BFI (British Film Institute)

[Tommaso]

As to "The Innocents": It's one of the most beautiful transfers I've ever seen even on standard disc. And a glorious film.

Pretty excited about "Benjamenta", too. While I think nothing beats the Quays' short films, this is a lot more gripping than "Piano Tuner of Earthquakes", which I think is a very good film, but somehow felt overly mannerist in places for me. "Benjamenta" however is genuinely disturbing. I wonder what extras the BFI will come up with; another interview with the guys would be completely satisfying for me.

[MichaelB]

Institute Benjamenta is also coming on November 9th.

Oh, wow, that's really great. Have you had any involvement with this, MichaelB?

Not formally (it's being produced entirely in-house), but it's in very safe hands indeed - and I've proposed numerous extras, some of which will hopefully find their way into the final package. Others are clearly long shots, but I'm all in favour of being pleasantly surprised!

[Cash Flagg]

See Kiarostami's SHIRIN 'opens at BFI Southbank and cinemas nationwide from 26 June'... Hope it may subsequently find its way onto BFI DVD (& Blu Ray) as AK's FIVE did before...

Coming on Blu-ray 9/28, couldn't find the DVD pre-order on Amazon.

[ellipsis7]

See Kiarostami's SHIRIN 'opens at BFI Southbank and cinemas nationwide from 26 June'... Hope it may subsequently find its way onto BFI DVD (& Blu Ray) as AK's FIVE did before...

Coming on Blu-ray 9/28, couldn't find the DVD pre-order on Amazon.

Truly excellent! I can see the SHIRIN DVD @ Moviemail, Blu-Ray to follow presumably...

[denti alligator]

See Kiarostami's SHIRIN 'opens at BFI Southbank and cinemas nationwide from 26 June'... Hope it may subsequently find its way onto BFI DVD (& Blu Ray) as AK's FIVE did before...

Coming on Blu-ray 9/28, couldn't find the DVD pre-order on Amazon.

That link doesn't appear to work, and I can't find the item in any search.

[Cash Flagg]

That link doesn't appear to work, and I can't find the item in any search.

Looks like it's been pulled from Amazon. The title still shows up in my order history, but I get the same 404 error when I click on it.

[MichaelB]

A big new BFI Blu-ray promotion has just been launched, offering an Instant Blu-ray Collection - 15 titles for £150.

It's currently available through MovieMail and the BFI Filmstore.

[Sanjuro]

A big new BFI Blu-ray promotion has just been launched, offering an Instant Blu-ray Collection - 15 titles for £150.

It's currently available through MovieMail and the BFI Filmstore.

BFI Filmstore says 10 for £150 or 20 for £200.

So, if you buy 20 you do kind of get 15 for £150. I suppose. Is the Moviemail offer different?

*edit: Oh. Moviemail says 15 for £150. Damn that's tempting!

[Cash Flagg]

Great news, the BFI are releasing The Innocents and The Leopard on BluRay on November 9th.

According to Amazon, The Leopard has been delayed until February 15th.

[mikkelmark]

edit:

[perkizitore]

?

[What A Disgrace]

If this deal turns out okay, I'll get the three Blu Rays I was going to buy earlier (the Douglases and Winstanley), plus Bed Sitting Room (I would be considering Herostratus, but I had a dream about Bed Sitting Room last night so I'm gonna take this as an omen).

[MichaelB]

(Deleted due to redundancy).

[ellipsis7]

Great news, the BFI are releasing The Innocents and The Leopard on BluRay on November 9th.

According to Amazon, The Leopard has been delayed until February 15th.

Further to May 10th according to Moviemail & Play.com...

[What A Disgrace]

I wonder what the chances are of the Peter Greenaway films getting Blu Ray releases.

[perkizitore]

I wonder what the chances are of the Peter Greenaway films getting Blu Ray releases.

None, if the original elements are in the same condition with the ones used for the Svankmajer set.

[MichaelB]

I wonder what the chances are of the Peter Greenaway films getting Blu Ray releases.

None, if the original elements are in the same condition with the ones used for the Svankmajer set.

Educated guesswork is one thing, but blindly random speculation is something quite different - and distinctly unhelpful.

