of God comes, a dumb simpleton who ran away from an asylum, a man with no legs moving through the sea of people on his trolley, a collector of clothes of the dead, a hunchbacked old woman keeping the head of her beloved hangman in a box, a man living in an attic with birds, a blind family living from begging, an old man collecting a pile of rubbish so that it can reach the sky...

The film seems to achieve the impossible by making one feel spiritually uplifted and enriched despite the tragedy and horror of the stories it relates. Director Artur Aristakisyan says he was always fascinated by beggars. "From childhood I wanted to make a film about them. Even as a child I had a relationship with film as if it were a church. It was a God-given territory upon itself. You can't watch a film without wanting to be saved. It's a meeting with the living light. The light works with you as you work with it. I would like the film to answer the need for community - to show how people are tied together, sometimes paradoxically."

It sounds pretty harrowing, but also fascinating. I notice that the site I've just quoted the review from says the running time of the film is 129 minutes, while the Internet Movie Database lists a 140 minute runtime. What is the correct length of the film? This site lists the running time as 90 minutes.

There is also a Variety article from 1994 about the San Francisco film festival:

The Satyajit Ray Award for a promising young filmmaker goes May 3 to Russian Artur Aristakisian, whose first feature, "Palms," captures lives of Moldavian homeless.

Also found this from a Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film website.

Getting into film wasn't exactly easy for Artur Aristakisian (born in Kishinev, Moldova), the first hippie of the Russian film community. It took him eight years to be accepted into the Moscow Film School (VGIK), where he lived in classrooms and cooked his food while hiding behind the curtains during his classmates' rehearsals. For four years he struggled to complete “Palmsâ€

[BrightEyes23]

consider me excited about this Bikey.

i think SecondRun should offer some sort of "SecondRun Club" straight through you guys...for a certain fee every year those who would join would receive all of the SecondRun discs, special newsletters, etc. I know I'd join because I purchase all of these anyway and any other way I can help out a great label like this, I'm all about it .

[Bikey]

The idea of a Second Run 'club' or subscription is one that we have talked about. But our thoughts were that we were too young a business to expect people to commit relatively substantial sums of money to us just yet.

Maybe I should start a seperate thread to gauge the forum's interest?

[tavernier]

Christ. So I post about us releasing a stunning piece of work such as Palms and all you are worried about is the titles that aren't there.

23, 24 and 25 (and 27) are detailed in the new Second Run catalogue that will be inserted in all new releases from A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda onwards. You can also find copies of it at various London cinemas.

I will post threads on 23, 24 and 25 later in the week. Oh, and we've just confirmed 28 too.

Has anyone out there seen Palms by the way? Any thoughts on it?

OK, so where the hell's 23. 27 and 28?

[What A Disgrace]

According to Amazon, delayed until April 16.

[BrightEyes23]

yup, i got the email too...while its disappointing, i just look at it as a way to keep my $$ a little longer and not have to buy all of these 2nd run releases in one month

[moebius]

Maybe I should start a seperate thread to gauge the forum's interest?

Yeah, you definetely should. I'm a huge fan of your collection and own a lot of your discs. And don't forget to consider worldwide shipping fees

[Scharphedin2]

Maybe I should start a seperate thread to gauge the forum's interest?

Yeah, you definetely should. I'm a huge fan of your collection and own a lot of your discs. And don't forget to consider worldwide shipping fees

Bikey, how about doing a pilot project of this nature for people in this forum?

[moebius]

Follow we should start a thread about this topic on our own and watch out for Bikey's response.

[What A Disgrace]

According to Play.com, this has been delayed until May 28.

[Macintosh]

According to Play.com, this has been delayed until May 28.

First Godard's History du Cinema is delayed, now this! #-o

[What A Disgrace]

...now July 30, according to Amazon.

[jbeall]

After reading Second Run's newsletter today, I have to say I'm really intrigued by this film. There's not enough Moldovan cinema available here in the US anyway!

[meanwhile]

"My son, it's true that I want you to become a beggar. I, your father, wish you to become a beggar, because I love you my son."

Aristakisyan's words to his unborn sun in Palms.

"Unite your destitution with your virginity. It's all that I can advise you. Destitution will protect you from the system, and virginity from fornication with the system."

[What A Disgrace]

I don't mean to be a pain. But Play.com now lists this film; as well as Diary for My Children, without a release date, while Amazon retains the 7/23 and 7/30 dates (respectively) for both of them.

When can we expect to see either film?

[rs98762001]

Has a Second Run title ever met its intended release date? Oh well, they're usually worth the agonizing waits.

[Gropius]

Has a Second Run title ever met its intended release date? Oh well, they're usually worth the agonizing waits.

Well, it's clearly a shoe-string operation, so it's not that surprising. But maybe they should avoid announcing titles until they are close to completion.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Moviemail who are usually on the ball now list this as 27/08 along with the Jancso.

[meanwhile]

Yep, that's about right. I have checked and the date is there or thereabouts for both of them, give or take a week or so.

Also, sneaking up on the blind side, there is a Second Run / MovieMail exclusive here, and about which I have written more extensively here.

There's a surprise!

[Bikey]

The new release now has its own topic: Partition. Please visit there for more info.[/b]

[Bikey]

Palms released on 27th August


Artur Aristakisyan's Palms will be released by Second Run on 27th August.

Our apologies for all of you who have been waiting for this film to come out. We very much wanted to include an interview with Artur on the DVD, which we now have.

Palms is a remarkable film and we are looking forward to reaching out to audiences who may not have heard of it. In the next few months we will be screening the film at cinemas around the country, so look out for notices on this website and the Second Run newsletter.

[What A Disgrace]