It’s customary for this column to focus on items that I know are currently available. But sometimes there are important potential or upcoming releases whose release dates remain uncertain when my column is written, and there are two of them I want to signal for this quarter, both of which I already possess copies of although they still weren’t commercially available when I wrote most of the following.
The first of these, the four-disc Peter Thompson: 6 Cinematic Essays + 2 Interviews + …, is to my mind the most important DVD release of the year—and this even in a year that has seen the final, long-delayed, and triumphant releases of Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 and the films of Pere Portabella (both discussed in previous columns)—because it represents the most flagrant discrepancy I know between work that is staggeringly powerful and important on the one hand and almost completely unknown on the other. For me, the late Peter Thompson (1944-2013) is the greatest of all Chicago filmmakers, living or dead, but it seems that the only reason why you haven’t heard of him is that he didn’t know how to hustle. Around October 31, the box set finally became available on Amazon; in the case of Far from Afghanistan (2012)—a collective film by John Gianvito, Jon Jost, Soon-Mi Yoo, Minda Martin, Travis Wilkerson, and Afghan Voices, overseen by Gianvito—there’s a URL listed on the DVD (farfromafghanistan.com), but it couldn’t be accessed the last time I checked. However, Gianvito has informed me that “inquiries about purchasing DVDs can be sent to farfromafghanistan@gmail.com, $15 per disc plus shipping.” (For writing that I’ve already published about the films on these releases, go to (Peter Thompson) and (Far From Afghanistan).
Are there conflict-of-interest issues here? Not really, or at least not exactly: Thompson was a dear friend, and so is Gianvito, but in both cases these friendships developed because of my enthusiasm for their work. For the record, I helped to conduct both of the “2 interviews” on the Thompson set (proceeds of which will go towards a scholarship named after Peter at Chicago’s Columbia College, where he taught photography for many years), but I had no such involvement in the slim single-disc Gianvito package.
Il Cinema Ritrovato
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Rosenbaum also mentioned the Peter Thompson set (along with the Bergman-Rossellini set and Ikarie XB-1) in this edition of his regular Global Discoveries on DVD article for Cinema Scope Magazine:
- htshell
- Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:15 pm
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Does anyone know anything about this? NFA website and google have turned up nothing.DVD AWARDS 2014: XI edition
Alexander Horwath's personal pick is POD ZNAČKOU BAT'A, a 3-DVD box set copublished by the Czech National Film Archive with a huge number of shorts made by the BAT’A Corporation in the City of Zlin. It's a wonderful example of a non-cinema company making public their archive of films.
- vertovfan
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:46 pm
- JimmyTango
- Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:51 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Has anyone tried to place an order from cinestore.cinetecamilano.it ? I'm finding it quite difficult. Firstly I'm from the U.S so therefore I don't require a VAT and upon contacting various people throughout every aspect of the institute and receiving mixed replies to my inquiry I was finally notified to send wire transfer using their IBAN information. That didn't seem to work either. If only cinetecamilano would offer their titles through Amazon or Ebay it would be so much easier. A similar issue occurred in trying to order from the National Film Archive of India. You would think that in 2015 it shouldn't be this much of a hassle but yet again there are plenty of more important things to worry about I suppose.
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Are you sure they ship overseas? I'm unable to select a mode of delivery if I attempt to order anything to the UK.
- JimmyTango
- Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:51 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
According to my e-mail correspondence they ship worldwide but as of current it is unnecessarily complicated due to an error in the checkout process of the site. I tried Western Union and to no avail. The Luigi Liberio Pensuti DVD is indispensable to the purpose of animation studies but apparently not readily available anywhere else.TMDaines wrote:Are you sure they ship overseas? I'm unable to select a mode of delivery if I attempt to order anything to the UK.
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- Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:23 am
- Location: Florida
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Have you tried "00000" or some random numbers for that field?JimmyTango wrote:Firstly I'm from the U.S so therefore I don't require a VAT.
- JimmyTango
- Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:51 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I thought of that also but it didn't work.Numero Trois wrote:Have you tried "00000" or some random numbers for that field?JimmyTango wrote:Firstly I'm from the U.S so therefore I don't require a VAT.
I'll provide an update if I can successfully place the order at some point.
- JAP
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 8:17 am
- Location: 39ºN,8ºW
- Contact:
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
With Peter von Bagh's passing the festival has created a stellar artistic committee (with the likes of Kevin Brownlow, Jean Douchet, Aki Kaurismäki, Dave Kehr or Thelma Schoonmaker; even Peter Becker is there) to assist/be assisted by the new programming committee, as stated here.
Program highlights for this year:
- The Keaton Project
- Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey
- Ingrid Bergman, the early years
- Jazz Goes to Movies
- Colors of Japan
- Peter Forever, homage to Peter von Bagh (curated by Olaf Möller)
- Looking for Colors in Film: from Pochoir to Technicolor (curated by Gian Luca Farinelli and Mariann Lewinsky)
- The Soviet Thaw: 1953-1957 (curated by Olaf Möller and Peter Bagrov)
Hope to (finally!) get there.
