German Filmmuseum Edition

[TMDaines]

Which is precisely why the need for such a new, improved release is beyond me. As far as I know, the reason for the re-release is the existence of a new music score. And even if that might be interesting - from what I hear it is somewhat 'orientally' sounding - , the one on the old disc by Aljoscha Zimmermann (R.I.P.) is perfectly fine. And apparently the new score was co-financed by arte on top of it.

I have no doubt the new edition will be better contentwise (I expect a whole flurry of pdf-files at the very least), but in times where the budget for restos and releases is severely cut down, why bother with "Nathan" again, especially as the transfer on the old disc is fine, too? It's not "Metropolis" or "Die Nibelungen", and the money and especially time spent on the new version might have been rather given to much-desired films like "Varieté" or some Galeen, for instance.

I don't see what the problem is. They tend to update releases when the last run has gone out of print with any new features they've found in the meantime. They aren't supposed to be brand new releases: just a new second/third/fourth edition in the same way academic texts are revised.

[markhax]

It's not "Metropolis" or "Die Nibelungen", and the money and especially time spent on the new version might have been rather given to much-desired films like "Varieté" or some Galeen, for instance.

Yes, Varieté!! I never see it mentioned in these threads as a film in the resto queue. Does anyone know of any plans? Are there special problems? Given its importance, one would think there would have been a DVD release by now.

[Tommaso]

I don't see what the problem is. They tend to update releases when the last run has gone out of print with any new features they've found in the meantime. They aren't supposed to be brand new releases: just a new second/third/fourth edition in the same way academic texts are revised.

The problem is: we have a second edition of a pretty average film and no edition of many other films which not only in my opinion are far more essential. And the updating is not so easy to do as in the case of academic texts: they have to completely re-author the disc, even if they don't have to make a new transfer and can simply add the new music. It's certainly more expensive and time-consuming than to correct a misprint or add some footnotes to a printed text.

Markhax, I don't know what the "Varieté" situation is; Filmmuseum mentioned something forthcoming by Dupont in their early days, and I strongly assume that it must be "Varieté", but since then, nothing was mentioned, not even on their "In preparation"-list. But I'm even more surprised that the film hasn't even been released by Kino or divisa yet.

[HerrSchreck]

First, Jeff @ Flicker Alley mentioned that Variete was on deck for restoration and a DVD release. A friend of mine who's tight with film professors and guys like Rosenbaum says that the film has been restored, but that he's not sure if this was merely for its "recent exhibition" on the cinematic circuit alone, or if a DVD is forthcoming.

To have released Piccadilly and not Variete--if it's not coming out-- is somewhat of a sin. Notwithstanding the excellence of the film on its own technical merits (and the great cast), its effect on filmmaking, ie for example FW Murnau (4 Devils), is unmistakable.

My god, the camerawork-- might be Freund's tour de force.

[Fierias]

I couldn't find this posted anywhere, and I suppose this was hinted at by the Austria filmmuseum's book, but I just received this in an email:

...the Austrian Film Museum is preparing a DVD collection on the work of James Benning under the Edition Filmmuseum’s label.
But it is so far in stage of planning and will be published not before 2011.
I am afraid, but due to the early stage there aren’t any more details available at the moment.

With best regards,
Marcus Eberhardt

very exciting

[Filmmuseum Wien]

The Austrian Film Museum has recently published a Double-Disc on "A Sixth Part of the World" and "The Eleventh Year" by Dziga Vertov. Upon the suggestion of the Film Museum, British composer Michael Nyman has created new scores for the two classics. Both - film and music - appear on DVD for the first time and are accompanied by extensive bonus materials. Following the award-winning Film Museum DVD on Vertov’s Ėntuziazm, this new release aims to contribute to the international renaissance of the filmmaker’s oeuvre.

