Recommendations for Second Run

[L.A.]

Is it at all possible that Second Run could release Peter Bacso's The Witness/A tanú? I know the film is regarded as a masterpiece in Hungary, and even has a two disc release there...

A two-discer of this is available in Hungary, really?

I thought the Hungarian DVD was a single-disc release.

[admira]

Péter Bacsó: The Witness (A tanú) 1969 DVD

[Trip]

Some obscure Aussie stuff:

Floating Life by Clara Law
Breathing Under Water by Susan Dermody
BeDevil by Tracey Moffatt (including her shorts)
Road to Nhill by Sue Brooks

[jbeall]

I know I've made this recommendation before, but after watching AE's disc of Katalin Varga yesterday, I wanted to reiterate that it would be fantastic if SR could get their mitts on All My Good Countrymen, which absolutely needs a release with unobtrusive subtitles.

[jbeall]

And for a somewhat different kind of recommendation, isn't it about time SR got on facebook? It might expand your audience. For example, Criterion's fb page draws quite a few people who clearly aren't members of this forum.

[Bikey]

And for a somewhat different kind of recommendation, isn't it about time SR got on facebook? It might expand your audience. For example, Criterion's fb page draws quite a few people who clearly aren't members of this forum.

Thank you, jbeall, for your continuing care for us. We are actually discussing a way to launch properly on facebook and be able to garner its advantages. Being a small set up has meant that our facebook priority can only now be brought up towards the top of the to-do list.

And, on your other recommendation, we too love the Jasny film... and will keep trying for it.

[peerpee]

Arsebook is the new CrySpace! Twitter's where it's at.

[domino harvey]

Tumblr trumps all, but isn't advantageous for businesses

[jbeall]

Arsebook is the new CrySpace! Twitter's where it's at.

Ha! Well, in my solipsistic little corner of the universe, if it doesn't happen on fb, it doesn't happen at all! What the hell is Twitter???

In all seriousness, after the hubbub over Criterion releasing Tiny Furniture erupted, I went over to CC's facebook page, and the number of comments was shocking. If you think six pages of outrage and/or curiosity here on these boards is a lot, check out what they generated. That's why I felt like inquiring as to SR's fb presence. I bet twitter is useful in this regard as well, but since I don't follow it, I can't say.

[What A Disgrace]

I've only seen Edes Anna and Two Half Times in Hell, but does Second Run have any plans to release some films by Zoltan Fabri?

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Any chance we might get to see some documentaries from Juris Podnieks from SR? Tragically MIA on a global level but I think 'Homeland' and a couple of others had some UK funding/ distribution involvement.

[admira]

Spanila Jizda (1963) in original aspect ratio
Ztracena tvar (1965)
Adrift (1971)
Podobizna (1948)
Pripad pro zacinajiciho kata (1970)
Cekani na dest (1981)
Zlate kapradi (1963)
Cesta hlubokym lesem (1964)
Ztracenci (1957)
Dum pro dva (1987)
Mykoin PH 510 (1963)
Svatba s podminkou (1965)
Muz, ktery stoupl v cene (1969)
Prazske noci (1969)
Panenstvi a kriminal (1969)
Svatej z Krejcarku (1970)
Hlidac (1970)
Ohlednuti (1969)
Sirena (1948)
Cest a slava (1968)
Smutecni slavnost (1969)
Dita Saxova (1968)
Ovoce stromu rajskych jime (1970)
...a paty jezdec je strach (1965)
Je treba zabit Sekala (1998)
Pytlakova schovanka aneb slechetny milionar (1949)
Krakatit (1949)
Svatba jako remen (1967)
Den sedmy - osma noc (1969)

[nolanoe]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, dear Second Run, release more german films!! Like these:

Das Brot der frühen Jahre - The Bread of those early years
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcpOClEHO4I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Why: The Bread of those early years (a film adaptation of famed german writer Heinrich Boell's novel of the same name) is like a german twist of "A Bout de Souffle". The protagonist is a young man, working in the firm of his fiancees father, who one day is asked by his father to pick up the daughter of a friend of the family. The young man falls in love, and abandon's his previous life. The entire film takes place in a day, and is a wonderful meditation on chance and destiny. Shot in beautiful black and white and with a very fine jazz score. The film was picked as the official german entry for Cannes in 1962 - and sadly didn't win. However, it garnered 5 "Bundesfilmprizes" (the highest german film prize available).
It's never been released outside of its cinematic run and a TV airing years ago (where I was lucky to catch it). The directer Herbert Veselly moved on to direct a film about Egon Schiele (called Excess and Punishment - released to DVD) in the 80s, and has made a large body of work for TV, some of them scored by Brian Eno, and all unavailable.
It is one of my favorite films, and one that has to be preserved and made available to todays cineastes.

Traumstadt - Dreamcity
Little part of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJTMg4v5bBY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Why: Not as much a favorite as the previous mention, Traumstadt by Johannes Schaaf is nonetheless one of the great lost treasures of german cinema. The story of a married couple who are invited to move into the "Dreamcity" is like a weird blend of Kafka and Fellini (like an eastern-european Satyricon), full of surreal and dark situations, sadistic humor and suggestive sexuality... and haunting surreal imagery. Also never released outside of the cinematic run and some TV airings, this is a very much sought after affair.
It's director Johannes Schaaf also directed a number of smaller arthouse films in the 60s and 70s (all unknown to me) and after Dreamcity directed the adaptation of MOMO (luckily released to DVD), which is just as colorful and surreal as Dreamcity.