I don't know of any plans to release Greenaway on Blu-ray, but there's no reason not to assume that the materials are in perfectly acceptable condition - certainly, the early BFI-produced titles (from the 1970s shorts to A Zed and Two Noughts) should be in excellent shape, as the DVD releases demonstrate, and so there's no technical or logistical reason why a Blu-ray release shouldn't be viable.

It's also highly misleading to imply that the Svankmajer materials are in poor condition - as far as I can see, preservation standards are fine. The problem is to do with accessing original film elements for state-of-the-art telecine - in many cases we had to rely on rather elderly SD Digibetas supplied from Prague. Also, for various reasons that I can't go into in public I strongly doubt that HD telecines of most of the shorts will be attempted any time soon.

[perkizitore]

I wonder what the chances are of the Peter Greenaway films getting Blu Ray releases.

None, if the original elements are in the same condition with the ones used for the Svankmajer set.

Educated guesswork is one thing, but blindly random speculation is something quite different - and distinctly unhelpful.

I don't know of any plans to release Greenaway on Blu-ray, but there's no reason not to assume that the materials are in perfectly acceptable condition - certainly, the early BFI-produced titles (from the 1970s shorts to A Zed and Two Noughts) should be in excellent shape, as the DVD releases demonstrate, and so there's no technical or logistical reason why a Blu-ray release shouldn't be viable.

It's also highly misleading to imply that the Svankmajer materials are in poor condition - as far as I can see, preservation standards are fine. The problem is to do with accessing original film elements for state-of-the-art telecine - in many cases we had to rely on rather elderly SD Digibetas supplied from Prague. Also, for various reasons that I can't go into in public I strongly doubt that HD telecines of most of the shorts will be attempted any time soon.

Michael, i've read your answer about the chances of releasing the Svankmajer shorts on Blu-Ray in another topic. I am sorry, i shouldn't have said 'original', but the ones that can be accessed by the BFI.

[MichaelB]

Michael, i've read your answer about the chances of releasing the Svankmajer shorts on Blu-Ray in another topic.

That was obvious - but since you also knew nothing about the Greenaway materials, what was the point of saying anything at all? This is exactly how erroneous rumours start spreading!

[perkizitore]

Michael, i've read your answer about the chances of releasing the Svankmajer shorts on Blu-Ray in another topic.

That was obvious - but since you also knew nothing about the Greenaway materials, what was the point of saying anything at all? This is exactly how erroneous rumours start spreading!

You could hardly call it a 'cynical' understatement, definitely not a rumour starter! Could i possibly hurt the potential sales of an unmaterialized set?

[MichaelB]

You could hardly call it a 'cynical' understatement, definitely not a rumour starter! Could i possibly hurt the potential sales of an unmaterialized set?

You can certainly hurt the actual sales of a materialised set by implying that the source materials are in poor condition!

And your Greenaway comment was just pointless - you have not the faintest idea either if there are plans for a Blu-ray release or what condition the materials are in, so what entitled you to start a reply to a question with an emphatic "None"? Or indeed to answer the question at all?

[perkizitore]

You could hardly call it a 'cynical' understatement, definitely not a rumour starter! Could i possibly hurt the potential sales of an unmaterialized set?

You can certainly hurt the actual sales of a materialised set by implying that the source materials are in poor condition!

And your Greenaway comment was just pointless - you have not the faintest idea either if there are plans for a Blu-ray release or what condition the materials are in, so what entitled you to start a reply to a question with an emphatic "None"?

None

[doc mccoy]

Mike,

When is the BFI going to announce the next wave of Flipside titles? Any rough estimates on release dates?

[MichaelB]

Mike,

When is the BFI going to announce the next wave of Flipside titles? Any rough estimates on release dates?

Sorry - I'm not in the loop on concrete future release dates. But rest assured that press releases get posted here literally within seconds of receipt in my email inbox.

[What A Disgrace]

Michael, it must be annoying for so many people to see you as the BFI go-to guy, but I have to inquire if you know anything about the upcoming Borzage volumes. Why was Lilion included in the set instead of, say, Lazybones or The River's reconstruction? Are there any plans for a 3rd volume; preferably with these two films? I ask this because in my opinion, Lazybones is easily the equal of the other three Borzage silents, and it would be a shame if BFI did not release it, or The River (complete with all of the trimmings missing from the Fox set).