BFI (British Film Institute)

[foggy eyes]

Wonderful talk by the BFI's Douglas Weir on remastering for home video (and cinema).

The section about Dance Craze is fascinating. He's asked towards the end about the AI trend creeping in and is reassuringly sanguine about it.

[MichaelB]

I'm very much on the same page as Doug. I use AI myself when reducing massive BEHP interviews (anything up to sixteen hours) down to a quasi-commentary running the length of the feature that it's accompanying, because it's a humungous time-saver - with that kind of reduction the question isn't so much "what to cut?" as "what to keep?", and I can simply glance over the auto-transcript and zero in on what I want without having to listen to more than a fraction of the actual interview. And yes, the transcript is riddled with errors, but it's not intended for publication.

(And it's not as if manual transcripts are perfect - I remember one with repeated references to "Carol Rice", which should have been Karel Reisz, although I can forgive the transcriber as they most likely genuinely didn't know.)

Similarly, my favourite language learning app, Clozemaster, uses AI to break down the grammatical structure of a sentence and explain the precise function of each word in detail, which for a case-based language like Polish is an absolute godsend; Duolingo just assumes I'll somehow absorb it by osmosis.

Provided you know what you're doing and are fully aware of the limitations of the technology, it's just another tool.

[knives]

Thanks for that app suggestion. I’ve been using Duolingo, but have found it wanting.

[beamish14]

Thanks for that app suggestion. I’ve been using Duolingo, but have found it wanting.

LingQ is absolutely essential, too. I’d use Duolingo just for the absolute basics and then ditch it. Get some good textbooks, find partners on italki or Tandem, and use some other apps

[Lowry_Sam]

I find that Pimsleur is the best for deep learning. My local library has the complete series for most popular, however they do have an app as well. Then I find Duolingo is good for brushing up while waiting in line and their podcasts are good to see how much I’ve picked up while driving.

[What A Disgrace]

Amazon leaks.

Spoiler

Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Nosferatu (Herzog both), and The Hidden Fortress 4Ks, as well as a dual format release of the Rediffusion series Object Z in a dual format DVD and Blu-ray release.

[Finch]

Aguirre comes out August 25, Nosferatu September 22. Hidden Fortress August 11.

Nosferatu specs

4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Feature-length audio commentary with Werner Herzog
On-set documentary (1979, 13 mins): promotional film featuring candid interviews with Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski
Original theatrical trailer
Stills gallery
Original mono audio (German and English)
Alternative 5.1 Surround audio (German)
Other extras tbc

Aguirre specs

4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original mono audio (German and English)
Feature-length audio commentary with Werner Herzog for both Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fata Morgana
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967, 16 mins): symbolic drama about four young men hiding from an imagined enemy
Last Words (1968, 13 mins): short film about the last man to leave a former leper colony
Precautions Against Fanatics (1969, 11 mins): short satire about horse-racing enthusiasts
Fata Morgana (1971, 77 mins): hallucinatory film exploring mirages and the Mayan creation myth
Original theatrical trailer
Stills gallery
Alternative 5.1 Surround

Hidden Fortress specs:

Restored 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Newly recorded audio commentary by Japanese-cinema expert Tony Rayns
Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Hidden Fortress (2002)
Interview with George Lucas (2001, 8 mins)
Original trailer
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with a new essay on the film by Kenta McGrath]

Object Z TV series on September 22 (BD and DVD)

Unseen since its first transmission on ITV in 1965, this vintage six-part Rediffusion sci-fi serial will delight all aficionados of the glorious golden age of British television drama.

A mysterious mass – known only as Object Z – is discovered by Professor Ramsay (Ralph Nossek) as it hurtles through space, threatening earth with destruction. As society erupts into a riotous state of panic and extremist political factions attempt to snatch control, the world’s nations must unite to find a solution - in the face of potential Armageddon. Scientists June Challis (Margaret Neale) and Robert Duncan (Denys Peek) alongside television producer Peter Barry (Trevor Bannister) become embroiled in the race to find answers - but time is running out.

Hard-hitting and contemporary, Rediffusion’s progressive programming challenged the traditional dominance of BBC television in the 1960s. The cataclysmic world-under-threat sci-fi of Object Z will appeal to everybody who thrilled to Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass.

Episodes:

Episode 1 – The Meteor
Episode 2 – The World in Fear
Episode 3 – Flight from Danger
Episode 4 – The Aliens
Episode 5 – Too Late
Episode 6 – The Solution

[andyli]

Wonder if the Herzog shorts are remastered as well. Fata Morgana itself being a feature film would definitely benefit from a proper 4K restoration.

[MichaelB]

I suspect if that was the case they'd have said so upfront - but I'll post the final specs as soon as they hit my inbox.

[TMDaines]

I'm very much on the same page as Doug. I use AI myself when reducing massive BEHP interviews (anything up to sixteen hours) down to a quasi-commentary running the length of the feature that it's accompanying, because it's a humungous time-saver - with that kind of reduction the question isn't so much "what to cut?" as "what to keep?", and I can simply glance over the auto-transcript and zero in on what I want without having to listen to more than a fraction of the actual interview. And yes, the transcript is riddled with errors, but it's not intended for publication.

(And it's not as if manual transcripts are perfect - I remember one with repeated references to "Carol Rice", which should have been Karel Reisz, although I can forgive the transcriber as they most likely genuinely didn't know.)

