Do I win anything?

It's moot now, but Mama was finished in 1990 and held up for two years by the censors.

I can't complain about Black Snow (A Mongolian Tale is my only exposure to Xie, but Snow seems to be his acknowledged masterpiece) but I still hope someone steps up to the plate with my other guesses. It's great to see another distributor wading into neglected areas of Chinese cinema, i.e. pretty much all of it.

You win our respect and get to discover a wonderful film...

Polish Beauties - Wednesday 23rd January at 6.30pm

There will be a screening of Second Run's ANOTHER WAY (dir. Karoly Makk) in a double bill with Kieslowski's A Short Film About Love. Grazyna Szapolowska, the star of both films, will be present at this screening!

We hope to see some of you at the Riverside for this event.

Second Run Tuesdays – Free Film Night 12th February

Our next regular free film night takes place on Tuesday 12th February, at our usual venue: The Fleapit, Columbia Road, London E2.

On that Tuesday we will be screening MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS (Matka Joanna od aniolów) in tribute to its director, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, who passed away in December.

One of the landmarks of Polish cinema, this film is based on the documented story of the ‘possession’ of a group of nuns that led to the burning of a priest at the stake in Loudun, France in 1634.

Screening Details:
Tuesday 12th February – Mother Joan of the Angels (102 minutes)
Free entry (please buy a drink at the bar)
Film starts promptly at 8pm

The Fleapit
49 Columbia Road
London E2 7RG
www.thefleapit.com
0207 033 9986

Miklós Jancsó to visit the UK

To coincide with the release of THE ROUND-UP, Miklós Jancsó will be visiting the UK for a series of events. It will include an interview following a screening of THE ROUND-UP and a masterclass alongside the screening of a more recent film. There will be more information in the coming weeks, but as you can guess, we are both happy and excited that Miklós has agreed to come to the UK.

Excellent news, Bikey. Please post dates as soon as you have them!

MIKLÓS JANCSÓ and THE ROUND-UP

Second Run DVD are very proud to announce that Miklós Jancsó will be visiting the UK for a series of screenings and events to celebrate the DVD release of his masterpiece THE ROUND-UP (1965).

THE ROUND-UP (Szegénylegények)
DVD release date: 17th March 2008

“People need to see Jancsó’s really beautiful three or four first movies. The highest mountain is The Round-Up...” - Béla Tarr

We are delighted to tell you that the DVD also includes a newly filmed video interview with Miklós Jancsó. In addition, the booklet contains an insightful new essay by author and Hungarian cinema expert John Cunningham.
THE ROUND-UP is now available to pre-order

MIKLÓS JANCSÓ IN THE UK
At the age of 86, Miklós Jancsó has agreed to visit the UK for a series of screenings and to discuss his remarkable career.

Friday 14th March – 6.30pm (18:30)
Curzon Mayfair, London – THE ROUND-UP (1965) plus Q&A with Miklós Jancsó, hosted by Tony Rayns

Saturday 15th March – 2pm (14:00)
Curzon Soho, London – MY WAY HOME (1964)

Saturday 15th March – 6pm (18:00)
Curzon Soho, London – MIKLÓS JANCSÓ: AN ILLUSTRATED TALK by John Cunningham

Sunday 16th March – 12pm (12:00)
Curzon Soho, London – THE RED AND THE WHITE (1967)

Sunday 16th March – 2pm (14:00)
Curzon Soho, London – THE LORD’S LANTERN IN BUDAPEST (1999) plus Miklós Jancsó in discussion

There are also two screening events outside London:

Monday 17th March – Time tbc (evening)
Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge – THE ROUND-UP plus Q&A with Miklós Jancsó

Wednesday 19th March – Time tbc (evening)
Filmhouse, Edinburgh – THE ROUND-UP plus Q&A with Miklós Jancsó, hosted by Mark Cousins

It promises to be a very special week for us all and a fitting tribute to one of our favourite and most remarkable filmmakers.
We know how much you have been looking forward to the release of THE ROUND-UP and really hope that you will be able attend one (or many) of these events.

