German Filmmuseum Edition

[Tommaso]

In any case: thanks a lot, Anthony, for another great review! I'll sure get "Screening the poor" as soon as they release "Hamlet", which will bring me over the no-postage border...

[TMDaines]

For some reason the Edition Filmmuseum releases are always cheapest on Amazon.it. They do free shipping to Switzerland but unfortunately I live about 500m inside Germany from the Swiss border so I'm not eligible for free postage .

[Wu.Qinghua]

I guess, this may be of interest for German members in the first place:

In case of Filmmuseum DVDs, buecher.de might be a relatively cheap alternative to amazon etc. At the moment, they sell 'Screening the Poor' for 23 Euro all inclusive. Btw, as far as I can see, they charge 6.95 E (flat) for shipping and handling internationally, but they ship to European countries only.

[JAP]

The Female Comedy Teams and Max Davidson Comedies releases won the Best Rediscovery category of the Il Cinema Ritrovato Dvd Awards 2011 (complete list, in italian)

[rogerskarsten]

The 2-disc edition of HAMLET (1921), including the surviving fragment of DIE FILMPRIMADONNA (1913) and other special features, is now available to order at the Edition filmmuseum site.

[antnield]

From the latest press release:

Some might have lost hope over the years but now the release at last:

From the website:

Hamlet & Die Filmprimadonna Edition Filmmuseum 37

Asta Nielsen, born in Denmark in 1881, was the first diva of European silent film. As early as 1913, in Die Filmprimadonna, Asta Nielsen acts the role of a star fighting for increased influence on the entire production process. To realize her artistic vision she founds her own company Art-Film in 1920. Hamlet, produced that same year, survived only in a b&w US export version. In 2005 a coloured vintage print of the lost German original version of 1921 was discovered. The restored film had its premiere at the Berlinale in 2007, with new musical accompaniment composed by Michael Riessler. The 2-disc DVD set also includes documentation of the production history of Hamlet, the restoration process and rare an Asta Nielsen home movie compilation.

The films
Hamlet - Germany 1921 - Directed by: Sven Gade, Heinz Schall - Written by: Erwin Gepard - Cinematography by: Curt Courant, Axel Graatkjaer - Cast: Asta Nielsen, Paul Conradi, Eduard von Winterstein, Mathilde Brandt, Heinz Stieda, Lilly Jacobson, Hans Junkermann, Anton de Verdier - Produced by: Art-Film GmbH - Premiere: February 4, 1921 (Berlin, Mozartsaal) - Reconstruction 2007: Deutsches Filminstitut - Edited by: Anke Mebold, Thomas Worschech - Digital corrections and color grading: Paolo Fonseca - Music: Michael Riessler - Sound recorded by: Frederico Savina

Der elektronische Hamlet - Germany 2008 - Directed and written by: Achim Forst - Photographed by: Thilo Stock - Edited by: Christian Hill - Produced by: ZDF/3sat - Premiere: March 23, 2008 (3sat)

Die Filmprimadonna - Germany 1913 - Directed and written by: Urban Gad - Cinematography by: Karl Freund, Axel Graatkjaer - Castr: Asta Nielsen, Paul Otto, Fritz Weidemann, Fred Immler - Produced by: Projektions A.-G. Union, Berlin - Premiere: December 5, 1913 - Reconstruction 2007: Nederlands Filmmuseum - Music: Trio New Amsterdam

About Hamlet
As soon as Asta Nielsen had founded the company Art-Film, she set out on the ambitious project of aHamlet adaptation with herself in the leading role. With Svend Gade and Heinz Schall she engaged twodirectors she had already worked with. Erwin Gepard was in charge of the script in which Hamlet was portrayed as a woman. The reviews were ambivalent and criticized the falsification of Shakespeare butpraised the acting of Asta Nielsen. Nevertheless the premiere of Hamlet in 1921 was a success. The film became a box office hit and was subsequently released in America. At the premiere of the restored German version in 2007 a new score composed by Michael Riessler was performed by Lisma Project.

Holger Ziegler / Thomas Worschech / Anke Mebold

DVD 1

•Hamlet 1921, 110'
•Score by Michael Riessler
•20-page bilingual booklet with essays by Holger Ziegler, Thomas Worschech and Anke Mebold

DVD 2

•Der elektronische Hamlet 2007, 8'
•Hamlet con Asta Nielsen 2007, 7'
•Hamlet Fassungsvergleich 2009, 30'
•Die Filmprimadonna 1913, 17'
•Score by Trio New Amsterdam
•Asta Nielsen Privatoptagelser 1912-14, 4'
•Asta Nielsen Privat 1970, 2'
•Documents about the film production and the restoration as ROM features
Edited by: Deutsches Filminstitut und Goethe-Institut München
DVD authoring: Ralph Schermbach
DVD supervision: Anke Mebold, Thomas Worschech

First edition July 2011

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on Vienna 1900: Pictures of a Metropolis.