[markhax]

There have been complaints here about Edition Filmmuseum's domestic (i. e., in Germany) shipping charges. I assumed the same would be true for North America. Happily, I have been proved wrong. There were four titles I wanted from the EF website, but two, from the Danish Film Institute, were not available from Amazon.de (the DFI's international shippng charges are exorbitant), so I put all four items in my EF shopping basket to see what the shipping would be. It's a FLAT RATE EUR 13.88. Amazon.DE is EUR 14. Of course, 12 cents is no difference, but I have also discovered that the prices Amazon charges for EF DVDs are higher than the list price on EF website. For example, the new Vertov DVD, "One-Sixth of the World" and "The Eleventh Year" is EUR 29.95 on EF's site, and EUR 31.99 on Amazon's. EF, like Amazon, deducts the VAT, so it came to 25.17. With an order of only four DVDs the EUR 13.88 shipping was neutralized.

And here's the kicker: I received notification within a few hours that the order had been shipped and got a FEDEX tracking number. Amazon.DE orders often take weeks from notification before I receive them.

By the way, the 5-DVD Meliès Lobster/Flicker Alley set that goes for $90 on Amazon.com was EUR 47 from EF after VAT deduction. I added this to my order temporarily to see if it affected the shipping charge, and it did not.

From now on I will order anything I want on the Edition Filmmuseum site directly from them.

[TMDaines]

Yeah but the point is if you only want one title they still charge an extausionate sum. Are postage costs really much higher in the rest of the world than in the UK? I can send a single keep case in a bubble-wrap envelope to anywhere in the world for less than £2 from the UK. I was amazed how much say USPS charged to send the same sort of thing from the US to the UK - it was close to $10. How much are postage costs in Germany?

[jbaart]

Yeah but the point is if you only want one title they still charge an extausionate sum. Are postage costs really much higher in the rest of the world than in the UK? I can send a single keep case in a bubble-wrap envelope to anywhere in the world for less than £2 from the UK. I was amazed how much say USPS charged to send the same sort of thing from the US to the UK - it was close to $10. How much are postage costs in Germany?

I think shipping one DVD internationally would set you back about 4€. Within Germany either 1,65€ or 2,20€, not entirely sure. The UK easily has the lowest national shipping costs I know of. Luckily though Germany ain't that bad altough it's certainly not cheap. Definitely better than Australia though

[Tommaso]

Shipping costs for one dvd inside Germany is 1,45 Euro. To the UK and other EU countries, it's 4 Euros. To the US and rest of the world it's 8 Euros, IIRC. All airmail, of course.

[Tommaso]

Bad news: Randolf's "Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom" is postponed until May (hey, why am I not surprised?).
Good news: Spine #55 is now announced as "Von morgens bis Mitternacht" by Karlheinz Martin. So this important expressionist classic is finally coming....hopefully soon.

[TMDaines]

Some upcoming covers

[jsteffe]

Some upcoming covers

Thanks! I noticed that the "In Preparation" list now contains "Der lebende Leichnam Fedor Ozep, 1929," A.K.A: The Living Corpse (Zhivoi trup, dir. Fyodor Otsep, 1929). Very cool.

[Tommaso]

Today I received the new Vertov double-discer and started with "The sixth part of the earth". In one word: amazing!

I didn't know what to expect and still haven't read the - as usual - extensive booklet, but the film immediately made its impact on me. A celebration of the various cultures in the young Soviet Union, we get some simply breathtaking footage from all parts of the country, preferably the 'primitive' ones which are shown to adapt to the ideals of socialism and all contributing to the realisation of the grand communist dream. Vertov's strategy seems to be enumeration, i.e. we see similar aspects of life in different parts of the country oneafter another (e.g. pigs followed by reindeer followed by camels all moving along in the same or similar formal patterns) with Vertov managing to seamlessly glide from one topic to the next. The effect is simply hypnotic. Add to this the constant addresses to the audience via the intertitles, telling us - or the audience of 1926 - that this is 'our land' etc., and you have one of the most effective propaganda films ever made; but I don't mean that negatively at all. Vertov clearly was a man with an idealistic vision, and he managed to get this vision across with images that are stunning even today and already show a lot of the formal experimentation of "The Man with a camera". While the latter film is certainly Vertov's best ( I actually named it as #1 one on my all-time list, and see no reason to change it), "The sixth part of the earth" seems to me to be perhaps Vertov's most characteristic film of those I've seen, the film that best shows his motivations and intentions with film-making, his utopianism and positive belief in progress whilst cherishing tradition, too. By contrast, I always found "Kino-eye" a little dry, though (film-)historically perhaps more significant, but I'm sure others will disagree and with good reasons.