[MichaelB]

Can I suggest that rather than just posting endless uncontextualised IMDB and YouTube links, sometimes without even bothering to supply an English title (or at least a rough translation), people make some attempt to explain why these films deserve a UK release in the early 2010s?

Taking Admira's list as a good example, there's obviously no chance of more than a tiny fraction of those titles ever getting picked up for UK distribution. In fact, I'd be surprised if much more than 30 Czech features had been released by UK video labels since the invention of the VCR, never mind DVD! So which are the most important, and why?

[nolanoe]

@ Michael: Thanks for the tip, just updated my above post.

There are a myriad of amazing german films that should be released to DVD, but those two are the most important and sought after that come to my mind. The Bread of Those Early Years is just such a lovely and iconic film...

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

@ Michael: Thanks for the tip, just updated my above post.

There are a myriad of amazing german films that should be released to DVD, but those two are the most important and sought after that come to my mind. The Bread of Those Early Years is just such a lovely and iconic film...

i have never seen the film but would welcome a viewing if it's anything as good as the book which I read many moons ago and got into Boell big time. Ansicht eines Clowns is also great. Hey let's have a Boell box set. There must be other adaptations apart from Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum out there aren't there?

[nolanoe]

@ Michael: Thanks for the tip, just updated my above post.

There are a myriad of amazing german films that should be released to DVD, but those two are the most important and sought after that come to my mind. The Bread of Those Early Years is just such a lovely and iconic film...

i have never seen the film but would welcome a viewing if it's anything as good as the book which I read many moons ago and got into Boell big time. Ansicht eines Clowns is also great. Hey let's have a Boell box set. There must be other adaptations apart from Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum out there aren't there?

There are, as a quick look on imdb will tell you: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127093/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have yet to watch Ansichten eines Clowns, but I welcome this idea - Boell is a great writer, and there are some adaptations of his work that rank upon the best of german cinema.
Still, as for example Katharina Blum has been widely released, The Bread of those early Years would be the one I would welcome most. It would fit so nicely into the catalogue and has never been released to DVD.

[zedz]

Hey let's have a Boell box set. There must be other adaptations apart from Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum out there aren't there?

Straub's Not Reconciled must be the top of that particular heap.

[Bikey]

There are a myriad of amazing german films that should be released to DVD, but those two are the most important and sought after that come to my mind. The Bread of Those Early Years is just such a lovely and iconic film...

We'd never seen this film, nolanoe, but, thanks to you and the Nabob, we looked up the short youtube clip and it certainly excited us. We will definitely try and follow up on Veselly's film and will keep you informed should anything concrete materialise (but it might take awhile, though).

[nolanoe]

WOW!
Thank you for the quick reply. Really glad to hear that. Again, germany has the problem of many, many many great films slipping not only into obscurity, but being forgotten completely, so again, thank you so much!!

[colinr0380]

The directer Herbert Veselly moved on to direct a film about Egon Schiele (called Excess and Punishment - released to DVD) in the 80s, and has made a large body of work for TV, some of them scored by Brian Eno, and all unavailable.
It is one of my favorite films, and one that has to be preserved and made available to todays cineastes.

The Egon Schiele film turned up on VHS during the late 90s in the UK from Redemption Video, but quickly went out of print so I would wholeheartedly second nolanoe's efforts to see that and other examples of Veselly's work get a wider exposure again.

[Calvin]

I'd love to see Brynych's A Paty Jezdec je Strach (The Fifth Horseman is Fear) released. As far as I know it's only been given a release by Facets in the US and it looks like a very interesting film indeed with an unusual perspective for a Holocaust movie - examining the psychological effects. I'd like to see Radok's Daleká cesta (Distant Journey) to go along with it - Distant Journey blends historical footage with a love story between a Jewish woman and a Gentile.

[skuhn8]

Is it at all possible that Second Run could release Peter Bacso's The Witness/A tanú? I know the film is regarded as a masterpiece in Hungary, and even has a two disc release there...

A two-discer of this is available in Hungary, really?

I thought the Hungarian DVD was a single-disc release.

To my knowledge there was never a 2-disc release of 'The Witness' in Hungary. But the supplements were indeed quite compelling (including a commentary with the late director) and the picture anamorphic. I believe the dvd has been OOP for a couple years now. I'd love to see an upgrade.

[skuhn8]

Though it's been raised before just want to repeat this request:
Csontvary by Huszarik (you've got the momentum from the Szindbad release)

[MichaelB]

I'd love to see a decent edition of that one myself!

For the Szindbád booklet, I had to make do with an unsubtitled version in Hungarian with a Russian voice-over, which was clearly less than ideal and which explains why I didn't go into too much detail. I've "seen" the film, but only in the most literal sense of the term.

In fact, what would be really amazing would be a compilation of all of Huszárik's shorts (I'd love to see Capriccio again, and most of the others I've only seen on YouTube), but I fully concede that it would be a commercial gamble and then some.