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Wonderful news from Fran Simeoni about Radiance Films!

I´d like to suggest the TV version of Christ Stopped at Eboli (Criterion did not release it in the UK, right).

Some other ideas, or me seconding many of the above suggestions, including:
More Naruse, Imamura, Oshima, including re-releases of the BFI and MoC titles (I believe The Eel exists in two versions, the longer one was released on DVD in Australia)
Victor Erice (The South)
Gremillon
Anything by Mizoguchi, maybe with the audio commentaries Adrian Martin did for the Madman releases in Australia
early Edward Yang
Ozu: Floating Weeds, two versions - would it be possible to release Carlotta´s Ozu box with English subtitles, maybe divided into several boxes?
Ozu´s and Ichikawa´s versions of The Makioka Sisters
Snow Country (1957)
Fifties adaptations of Yukio Mishima novels
Kokoro
Fire Festival
Smoking/No Smoking
Providence
On connait la chanson
Aleksei German: My Friend Ivan Lapshin, Trial on the Road
Aleksei German Jr.: The Last Train, Paper Soldier, Under Electric Clouds
Moufida Tlatli: Silences of the Palace, La Saison des Hommes
Tanner: In The White City, Une flamme dans mon coeur, Le journal de Lady M, L´homme qui a perdu son ombre, La vallée fantome, Requiem (from an Antonio Tabucchi novel), Charles mort ou vif
Sleepy Eyes of Death series
Red Lion
Incident at Blood Pass
Samurai films by Okamoto, Misumi, Gosho

Would the Scorsese restoration of The Leopard be a possibility? The Madman release is long OOP, and there was briefly a Blu release from Koch in Germany, advertised as 4K I believe.

Here's what I'd love to see – even just one of these neglected masterpieces coming out on disc would make my year!

Asthenic Syndrome (Kira Muratova, 1989)
The Games of Countess Dolingen of Gratz (Catherine Binet, 1981)
Harvest: 3000 Years (Haile Gerima, 1976)
Manoel on the Island of Marvels (Raúl Ruiz, 1984)
Simone Barbès or Virtue (Marie-Claude Treilhou, 1980)
Ticket of No Return (Ulrike Ottinger, 1979)
Toute une nuit (Chantal Akerman, 1981) – or, really, pretty much any and all of Chantal Akerman's '80s and early '90s work
Visitor of a Museum (Konstantin Lopushansky, 1989)

Here's my wish list since everyone's doing it. (I'll limit it to ten nominations and all of them have received recent restorations/HD remasters.)

1. In the Heat of the Sun (Spectrum are doing it, why not?)
2. Typhoon Club (hd streaming version available)
3. The Man Who Stole the Sun (hd streaming version available)
4. Late Chrysanthemums (hd streaming version available)
5. A Pot Worth a Million Ryo (new restoration and new cut)
6. Los Olvidados (new restoration)
7. The House Is Black / Brick and Mirror (new restorations)
8. Hour of the Furnaces (new restoration)
9. C'est la vie, mon cheri (new restoration)
10. Annie Hall / Manhattan (find a home for the 4k restorations at last!)

I don't care much for the genre stuff, but if they sell and help fund the more difficult ventures I'll be more than happy.

A decent copy of Los Olvidados would be a major coup.

I was thinking about it only the other day when I heard about Nicholas Ray’s self-criticism of Knock On Any Door - namely, if he’d seen the Buñuel film before making it instead of shortly afterwards, his own film would have turned out very differently.

Mind you, Los Olvidados would have struggled to get past the Production Code.

I'd love to see more by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, although I ruefully acknowledge that if a box set of their three most famous films didn't set the charts alight, the chances of, say, a box of their Sixties political stuff is a hopeless pipe dream.

Although I live in hope that Allonsanfàn will get restored by someone at some point - that at least has superlative contributions from Marcello Mastroianni and Ennio Morricone as marketing hooks. When SIght & Sound asked me to contribute to their regular "Lost & Found" section over a decade ago, it was a more or less instant first choice, but sadly its availability remains the same: a now very elderly and unsubtitled Italian DVD.