Surprisingly I also liked the Michael Nyman-score here, which added very much to the images without becoming too intrusive (at least after the first five minutes it needed to get used to it). And of course the transfer is flawless, even though the print used has seen much better days. But I very much assume that there were no better materials available.

Well, I'd say: already a first high point of the year, and I haven't even yet watched the second film ("The eleventh year") nor had a look at the ROM-features of the second disc (which also contains a 1928 short film called "In the shadow of the machine" by Albrecht Viktor Blum and Leo Lania). Anyone interested in silent film, documentaries or simply great filmmaking should get this by all means. I keep repeating myself: I simply LOVE this label, but a film - and release - like this might explain why.

[Adam]

Stefan Droessler, the director of the Munich Film Museum, behind many of the Filmmuseum Editions DVDs, will be in Los Angeles next week and doing a couple of presentations. On March 12, Filmforum will be hosting him at the Echo Park Film Center as he gives a presentation called WHO WAS WALTHER RUTTMANN, with discussion of their preservation work and screening Opus I-IV, followed by a screening of Berlin: Symphony of a City (from their DVD).
http://www.lafilmforum.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He has another event with the Goethe Institut on March 10:
http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/ver/en5657751v.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hollywood speaks German
by Stefan Droessler, Director of Filmmuseum Munich
Film/Lecture
Wednesday, March 10th 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, 5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100, Los Angeles CA 90036
Tickets are $ 5.00/ Free for FOG
Info. +1 323 5253388
By 1929, new technologies made “talkies” possible, but dubbing films into another language proved to be a still insurmountable technological challenge.
To make films available to a wider audience, the only feasible option was to reshoot different language versions.
From 1930 through 1932, all major Hollywood studios shot films in German.
Famous German actors such as Heinrich George, Paul Morgan, and Camilla Horn came to shoot on location in Hollywood and a number of famous American actors, such as Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Buster Keaton were required to learn German phonetics.

Stefan Droessler will describe the situation in the different studios and show excerpts of a dozen movies which have been neglected by film studies.
Since age 16, Stefan Droessler has been the director of several student film clubs, film festivals and film seminars.
From 1986 to 1998 he founded and directed the Bonner Kinemathek and since 1999 he has been the director of the Filmmuseum Munich.
He has published several books and articles about film history, and film techniques.
The Filmmuseum Munich focuses on German silent films, the “New German Cinema,” and Munich film productions.
The archive also holds a collection of Russian films and the estate of Orson Welles.

[Tommaso]

Specs are up for Martin's "Von morgens bis Mitternacht", to be released in May (!):

* Von morgens bis mitternachts 1921, 73'
* Improvisierte Musikbegleitung von SchlagEnsemble H/F/M
* Komponierte Ensemblemusik von Yati Durant
* Percussion Art auf den Internationalen Stummfilmtagen Bonn 2008, 8'
* Booklet mit Texten von Fritz Göttler, Inge Degenhardt und Jürgen Kasten


In the summer: "Female Comedy Teams":

DVD 1

* Feed 'em and Weep 1928, 16'
* A Pair of Tights 1929, 19'
* Neue Musikbegleitungen von Günter A. Buchwald und Stephen Horne
* The Pajama Party 1931, 20'
* On the Loose 1931, 20'
* Show Business 1932, 19'
* Asleep in the Feet 1933, 18'

DVD 2

* The Bargain of the Century 1933, 19'
* Beauty and the Bus 1933, 17'
* Babes in the Goods 1934, 19'
* Maid in Hollywood 1934, 19'
* The Misses Stooge 1935, 18'
* Top Flat 1935, 19'
* Booklet mit Texten zu den Komikerinnen


And in autumn, "Max Davidson Comedies":

DVD 1

* Why Girls Say No 1927, 20'
* Jewish Prudence 1927, 20'
* Don't Tell Everything 1927, 20'
* Call of the Cuckoo 1927, 20'
* Should Second Husbands Come First? 1927, 20'
* Neue Musikbegleitungen von Joachim Bärenz, Günter A. Buchwald, Stephen Horne und Christian Roderburg
* Booklet mit Texten von Richard W. Bann, Stewart Tryster und Stefan Drössler