EDIT: Two brief excerpts have become available on YouTube since posting: Vienna Tramride and Funeral Procession for Franz Schuhmeier.

[Minkin]

Does anyone have any experience ordering from Grooves-Inc ?

They seem to have a small selection of Edition Filmmuseum titles for roughly the same price as the Edition Filmmuseum site (they charge in dollars apparently) - but it states that you get free worldwide shipping! After being charged 75 Euros for my order from the Filmmuseum website (granted, there were like 40 titles - including the big Kluge set), I'm hoping Grooves can be a nice alternative when only ordering two or so (instead of the 12 Euro fee that Amazon .De and .It seem to want to charge).

[tajmahal]

Does anyone have any experience ordering from Grooves-Inc ?

They seem to have a small selection of Edition Filmmuseum titles for roughly the same price as the Edition Filmmuseum site (they charge in dollars apparently) - but it states that you get free worldwide shipping! After being charged 75 Euros for my order from the Filmmuseum website (granted, there were like 40 titles - including the big Kluge set), I'm hoping Grooves can be a nice alternative when only ordering two or so (instead of the 12 Euro fee that Amazon .De and .It seem to want to charge).

I have used them for cd's, and received free shipping for an order over $25. Shipping was a little slow, as I recall, and their packaging was basic, but overall a good service.

I also recall receiving a discount code after signing up for the newsletter, so it might be worth signing up first before placing an order.

[Zaki]

I have a very good experience with Grooves-Inc. In July I ordered from them the fantastic new German M Blu-Ray, for the best price I could find online when shipping charges to the US are considered (the total was $34.51). They sent it priority without charging shipping in a pretty good packaging, and it arrived (to the east coast) 11 days after the order was placed.

[antnield]

James Benning : American Dreams (lost and found) & Landscape Suicide

For 40 years, James Benning has been a singular, defiant voice in the American independent film scene. This 2-disc set the first in a planned series devoted to the filmmaker's oeuvre features two of Benning's seminal works from the mid-1980s for the first time ever on DVD: American Dreams (lost and found) is the filmmaker's personal take on the history of the USA from 1954 to 1976, told through a complex and thought provoking amalgamation of image, text and sound. In Landscape Suicide, he effortlessly strides the boundaries of narrative and documentary forms as he recounts two infamous murder cases that took place almost 30 years apart.

[NilbogSavant]

Oh my! Release of the year for me. Landscape Suicide is incredible. I'm excited that I can finally get rid of the 16mm-to-VHS transfer that I've been watching for the last few years.

[tarpilot]

Second the love for Landscape Suicide. Still holding out hope for my fav (North on Evers)...

[antnield]

Following up that earlier post, the Austrian Filmmuseum reveals the Benning release will be a "prelude to an extensive edition of his works on DVD".

[foggy eyes]

Following up that earlier post, the Austrian Filmmuseum reveals the Benning release will be a "prelude to an extensive edition of his works on DVD".

Next up: casting a glance / RR, hopefully in Spring 2012.

[McCrutchy]

I just gave in and ordered the Benning from the GEF site, because it won't be available until November 25th on Amazon.de, and I'm too impatient. Hope it was worth the $55 (!). My first EF purchase.

It appears that if you want to know the general release dates for EF releases, you can find them on the Alive AG site (they must distribute the titles). For example, the Benning release is here.

[Gaddis]

Hope it was worth the $55

For what its worth, you can get most of the Filmmuseum titles through Moskwood Media who shipping wise work out a lot cheaper, and are unbelievably prompt. I'm in New Zealand and I've received the John Cook set within five days.

[Perkins Cobb]

Don't forget Amazon.it as a cheap source for German DVDs ... the prices are often less than Amazon.de.

[Fierias]

The Benning set is only $33.40 at Grooves-Inc, with free shipping. It won't ship until November 25, but that's only ten days of waiting for ~$20 saving.

[McCrutchy]

I received my Benning DVD set today from FedEx and snuck a quick peek. For some reason, EF have not provided any subtitles for American Dreams (for our German buyers), though I assume that this is because there is no spoken dialogue in the film (instead, there are audio recordings). but, much more concerning is that each transfer appears to have been windowboxed, which is a shame. Still, it is great to have these available, and I look forward to watching them. Will report back with more shortly.

[AlexHansen]

It looks like another Schroeter two-fer has been added to the forthcoming list recently: 71 Der schwarze Engel & Der lachende Stern Werner Schroeter, 1974/83.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on the Asta Nielsen gender-bending Hamlet.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on the first James Benning double, American Dreams (lost and found) and Landscape Suicide.

[knives]

Just got a couple of the Kluge discs today and I can't find at least one of the shorts listed. Zwishen Mitternacht und der vierten Nachtstunde is listed on the back of the DVD as being on the first disc of Der Angriff, but seems to be no where on the disc.

[antnield]

This isn't one of the shorts that plays immediately once the disc has entered the player is it? I remember this being a case with a few of the Kluge sets, especially (as is the case with Zwishen Mitternacht) when they were about a minute long.