It’s still amazing to me that Theo Angelopoulos is by and large pretty lacking in releases here and in the UK.

furbicide wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 12:20 pm Here's what I'd love to see – even just one of these neglected masterpieces coming out on disc would make my year!

Asthenic Syndrome (Kira Muratova, 1989)
The Games of Countess Dolingen of Gratz (Catherine Binet, 1981)
Harvest: 3000 Years (Haile Gerima, 1976)
Manoel on the Island of Marvels (Raúl Ruiz, 1984)
Simone Barbès or Virtue (Marie-Claude Treilhou, 1980)
Ticket of No Return (Ulrike Ottinger, 1979)
Toute une nuit (Chantal Akerman, 1981) – or, really, pretty much any and all of Chantal Akerman's '80s and early '90s work
Visitor of a Museum (Konstantin Lopushansky, 1989)

Any of this would absolutely make my year too.

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 1:42 pm It’s still amazing to me that Theo Angelopoulos is by and large pretty lacking in releases here and in the UK.

This has always been a head scratcher for me as well. People like to make the argument that his cinema is "slow" but that hasn't stopped a number of similar directors from having their work distributed here, and most of those don't even have big name stars that they could lean into like he does (i.e. Harvey Keitel, Marcello Mastroianni, etc.).

FrauBlucher wrote:It’s still amazing to me that Theo Angelopoulos is by and large pretty lacking in releases here and in the UK.

As with Naruse, the problem here is that DVD sales figures aren’t going to be based on hypothetical guesswork.

The BFI’s Ben Stoddart is often asked on Facebook why such-and-such a title hasn’t been bumped up to BD, and the answer is usually a variation on a general theme of “because it sold about three copies first time round.”

Chris Newby was somewhat puzzled as to why his film Anchoress was considered “folk horror” by dint of its inclusion in that Severin box set, but that seems to have been the magic formula that finally justified a BD upgrade that the BFI wasn’t prepared to give it, something like a dozen years after their HD master was created. (And in that case they made the film in the first place, so had every last scrap of hard data about its commercial appeal!)

It's nice to get sort of an overview/update in this thread on which films have been restored.

andyli wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 12:47 pm
1. In the Heat of the Sun (Spectrum are doing it, why not?)

Yes. I was about to ask the Sinophiles here whether this (and/or Devils on the Doorstep) was cursed for nebulous CCP reasons, but I guess not.

Sooo...anyone if this new label is UK only or will be UK/US like Arrow, 88, Indicator? Really curious about that?

As for title suggestions, Sleepy Eyes of Death, anything with Hideo Gosha, Kinji Fukasaku, and Takashi Miike for me. The Man Who Stole the Sun would be fantastic.

Most of my most wanted titles have been mentioned, but can I throw in a word for two oddities sixty years apart: Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s The Scoundrel and Jim McKay’s Girls Town. Both unissued on DVD altogether as far as I know.

Hi all, thank you for your suggestions, they have made for enjoyable reading. I'll repeat much of what I said on the other forum...

I can't get into too many specifics right now but a good chunk of the suggestions here certainly form part of what I'm aiming for. As you will have seen I've brought Kat Ellinger and Tom Mes on board and I've had a great conversation with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas to do likewise. I'll be working with a lot of colleagues that I did at Arrow but a lot of new ones too.

The films I'll be focusing on will cover a wide spectrum and that's going to cover all sorts of genres and modes of filmmaking. Above all I want to work on releases of films I enjoy but also that aren't really being well served elsewhere. So I'm probably not going to be doing slashers or Golden Age Hollywood stuff since both are well served by people like Arrow, Severin and VS while the latter is amply covered by Criterion and Indicator. A good quota of my films will be foreign language and top decades likely 60/70s but also before, after and right up to the present.

Fidelity in Motion/David Mackenzie will do the majority if not all of the encoding/authoring.

We'll be Blu-ray focused but will consider UHD if it's commercially and technically viable.

Packaging will be full height scanavo with booklets, and these will be more text than image (films are rare and likely need lots of context). Every release will be limited due to the nature of the titles. Some releases might not have a follow on 'unlimited' release, this will be for commercial reasons but also in being able to take some risks might be the only way to release them - more on this later. Titles that have a longer life will have a separate standard release with a normal clear case and sleeve and no booklet. Releases will be spine numbered.

