Janus Films

[domino harvey]

I just bought the MOC too, so you are all welcome

[TechnicolorAcid]

I just bought the MOC too, so you are all welcome

Thank you Domino for your heroic sacrifice.

[swo17]

Here's hoping they fix these issues somehow

[Ribs]

Janus Films will be presenting the following at MoMA's To Save and Project next month:

Le Sénégal et le Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres. 1966. Senegal. Directed by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra. North American premiere. In French; English subtitles. 28 min.
Yam Daabo (The Choice). 1987. Burkina Faso. Written and directed by Idrissa Ouédraogo. With Moussa Bologo, Aoua Guiraud, Assita Ouédraogo. New York premiere. In More; English subtitles. 78 min.
Burning an Illusion. 1981. UK. Written and directed by Menelik Shabazz. With Cassie MacFarlane, Victor Romero Evans, Beverley Martin. Remastering in 2K by the British Film Institute; courtesy Janus Films. New York premiere. 106 min.
Lightning over Water. 1980. West Germany. Directed by Nicholas Ray, Wim Wenders. With Ray, Wenders, Tom Farrell, Susan Ray, Ronee Blakley. North American premiere. 90 min.
Yoru no kawa (Undercurrent). 1956. Japan. Directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura. Screenplay by Sumie Tanaka. With Fujiko Yamamoto, Ken Uehara, Keizō Kawasaki. North American premiere. In Japanese; English subtitles. 104 min.

[yoloswegmaster]

According to the listing for the retrospective being held at Lincoln Center, Janus have picked up Edward Yang's A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong!!!! I was hoping they would have also picked up Terrorizers but this is still very exciting!

According the listing on the American Cinematheque website for the Edward Yang retrospective, Janus also has the rights to In Our Time.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

In Our Time is a CMPC title, so it's odd Janus would pick it up but not That Day, on the Beach and The Terrorizers. Janus isn't credited in Lincoln Center's listing, which makes me wonder if the American Cinematheque did so erroneously. On the other hand, if the AC could get it without a U.S. distributor, why wouldn't they get the two missing features?

[Matt]

It’s distributed already in the US by another company.

Do you remember which company has it?

From what I can tell, the U.S. distribution rights to The Terrorizers are held by AsianCrush, which is part of Cineverse, which owns other random brands like Fandor, Bloody Disgusting, The Dove Channel, and The Bob Ross Channel.

They might have unwittingly scooped up the rights in some kind of large licensing deal as one might catch a dolphin in a tuna net. Ironically, because of that the film might be the easiest Yang to see right now as it’s streaming free on Cinverse’s ad-supported streaming service and on Kanopy.

It’s possible the licensing deal might not include physical media rights, in which case Criterion might be able to acquire those and include the film in a comprehensive box set. Otherwise Criterion might have to wait a few years until Cineverse’s license expires to do so.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I reached out to Cineverse a number of years ago about a theatrical screening of The Terrorizers and was informed they only have streaming rights. They stream In Our Time too, and a bunch of titles with physical releases from Arrow, Lionsgate, Film Movement, etc.

[Roscoe]

I just bought the MOC (of PANDORA'S BOX) too, so you are all welcome

As did I. I'm hoping Criterion does it right, fixing the issues with the MOC -- issues with the transfer and subtitles, and I hope they ditch that unfortunate faint sepia wash MOC seem to have added to it.

When and if they decide to do it, that is. I'll buy it, of course.

[yoloswegmaster]

While never outright confirmed (at least from I can tell), the MOMA listing for Akerman's Toute une nuit confirms that Janus has the rights to it

[senseabove]

That may be a recent development, as it wasn’t credited as such at last year’s BAMPFA screening. Now bring on an 80s box.

[nowhereisaplace]

Not sure if this has been mentioned here, but I saw on the Janus website that they have Rivette’s L’Amour Fou. Hopefully a Criterion release will follow.

[FrauBlucher]

Mahjong
A Confucian Confusion

[FrauBlucher]

Janus' first Kore-eda film....After Life

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

It's been with Janus for awhile (since at least 2019). The Criterion Blu-ray also opens with the Janus logo. Only reason I can think of as to why it took so long to appear on the site is that they didn't have a DCP before.

[beamish14]

The American Cinematheque’s recent screening of Dersu Uzala was courtesy of Janus. The print was made by Kino International’s for it’s last North American theatrical release, and it might have been from a private collector

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

The American Cinematheque’s recent screening of Dersu Uzala was courtesy of Janus. The print was made by Kino International’s for it’s last North American theatrical release, and it might have been from a private collector

I was there this weekend and actually wondered the source of the print. The color was good, but the quality of it looked quite cheap. I was wondering if it was just the Kino logo tagged onto a print of the film from the 70s due to its softness and graininess.

[beamish14]

The American Cinematheque’s recent screening of Dersu Uzala was courtesy of Janus. The print was made by Kino International’s for it’s last North American theatrical release, and it might have been from a private collector

I was there this weekend and actually wondered the source of the print. The color was good, but the quality of it looked quite cheap. I was wondering if it was just the Kino logo tagged onto a print of the film from the 70s due to its softness and graininess.

The color was absolutely amazing. It did not have the Mosfilm logo, and it retained the New World/Roger Corman credits, so I’m guessing it was struck from an interpositive held in North America

UCLA screened their fairly faded print about 15ish years ago, and I thought that might be the only one left in the States

[TechnicolorAcid]

American Cinematheque is listing Bela Tarr’s first film, Family Nest, as a Janus license. I haven’t seen it in over a decade, but remember enjoying it quite a bit.

I could see this being added as an extra to a future release of Werckmeister Harmonies.

Right on the target

[Buttery Jeb]

The Film Forum calendar for February and March has dropped: Janus release for the next two months include the new restoration of Pandora's Box, About Dry Grasses (with Sideshow), and Med Hondo's West Indies (to be shown in conjunction with a Hondo retrospective at Anthology Film Archives. There's also retrospectives of lesbian cinema and Japanese horror films, both of which look like they'll have a number of Janus titles included.

[Roscoe]

The Film Forum calendar for February and March has dropped: Janus release for the next two months include the new restoration of Pandora's Box,

I'll be glad to see that PANDORA'S BOX on a bigger-than-my-TV screen again. I'm wondering if Janus has managed to correct the issues with the restoration that appeared in the recent MOC Blu-Ray, most damagingly that faint gray sepia tint. My fingers are crossed.

[ianthemovie]

I'm wondering if Janus has managed to correct the issues with the restoration that appeared in the recent MOC Blu-Ray, most damagingly that faint gray sepia tint. My fingers are crossed.

The screen captures on the Janus website look similar to the tinting of the original Criterion DVD (i.e. not sepia), so hopefully that's a good sign that at least this issue has been fixed.

[Roscoe]

I'm wondering if Janus has managed to correct the issues with the restoration that appeared in the recent MOC Blu-Ray, most damagingly that faint gray sepia tint. My fingers are crossed.

The screen captures on the Janus website look similar to the tinting of the original Criterion DVD (i.e. not sepia), so hopefully that's a good sign that at least this issue has been fixed.

Or Janus is just using old screen caps from the old DVD release. Still, hoping.....

[Peacock]

include the new restoration of Pandora's Box

When you say new restoration do you mean the one from 2018? Not being sarcastic just checking if I’ve missed something as couldn’t find any info of a more recent one being available.

[Ribs]

MoMA will be presenting new 4K restorations of Kenji Misumi's Kiru, Ken, and Kenki from Janus Films.