Global Film Initiative

[alice_the_goon]

Global Film Initiative

This is a great label that distributes films and then releases them on DVD.

I was just wondering if anyone knows when the 2009 films will be released on DVD?

[Erikht]

Where can you get the DVDs?

[Ashirg]

They are released by First Run Features. At any on-line store.

[Michael Kerpan]

The only film on the 2009 list I've seen is "Getting Home". A wonderful, bittersweet (and perhaps a bit surrealistic, every now and then) film -- starring the excellent comedian who starred in ZHANG Yimou's "Happy Time".

[alice_the_goon]

I really want to see 'I am from Titov Veles' from the 2009 collection and I hope the films they tour through theaters are the films they release on DVD.

[drdoros]

This is a great label that distributes films and then releases them on DVD.

I was just wondering if anyone knows when the 2009 films will be released on DVD?

http://www.globalfilm.org/global_lens.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mutum is the film that we really loved and wanted to distribute. Since the director lives in New York, I was hoping that they would get her involved to produce a good DVD.

--Dennis, Milestone Film

[GlobalFilmInitiative]

Hi, this is Jackson from the Global Film Initiative. It's great to see so many of you excited about our films!

The films you've been talking about are all from our Global Lens 2009 series, which will be finishing up its tour in December. After that, we'll be releasing them on DVD in 2010, beginning with GETTING HOME (China, dir. Zhang Yang) and SONG FROM THE SOUTHERN SEAS (Kazakhstan, dir. Marat Saralu) in February. These DVDs will be available directly from our website in addition to other traditional vendors, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. They'll also be available on Netflix.

If you've enjoyed our 2009 films, you should definitely keep an eye out for the upcoming 2010 series. We'll be officially announcing the lineup next week, but I can tell you that SHIRLEY ADAMS, MASQUERADES and MY TEHRAN FOR SALE will be amongst them--if you'd like to receive the press release, you can register on our website here: http://www.globalfilm.org/contact.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's always great to get feedback from people that enjoy our titles--keep supporting world cinema!

[O'Hara]

Global Lenses' Opera Jawa is a weird and wonderful movie. Check that one out!

[alice_the_goon]

Hi, this is Jackson from the Global Film Initiative. It's great to see so many of you excited about our films!

The films you've been talking about are all from our Global Lens 2009 series, which will be finishing up its tour in December. After that, we'll be releasing them on DVD in 2010, beginning with GETTING HOME (China, dir. Zhang Yang) and SONG FROM THE SOUTHERN SEAS (Kazakhstan, dir. Marat Saralu) in February. These DVDs will be available directly from our website in addition to other traditional vendors, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. They'll also be available on Netflix.

If you've enjoyed our 2009 films, you should definitely keep an eye out for the upcoming 2010 series. We'll be officially announcing the lineup next week, but I can tell you that SHIRLEY ADAMS, MASQUERADES and MY TEHRAN FOR SALE will be amongst them--if you'd like to receive the press release, you can register on our website here: http://www.globalfilm.org/contact.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's always great to get feedback from people that enjoy our titles--keep supporting world cinema!

It's so great to hear from the label itself! I'm so glad to hear that the 09 titles will be on DVD soon! =D>

[drdoros]

Hi, this is Jackson from the Global Film Initiative. It's great to see so many of you excited about our films!

Jackson -- I highly suggest getting in touch with Sandra Kogut to do bonus features for Mutum. She lives down by NYU with her husband and kids. She's a very impressive director.

[Wu.Qinghua]

The only film on the 2009 list I've seen is "Getting Home". A wonderful, bittersweet (and perhaps a bit surrealistic, every now and then) film -- starring the excellent comedian who starred in ZHANG Yimou's "Happy Time".

Zhang's "Getting Home" was shown at the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival in 2007. I really liked the movie, as did most people in the audience. Zhang got a lot of applause there though he made a movie which can not be advertised as "banned in China". It's a bittersweet, but really funny road movie about a migrant worker who's trying to bring his dead friend's corpse home in order to bury him there. I agree with Michael: Recommended.

There's a Chinese DVD (DVD-9, NTSC) with English subtitles which is out of stock at Yesasia's at the moment, too. It's not great but it's quite watchable. Picture quality is tolerable (but keep in mind it's a Chinese DVD) and the subtitles are, as far as I remember, intelligible.