Program highlights for this year:
- The Keaton Project
- Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey
- Ingrid Bergman, the early years
- Jazz Goes to Movies
- Colors of Japan
- Peter Forever, homage to Peter von Bagh (curated by Olaf Möller)
- Looking for Colors in Film: from Pochoir to Technicolor (curated by Gian Luca Farinelli and Mariann Lewinsky)
- The Soviet Thaw: 1953-1957 (curated by Olaf Möller and Peter Bagrov)
Hope to (finally!) get there.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Yes, fingers crossed I'll finally make it there too - I wanted to go last year but was stymied by overruns on Arrow's Borowczyk project.
- jsteffe
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
- Location: Atlanta, GA
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Sadly, it doesn't look as if I will be able to get to the festival this year.
Congratulations to those who frequent this board and who won awards!
Does anyone know where on earth one can obtain the PINTILIE, CINEAST box set? I very badly want to order a copy for my library.
Congratulations to those who frequent this board and who won awards!
Does anyone know where on earth one can obtain the PINTILIE, CINEAST box set? I very badly want to order a copy for my library.
- L.A.
- Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Carturesti ships overseas, ordered my copy from there. The only downside is that the set appears to be OOP(?).jsteffe wrote:Does anyone know where on earth one can obtain the PINTILIE, CINEAST box set? I very badly want to order a copy for my library.
- jsteffe
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
- Location: Atlanta, GA
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Thanks, L.A. I checked that company months ago, and it was already O.P., apparently. Very frustrating!
- JAP
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 8:17 am
- Location: 39ºN,8ºW
- Contact:
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- Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:49 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Hi all,
Going to this for the first time. Ill have a festival pass, how easy is it to get to see what you want? Queueing? I assume most things are English friendly?
Cheers
Going to this for the first time. Ill have a festival pass, how easy is it to get to see what you want? Queueing? I assume most things are English friendly?
Cheers
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- Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:05 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Having attended for several years I can say that I have rarely not been able to se a film I wanted to. If you turn up 10 minutes before the film starts you will most likely be able to get a good seat. The only exceptions have been the two venues at the cinemateque (Sala Mastroianni and Scorcese) that do not seat very many people and therefore can get full.
With a festival pass you do not need to get tickets for each screening. You just show your pass at the theatre entrance. There is no way to reserve a seat in advance and the seats are not numbered. All screenings are English friendly with one major caveat. Screenings at the cinemateque are not subtitled unless the print itself has English subtitles. Other venues have facilities for projecting digital computer subtitles, but the cinemateque does not. Instead you are given an earpiece where a translator will spontaneously try to translate the dialogue to English, often with variable results. This can diminish ones appreciation and comprehension of films that are very talky
I remember watching one French silent film some years ago where the interties simply said the one word, “misère”. Instead just saying “misery”, the translator struggled to find the right word and in broken Italian-accented English chose instead “Is-a very sad. Is-a not good.” She managed to change the film from a drama to a comedy.
Other events apart from the films, like introductions, talks and debates are generally translated, but not always. People from northern Europe tend to all speak English but southern Europeans do not. Often long speeches in Italian are translated to one or two sentences in English. French speakers are sometimes only translated to Italian.
Anyway, I hope you find your way around the different venues in Bologna and have an enjoyable festival.
With a festival pass you do not need to get tickets for each screening. You just show your pass at the theatre entrance. There is no way to reserve a seat in advance and the seats are not numbered. All screenings are English friendly with one major caveat. Screenings at the cinemateque are not subtitled unless the print itself has English subtitles. Other venues have facilities for projecting digital computer subtitles, but the cinemateque does not. Instead you are given an earpiece where a translator will spontaneously try to translate the dialogue to English, often with variable results. This can diminish ones appreciation and comprehension of films that are very talky
I remember watching one French silent film some years ago where the interties simply said the one word, “misère”. Instead just saying “misery”, the translator struggled to find the right word and in broken Italian-accented English chose instead “Is-a very sad. Is-a not good.” She managed to change the film from a drama to a comedy.
Other events apart from the films, like introductions, talks and debates are generally translated, but not always. People from northern Europe tend to all speak English but southern Europeans do not. Often long speeches in Italian are translated to one or two sentences in English. French speakers are sometimes only translated to Italian.
Anyway, I hope you find your way around the different venues in Bologna and have an enjoyable festival.
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Laughing so much it hurts.Marwood wrote:I remember watching one French silent film some years ago where the interties simply said the one word, “misère”. Instead just saying “misery”, the translator struggled to find the right word and in broken Italian-accented English chose instead “Is-a very sad. Is-a not good.” She managed to change the film from a drama to a comedy.
Like an idiot I'm going to Bologna this year (then Rimini) but in August/September time. I'm desperate to go one day.
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- Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:49 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Thanks for the info, really looking forward to it.
- JAP
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 8:17 am
- Location: 39ºN,8ºW
- Contact:
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
And here are the nominees for this year's DVD Awards.
-
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Good list. Couple of English-subbed releases from France and Italy that I hadn't heard about.
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
Anyone know where one might find a copy of:
ANTHOLOGY OF LITHUANIAN DOCUMENTARY CINEMA
(Lituania/1962-1995) di Viktoras Starošas, Robertas Verba, Almantas Grikevičius, Henrikas Šablevičius, Edmundas Zubavičius, Jonas Mekas
NGO Meno Avilys (Dvd)
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Il Cinema Ritrovato
This is the first I've heard of Raro's recent Glauber Rocha set, though it doesn't look like it has English subs.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England