44 Gaea Girls / Shinjuku Boys

[What A Disgrace]

Up for pre-order at Amazon. Release date: January 10

[zedz]

Fantastic News! I always think of Shinjuku Boys as more of a counterpoint to Longinotto's previous Dream Girls (probably because I first saw them as a double feature), but Gaea Girls is such a great film - Rena Titanon goes East. I would unhesitatingly recommend a blind buy.

If you need more convincing, here's a still:

And some more information.

I hope Second Run keeps these Longinotto double features coming, it's an amazing body of work.

[RagingNoodles]

Oh my god, this is shocking to see this, I wasn't expecting Gaea Girls to be this Gaea Girls!!!

[Bikey]

Very Special Screening:
GAEA GIRLS + Kim Longinotto Q&A
Sunday 31st January at 12.30 pm
Renoir Cinema, London http://www.curzoncinemas.com/#/whats_on ... _loginotto

We are delighted to welcome Kim Longinotto for a very speacial screening of her award-winning documentary GAEA GIRLS at the Renoir Cinema on Sunday 31st January at 12.30 pm.
Do join us if you're able for this rare opportunity to see this dramatic documentary on the big screen.

[Bikey]

The Gaea Girls/Shinjuku Boys pages are now live at our website.
http://www.secondrundvd.com/release_sbgg.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please browse there for full DVD details, reviews, etc. Release date remains 25th January.

[manicsounds]

dvdbeaver

Both have burned in subtitles. Gaea looks good visually, but Shinjuku Boys looks like an old videotape. Was this the best Second Run could do? Disappointing actually...

[MichaelB]

Was this the best Second Run could do?

Almost certainly yes - with DVDs like these, you're usually reliant on the best extant master, since the cost of creating a new one from scratch is usually prohibitive when set against the likely returns from an ultra-niche release like this. Unfortunately, if the best extant master was created in the 1990s (which is almost certainly the case with Shinjuku Boys), the choice is realistically between releasing that or not releasing it at all.

From what I understand, both directors were enthusiastically involved with this release, which makes it even more likely that these are the best materials currently available.

[manicsounds]

For something pretty recent, the picture quality looks like a 1940's Alpha transfer... I guess it is amazing how film to video transfers have come... oh well. I'm even surprised the directors didn't have anything better themselves, as I assume they have the source materials.

[MichaelB]

They might well have better source materials - the expensive part is turning them into a viable DVD master. We're talking several thousand pounds of additional investment, which is almost certainly the difference between scraping a profit and making a thumping loss. It's also worth bearing in mind that despite the double-bill marketing, Shinjuku Boys is effectively an extra.

Every time I see the Second Run people, I'm frankly amazed that they're still in business - the market has plunged vertiginously in the last couple of years, meaning that production costs have to be controlled ever more ruthlessly: they don't have the luxury of a well-heeled parent to absorb losses. It's always been a labour-of-love operation, but that's even more true now.

UPDATE: I can now confirm that the source was Kim Longinotto's own analogue Beta SP copy - standard broadcast mastering material fifteen years ago, but clearly falling short of present-day expectations. But I'm very happy to assure you that it looks fine in motion (the Alpha comparison is grossly misleading: it's much closer to a 1990s terrestrial TV broadcast on a old tube telly), and none of the reviewers have commented on distracting PQ issues. Let's face it, it's not the kind of film - or, more precisely, low-budget TV documentary - that demands much more than a watchable picture and readable subtitles to achieve its intended effect.

[Bikey]

A new interview with Kim Longinotto on GAEA GIRLS at the Vice magazine site: http://www.viceland.com/blogs/uk-film/2 ... ing-women/

[Bikey]

A brand new interview with Kim Longinotto on GAEA GIRLS at the Documentary Filmmakers Group: http://www.dfgdocs.com/Resources/Articles/159.aspx

[antnield]

DVD Times

[MichaelB]

DVD Outsider.

[Bikey]

Electric Sheep

[Bikey]

The Arts Desk

[antnield]

Probably the best place to post this... Kim Longinotto's latest, Rough Aunties is getting a UK television screening on More4 a week today (3rd August) at 10pm, and again at 1.20am.

[knives]

Continuing my little doc venture, maybe I should push up the new Isaacs release to finish off the week, with this set. I've never seen any of Longinotto's films before, but was sold mostly on the premise of Shinjuku Boys. In that I found it tremendously successful. I don't think I've ever seen a film tackle any issue in such a complex way before. It was also surprisingly entertaining with neither Lininotto nor her subjects feeling the need to editorialize. I almost wish it had the opportunity to be longer. Also the transfer is just fine, nothing below your average teevee transfer.
While just on basic premise Gaea Girls wasn't as interesting I'd say it's about as good. It's amazing how even in real life the violence on display here is damned cartoony. This led to what must be my favorite moment of the whole doc and a shot I'm surprised they managed. It's when the main trainee is first getting nagged and we start from her back to reveal her face is busted open and gushing blood. More than that though I was really compelled by the losers, the two main ones that gave up. The psychology on display for that was really relateable. I'm know I'd be in the same boat if I even could manage going there.

I hope a third set is being worked on, that first doc about her schoolhouse sounds like it would be more than worth the ten bucks.

[antnield]

Ask a Documentary Filmmaker: Kim Longinotto.

[Bikey]

Kim Longinotto's wonderful new film SALMA screens this Saturday 22nd June at Open City Docs Fest