Marketa Lazarová Screening at London's Riverside Studios

Sunday 20th April, 2pm (14:00)

We are happy to announce that there will be a screening of Marketa Lazarová at the Riverside this Sunday.

It will be a screening of a 35mm print.

As per usual, Second Run will be present and we look forward to seeing some of you there.

Four months on now. Any more news, particularly on the Britdocs. I'd even put up with another MoC style 'Awful Teaser'

Great news on Tropical Malady.

Confirmation of Tropical Malady from Second Run in the latest newsletter.

Mehelli also promises four or five more Jancsós in that radio interview too - I doubt we'll see another before the year's out, but I'm very glad that they will continue to handle his films.

Let the speculation begin?

I'm crossing my fingers that Red Psalm is amongst those films, and I'm pretty sure that Lord's Lantern in Budapest is a given (it being mentioned once or twice, alongside the other three released Jancso films).

Just hope they'll be closer in quality to their My Way Home (or even The Round Up) than to Red and the White.

I have to believe that they will. SR's recent releases indicate that they've found their stride. I'm definitely picking up Rat-Trap, and Tropical Malady sounds very interesting; can anybody say more about it? I just wish they'd get the Meszaros films out.

Well, there are decent transfers of Cantata, The Confrontation and Red Psalm already in existence, though Clavis' Silence and Cry is pretty dreadful. But there are also several gaps in the 1960s DVD catalogue, such as Sirocco and Agnus Dei - or a subtitled Confrontation.

Well, if they port over the Clavis Red Psalm transfer (which is gorgeous), it'd be worth it just to have the Babelfish-y English subtitles redone.

It's really a shame that every viable label has already taken their shot at The Red and the White (still Jancso's best-known film, I'd say) and blown it.

I've yet to see a direct comparison of the Second Run and Clavis discs of The Red and the White. Has anyone done/seen one? Michael?

The Clavis and SR discs are about the same. From what I understand, there is no good-quality print in existence. It would need a Janus/Criterion-style restoration, and certainly that's far beyond the budget of the smaller labels.

In all cases, we're talking silk purses and sow's ears. None of these labels had access to a decent 35mm print, and none of them were able to do their own telecine. If the source master is in good shape - for instance Cantata, My Way Home and Red Psalm - the resulting DVD is terrific. If it isn't - for instance The Red and the White, Silence and Cry - there's very little that the DVD label can usefully do except try to clean it up as much as possible.

I've seen "before" and "after" versions of Second Run's The Round-Up and I think they did an amazing job considering that they simply didn't have access to usable 35mm materials at any stage (those who saw the big-screen showings of The Round-Up will readily confirm that that print was in no way suitable for DVD mastering) and were wholly reliant on the Hungarian National Archives' deeply substandard telecine.

And, as rs98762001 rightly points out, the cost of a proper 35mm restoration and digital clean-up is WAY outside the budget of a label like Second Run - because there's very little chance that they could recoup those costs given the minuscule market for this kind of material. I remember someone claiming that a particular transfer would "only" cost £20,000, as though Second Run were being cheapskates for not stretching to it (in addition to rights clearance fees, production and marketing costs, etc.) - but we're dealing with a commercial environment where unit sales in the low four figures is considered a success.

We're delighted to announce that from Monday July 14 we will bgin a series of monthly FREE screenings at London's loveliest screening venue - the Roxy Bar and Screen (www.roxybarandscreen.com).

The new season will begin with Nicolas Philibert's IN THE LAND OF THE DEAF on Monday July 14 at 8pm.
Please come and join us for a rare screening of this wonderful documentary from the director of Etre et avoir.

Hi Bikey,

Any ideas on how long this season will run? I am anxiously awaiting announcements of further screenings, especially The Cremator which Ii'd love to see on the big screen! If you can, what are you projecting from, not 35mm?

Thanks

F

I wondered about this as well - I was in London when Blissfully Yours was screened, but gave it a miss as I assumed it would be from the DVD (saw a 35mm print during the Apichatpong retro at the NFT last year). If there are 35mm screenings coming up, I'll definitely make an effort to attend when I'm in the city.

I don't mind watching a DVD projection as they are usually ok, and with the rarity of these films there won't be decent 35mm prints, unless SR have struck them.