We are on the hunt for QC support so if any reviewers dwell here please DM to discuss, we are looking for reviewers with published reviews to point to as a reference and will need a spec of the kit used please.

Fran/Radiance

Hello again!

My second wishlist:
Satyajit Ray
Guru Dutt - Aar Paar, Pyaasa, Kaagaz ke Phool - I believe some or all of these are restored
La tête d´une homme, Duvivier
Bhumika, Shyam Benegal
Paar, Goutam Ghose
Khandar, Mrinal Sen
That Night in Varennes, Scola, original 160-min. version
Yotsuya Kaidan, and similar b & w/scope Japanese horror
Kore-eda - titles not already released w/ English subs - Hana yori mo naho, Distance (?), his TV ghost story Nochi no hi - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700501/
Otar Iosseliani
Jerzy Hoffmann: Potop (also available in a shortened version Potop Redivivus; both cuts restored), Pan Wolodyjowski, With Fire and Sword
André Delvaux box set + perhaps Un soir, un train as a standalone?
Mexican Bunuel
Kira Muratova
Wojciech Has - Saragossa Manuscript, Lalka, Hourglass Sanatorium, or does Mr Bongo still have them?
Pialat - La maison des bois, Le Garcu
Manoel de Oliveira: Satin Slipper, Belle toujours + Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl two-fer
Desert of the Tartars, Zurlini
The Disputation, a well-written TV-drama with Christopher Lee, Bob Peck, Bernard Hepton and Toyah Willcox on top form

Thanks Fran. All of this is very exciting news. Is there any kind of timeline as to when we should expect your first release to be announced?

A lot of cool info being given to us. However, no mention if these releases are going to be UK only, or multi territory? It sounds like we will be getting stuff that not's readily available anywhere, so that gives me hope Radiance will be coming to the US as well, but you never know. Might be too much for a starter company based out of the UK?

I'm more than happy to be surprised... but I would be surprised.

If it's okay, I'd like to add my (little) wish list too!

Ryszard Bugajski - Przesluchanie (Interrogation)
Carroll Ballard - Never Cry Wolf
Liliana Cavani - Milarepa
Alfredo Giannetti - L'automobile
Any Marco Ferreri films would be great!
Shohei Imamura - Dr. Akagi, The Eel, and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
Lars-Magnus Lindgren - Svarta Palmkronor (Black Palm Trees), Kare John (Dear John)
Alain Resnais - Stavisky and Mon oncle d"Amerique
Eric Rohmer - L'anglais et la duc, Triple Agent, Les amours de l'astree et de Celadon
Ken Russell - Mahler, The Music Lovers, and Salome's Last Dance
Any Vilgot Sjoman films (apart from I Am Curious).
Bertrand Tavernier - Daddy Nostalgia
Peter Watkins - The Gladiators, Eveningland, The Journey, La Commune (Paris 1871)
Sidney Hayers - The Trap

JSC wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 6:48 pm If it's okay, I'd like to add my (little) wish list too!

Ryszard Bugajski - Przesluchanie (Interrogation)
Carroll Ballard - Never Cry Wolf
Liliana Cavani - Milarepa
Alfredo Giannetti - L'automobile
Any Marco Ferreri films would be great!
Shohei Imamura - Dr. Akagi, The Eel, and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
Lars-Magnus Lindgren - Svarta Palmkronor (Black Palm Trees), Kare John (Dear John)
Alain Resnais - Stavisky and Mon oncle d"Amerique
Eric Rohmer - L'anglais et la duc, Triple Agent, Les amours de l'astree et de Celadon
Ken Russell - Mahler, The Music Lovers, and Salome's Last Dance
Any Vilgot Sjoman films (apart from I Am Curious).
Bertrand Tavernier - Daddy Nostalgia
Peter Watkins - The Gladiators, Eveningland, The Journey, La Commune (Paris 1871)
Sidney Hayers - The Trap

Not sure where you're located by Warm Water Under a Red Bridge is getting a Blu-ray release from Film Movement in the US later this year.

