criterionforum.org

• **FIRST PRESSING w/ LIMITED EDITION SLIPCASE - strictly limited to 2000 copies**
• Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české, 1953) and The Czech Year (Špalíček, 1947) presented from 4K restorations by the Czech National Film Archive.
• Michael Brooke on Jiří Trnka and Czech animation: A new and expansive video essay.
• The Puppets of Jiří Trnka: a rare, award-winning 1955 Czech documentary by Bruno Šefranka.
• Film historian Evan Chester’s video documentaries A Beginner’s Guide to Jiří Trnka and A Beginner’s Guide to Czechoslovak Animation.
• The Hand (Ruka, 1965): Trnka's renowned, politically defiant animated short film. .
• Badly Painted Hen (Špatně namalovaná slepice, 1963): the acclaimed animated short film by co-writer of Old Czech Legends and regular Trnka collaborator, Jiří Brdečka.
• 32-page booklet with writing by Czechoslovak cinema experts Peter Hames and Jonathan Owen.
• New and improved English subtitle translations.
• World premieres on Blu-ray.
• Region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C)
July 27

Oh my God, I’ve been wanting this for what feels like years now! Really hope this will include at least some of his excellent shorts too but the fact that we’re getting Old Czech Legends on Blu-Ray already makes this a release of the year contender!

Amazing news, never thought we'd see any Trnka aside from the odd extra but here we are! Slight shame they're not doing a small box set though as I would've loved to have seen them include a few others, namely A Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Emperor’s Nightingale and Prince Bayaya.

Hopefully some shorts will be included though. I'd especially like to see The Cybernetic Grandmother.

Years ago on this forum, members justifiably praised Kino for their commitment to releasing comprehensive boxsets of silent films. Second Run deserves the same praise for this set. Absolutely thrilled that this is coming out, and it'll be a day one purchase.

First post updated with specs, cover art and release date

First post updated with new specs, per today's newsletter.

One of the new items isn't happening, I'm afraid; instead, I've been spending a less than fun week having much of my house undergoing emergency rewiring, which has disrupted my life to the extent that I'm actively looking forward to tomorrow's root canal surgery (yes, really!).



The resulting death traps on two floors (one directly outside my office) are less of an issue than the only suitable room for filming currently being piled high with furniture from other rooms, the constant banging and drilling, plus of course occasional total power outages for which I get minimal notice, so I agreed with Second Run that the piece will end up on their next Czech puppet release, whatever that may be.

It looks like a fabulous package anyway, so I'm sure it can manage without my input.

Bummer, but I guess real life has to come first

Too bad, but I hope things take a turn for the better soon.

Hope it goes well with the surgery tomorrow, Michael, and that the house will be in better shape sooner than later!

Good luck with the surgery, Michael! Sorry to hear about all the disruption.

All the best, Michael!

Is there a possibility of delaying the release to be able to include your video, Michael? Or I'm sure there are other commitments with deadlines involved.

As I said, it probably will appear on some future release, which is the best solution all round.

Full details now at our website