DVD 2

* Flaming Fathers 1927, 20'
* Pass the Gravy 1928, 20'
* Dumb Daddies 1928, 10'
* The Boy Friend 1928, 20'
* Hurdy Gurdy 1929, 20'
* Neue Musikbegleitungen von Joachim Bärenz, Günter A. Buchwald, Stephen Horne und Christian Roderburg
* Dokumentation der verlorenen Max-Davidson Comedies

[htdm]

Thanks Tommaso - Definitely the Max Davidson DVD

[antnield]

DVD Times on the Vertov double, 'A Sixth Part of the World' and 'The Eleventh Hour'.

[charal]

I have been trying to get onto the GFE website for over a week without success. Has anyone else had this problem? Has the company gone bust or something?

[jsteffe]

I have been trying to get onto the GFE website for over a week without success. Has anyone else had this problem? Has the company gone bust or something?

Out of curiosity I just tried out the site and it works fine. Is this the URL that you have?

http://www.edition-filmmuseum.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Camera Obscura]

I have been trying to get onto the GFE website for over a week without success. Has anyone else had this problem? Has the company gone bust or something?

Are you sure South Australia hasn't blocked all German sites? You never know. Internetwise, they seem to be running a pretty tight ship down there.

[TMDaines]

A couple of new titles on their upcoming list (I think):

Frankfurt im Film 1900-1945
Karl Valentin und das Kino 1912-1930
Die Suffragette Urban Gad, 1913
Der Hund von Baskerville Rudolf Meinert, 1914
Sein eigner Mörder Max Mack, 1914
Sappho Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921
Der Geisterzug Geza von Bolvary, 1927
Abwege Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1928
Das Mädchen Sumiko Shigeyoshi Suzuki, 1929
Waterloo Karl Grune, 1929
Der lebende Leichnam Fedor Ozep, 1929
The Unknown Orson Welles 1965-1985
Himmel und Erde Michael Pilz, 1982
El bosque animado José Luis Cuerda, 1987
Mein Freund der Mörder Peter Fleischmann, 2006
Die Widerständigen Katrin Seybold, 2008

[Minkin]

Three quick questions about the Filmmuseum site. Firstly, is the Melies box all in French then? I know it says english subtitles and narration but I'd rather not have the set for $30 cheaper than Amazon only to find it has a booklet all in French or menus, etc. Although that would be a great incentive to start learning French.

Second, I know that they take off the VAT for non-EU residents, but do they charge you in Euros as well? Or do they have an option similar to Amazon UK/others to charge in whatever currency you have? (my card company is stingy)

Third, when are new titles usually announced? I would like to get Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom and Von morgens bis mitternachts but would rather not wait until the end of the month (when the Euro will have probably gone back up in price).

Thanks for the answers! I plan on purchasing the following:

The Other Weimar
Alexander Kluge - Films and Television Works 1960-2008
Die elf Teufel & König der Mittelstürmer
Berlin, die Sinfonie der Großstadt & Melodie der Welt
Lutz Dammbeck: Filme und Mediencollagen 1975-1986
Thomas Harlan - Wandersplitter
Klassenverhältnisse
Ludwig II, König von Bayern
Crazy Cinématographe. Europäisches Jahrmarktkino 1896-1916
and the Melies boxset if it works out..

Plus 75 euros for shipping! Yikes..

I have a grant for German film. I had hoped to just check out the films from the Goethe Institut in Los Angeles but I never heard back from them and I don't really believe they do and I couldn't find them elsewhere. Are there any films I am missing or should think about adding?

Thanks!

[TMDaines]

Die elf Teufel & König der Mittelstürmer is in The Other Weimar. I'd get Freudlose Gasse too.

[Tommaso]

Third, when are new titles usually announced? I would like to get Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom and Von morgens bis mitternachts but would rather not wait until the end of the month (when the Euro will have probably gone back up in price).

They only announce titles and make them available for order when they actually have them; and they are famous for delays (so I wouldn't believe that "Bettler" and "Morgens bis Mitternacht" come in May before they actually have a release date). But don't worry; the Euro won't be back where it was by the end of May, rather the opposite....