Btw, here's a an abstract taken from the catalogue:

SpoilerShow

"Zhao is an ageing worker who toils away in Shenzen in order to earn a living. When his friend and colleague Wang suddenly dies, Zhao decides to transport his body back to his native town. He purchases two tickets for the cross-country bus, and pretends that his silent travelling companion has drunk so much alcohol that he has fallen unconscious. Shortly afterwards, the bus is attacked by armed bandits. Zhao asks the bandits to kill him first,
so that he can stay with his dead friend forever. Touched by this display of loyalty, the robbers decide to let the bus go. But instead of thanking Zhao, the other passengers throw him and his dead friend off the bus. Pretending that his friend is seriously ill and must be taken to hospital immediately, Zhao tries to flag down passing cars. After spending the night
in a hotel, Zhao discovers that all his money has been stolen and begins to lose heart. But he refuses to be browbeaten. Whenever he needs money, he rearranges Wong so that he looks like a beggar. And whenever he is hungry, he joins a funeral party and bawls his eyes out so that he can enjoy the food served at the wake. During his odyssey across China Zhao is obliged to get along with all kinds of people. Just before he reaches his destination,
the old man and his dead friend are caught in a torrential downpour, so that now Zhao finds himself engaged in a struggle against nature."

And Michael is also right: Zhao Benshan does a great job here ...

[alice_the_goon]

They announced 2010 today:

Global Lens 2010 films:


ADRIFT (CHOI VOI), dir. Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam, 2009
A young wife, ignored by her immature spouse, is caught in a love triangle between her best friend and a handsome stranger during a languorous summer in Hanoi.

BECLOUD (VAHO), dir. Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, Mexico, 2009
After years of separation, three boyhood friends reunite in Mexico City to overcome a tragedy that scarred their neighborhood, and childhood, years before.

GODS (DIOSES), dir. Josué Méndez, Peru, 2008
A wealthy industrialist's working-class fiancée plunges into the extravagance of her lavish new life as her future stepchildren self-destruct in a series of desperate attempts to escape their privileged upbringing.

LEO'S ROOM (EL CUARTO DE LEO), dir. Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay, 2009
Shaken by a recent breakup, a troubled but handsome young man dreams of the future and cautiously explores his sexuality with the encouragement of an old friend and a sympathetic therapist.

MASQUERADES (MASCARADES), dir. Lyes Salem, Algeria, 2008
In a dusty Algerian village, a well-intentioned fib suddenly turns a gardener into a mogul, forcing him to choose between the happiness of his narcoleptic sister and his newfound celebrity.

MY TEHRAN FOR SALE, dir. Granaz Moussavi, Iran, 2009
An ailing actress fighting for political asylum, and waiting to clear Australian immigration, recounts her attempts to live, work and love in Tehran's thriving yet turbulent arts subculture.

OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN, dir. Rajesh Shera, India, 2008
In the devastating aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, an elderly British schoolteacher comes to grips with his own loss as he searches for missing students on the remote Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

ORDINARY PEOPLE, dir. Vladimir Perisic, Serbia, 2009
One quiet afternoon, a busload of young soldiers is unexpectedly forced to question the morality of their profession after being enlisted to execute civilian prisoners at a remote facility in the Serbian countryside.

THE SHAFT (DIXIA DE TIANKONG), dir. Zhang Chi, China, 2008
In three intertwined stories, a father, son and daughter fight to hold onto hope and family as they face the harsh realities of life in a poor western Chinese mining town.

SHIRLEY ADAMS, dir. Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, 2009
In the depressed Cape Town neighborhood of Cape Flats, a single mother contemplates her fate and cautiously accepts the help of an overeager social worker as she struggles to care for her paraplegic and suicidal son.

[McCrutchy]

MY TEHRAN FOR SALE, dir. Granaz Moussavi, Iran, 2009
An ailing actress fighting for political asylum, and waiting to clear Australian immigration, recounts her attempts to live, work and love in Tehran's thriving yet turbulent arts subculture.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I just recently saw My Tehran For Sale at a local film festival and it was my favorite film of the whole event.

My Tehran For Sale -- Web Site

The film is an Iranian-Australian production, and, accordingly, it's just been released in Australia on DVD only. Buy it at EzyDVD.com.au

[Pipi]

I'm looking for a region 2 version of "Adrift". Dvdbeaver suggests that the Global Film Initiative release of this film is region 0 (which obviously suits me just fine). But amazon.com suggests region1, and I don't know which one is true. Does anyone know if this is really region 1 or region 0? I've sent them a letter asking which is the case, but received no answer. Can anyone from the forum help?