JSC wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 6:48 pm If it's okay, I'd like to add my (little) wish list too!

Ryszard Bugajski - Przesluchanie (Interrogation)

If that was in any way financially feasible right now, Second Run would already have upgraded it.

JSC wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 6:48 pm If it's okay, I'd like to add my (little) wish list too!

Ryszard Bugajski - Przesluchanie (Interrogation)
Carroll Ballard - Never Cry Wolf
Liliana Cavani - Milarepa
Alfredo Giannetti - L'automobile
Any Marco Ferreri films would be great!
Shohei Imamura - Dr. Akagi, The Eel, and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
Lars-Magnus Lindgren - Svarta Palmkronor (Black Palm Trees), Kare John (Dear John)
Alain Resnais - Stavisky and Mon oncle d"Amerique
Eric Rohmer - L'anglais et la duc, Triple Agent, Les amours de l'astree et de Celadon
Ken Russell - Mahler, The Music Lovers, and Salome's Last Dance
Any Vilgot Sjoman films (apart from I Am Curious).
Bertrand Tavernier - Daddy Nostalgia
Peter Watkins - The Gladiators, Eveningland, The Journey, La Commune (Paris 1871)
Sidney Hayers - The Trap

Never Cry Wolf and Blood In, Blood Out are two Disney controlled titles that I would kill to see on Blu-Ray, but I just don’t think they’ll license them out to anyone. Carroll Ballard must be among the most underrated living American filmmakers.

Totally with you on the Peter Watkins titles, and I hope those can be acquired.

I saw an absolutely beautiful 35mm print of The Music Lovers a few years ago, and I’m glad that MGM has taken good care of it. A film like that really deserves a UHD disc with the best sound design possible

Something I would be excited for, though this is speculation purely due to Kat Ellinger's video essay on Strip Nude For Your Killer in which she talks about the neglected genre of Italian sex comedies, would be a box set rescuing some of those!

Glowingwabbit wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 1:53 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 1:42 pm It’s still amazing to me that Theo Angelopoulos is by and large pretty lacking in releases here and in the UK.

This has always been a head scratcher for me as well. People like to make the argument that his cinema is "slow" but that hasn't stopped a number of similar directors from having their work distributed here, and most of those don't even have big name stars that they could lean into like he does (i.e. Harvey Keitel, Marcello Mastroianni, etc.).

There is also that issue with Angelopoulos that even those films that did come out in the early 2010s boxsets released on DVD by Artificial Eye in the UK are, at least according to the forum thread (including comments from Brad Stevens) alternate, edited versions which cause unfortunate truncations to a number of the director's celebrated long takes. Which only complicates matters further.

He's (Angelopoulos) won awards in all the major film festivals around the world through the years. He is not exactly an unknown quantity. I can think of less known directors who have gotten bluray releases. I have to wonder if his estate is difficult to deal with as was he.

criterionsnob wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 5:56 pm Thanks Fran. All of this is very exciting news. Is there any kind of timeline as to when we should expect your first release to be announced?

Either on blu-ray.com or on twitter it was mentioned that the hope was for the first title to be ready at the end of the year.


Edit: Also I really doubt they'll do US and UK. I mean just look at how long it took Arrow and Indicator to start doing that.

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 8:14 pm He's (Angelopoulos) won awards in all the major film festivals around the world through the years. He is not exactly an unknown quantity. I can think of less known directors who have gotten bluray releases. I have to wonder if his estate is difficult to deal with as was he.

As I said, the problem isn't that he's an unknown quantity (he clearly isn't), it's the fact that pretty much his entire output has been released on DVD in the UK already, so there are actual sales figures to point towards when gauging the likely commercial appeal of an HD upgrade. I see someone mentioned Pialat, but he's another one who was treated quite generously on DVD in the UK in terms of output, but where sales figures simply didn't justify a reissue.

It's often easier to pitch a project that hasn't already been market-tested, because at least you can deal in hypotheticals.

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 1:42 pm It’s still amazing to me that Theo Angelopoulos is by and large pretty lacking in releases here and in the UK.

All of Angelopoulos's features were released in the UK by Artificial Eye in the last decade as a series of box sets.

EDIT: Michael beat me to it.