Similarly, my favourite language learning app, Clozemaster, uses AI to break down the grammatical structure of a sentence and explain the precise function of each word in detail, which for a case-based language like Polish is an absolute godsend; Duolingo just assumes I'll somehow absorb it by osmosis.

Provided you know what you're doing and are fully aware of the limitations of the technology, it's just another tool.

I tried Clozemaster today and my inital problem with it is that the multiple choices only actually leave one possible answer once you have familiarity with the word structure of certain languages. Just offering me four different prepostions as possible answers, rather than one prepostion and three random nouns or verbs, would make it much less trivial most of the time.

[MichaelB]

Which is why I ditched the multiple-choice option very quickly and opted for "hard" mode (where you need to actually know the word) every time.

But I mainly use it for revision rather than tuition.

[TMDaines]

Which is why I ditched the multiple-choice option very quickly and opted for "hard" mode (where you need to actually know the word) every time.

But I mainly use it for revision rather than tuition.

Thanks! Overlooked that.

[andyli]

Experience Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 masterpiece in cinemas and on Blu-ray with the acclaimed Tennant/Lowe soundtrack for the first time.

Centenary screenings in cinemas UK wide from 22 Aug and on Blu-ray 5 Sep.

Specs for blu-ray:

NEW RESTORATION OF THE FILM by Deutsche Kinemathek
PET SHOP BOYS SOUNDTRACK ON CD
Hochhaussinfonie (2017, 68 mins): a multimedia musical production by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra and Pet Shop Boys, conceived by Markus Rindt and directed by Sven Helbig, on the evening of July 20, 2006, in Dresden
Trafalgar Square Highlights (2004, 4 mins): a behind-the-scenes film when Pet Shop Boys performed their newly composed score for Battleship Potemkin, accompanied by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra in Trafalgar Square, London
Trailer (2025)
Limited Edition Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Chris Heath and Sarah Cleary, and archive pieces by Neil Tennant and Michael Brooke

[hearthesilence]

Experience Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 masterpiece in cinemas and on Blu-ray with the acclaimed Tennant/Lowe soundtrack for the first time.

Centenary screenings in cinemas UK wide from 22 Aug and on Blu-ray 5 Sep.

Specs for blu-ray:

NEW RESTORATION OF THE FILM by Deutsche Kinemathek
PET SHOP BOYS SOUNDTRACK ON CD
Hochhaussinfonie (2017, 68 mins): a multimedia musical production by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra and Pet Shop Boys, conceived by Markus Rindt and directed by Sven Helbig, on the evening of July 20, 2006, in Dresden
Trafalgar Square Highlights (2004, 4 mins): a behind-the-scenes film when Pet Shop Boys performed their newly composed score for Battleship Potemkin, accompanied by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra in Trafalgar Square, London
Trailer (2025)
Limited Edition Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Chris Heath and Sarah Cleary, and archive pieces by Neil Tennant and Michael Brooke

Oh wow, so I guess this will be a visual upgrade of the old BFI Blu-ray (which IIRC had been the one to get for various technical reasons, not to mention the bonuses)? EDIT: FWIW, Deutsche Kinemathek is credited with the restoration that premiered in 2005, so I imagine it builds off of that one.

Also more details for those in the UK...

On 22 August 2025, Battleship Potemkin. Music by Pet Shop Boys will open in selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland. Ahead of a week-long run, a special double screening event, at BFI Southbank on Friday 5 September 2025 at 6.30pm, will begin with Pet Shop Boys’ feature film It Couldn’t Happen Here (1988), in memory of its late director, Jack Bond, followed by a Q&A with Neil Tennant, hosted by Paul Tickell, and then a screening of Battleship Potemkin.

Tickets for the 5 September Q&A screening at BFI Southbank will be on sale to BFI Patrons on 4 August, to BFI Members on 5 August and to the public on 7 August. Prices are: £28.00 standard, £25.50 members, £23.00 concessions

[Zot!]

The convergence of the current political atmosphere with the Pet Shop Boy's Moroderization of Potemkin feels a bit like a put-on.

[domino harvey]

Langlois fully vindicated

[pistolwink]

The excerpts I've heard mostly make it sound much more boring than you might expect.

[Calvin]

Details are scant at the moment but the BFI are giving Terence Davies' The House of Mirth a UK theatrical release in October, which will coincide with a 2-month retrospective at the Southbank in London for what would have been his 80th birthday. No word on whether there will be a new physical release, but when I asked Ben Stoddart said that we wouldn't have to wait long for the next set of announcements and he's usually reliable at outright denial if there isn't something to get your hopes up for.

Speaking of, a poster on the BFI Facebook page citing an unnamed source says that they have a Frederick Wiseman box set coming in October.

[beamish14]

House of Mirth is a wonderful pick-up. I hope they can get more Sally Potter, and I think some of her other films are also held by Sony

[andyli]

Speaking of, a poster on the BFI Facebook page citing an unnamed source says that they have a Frederick Wiseman box set coming in October.

What? That would be fantastic! Was wondering who is handling the restored films that toured recently.

[MichaelB]

The BFI has just announced its January to March 2026 slate.

The BFI announces today its slate of Blu-ray and DVD releases for January, February and March 2026. Highlights include a film collection from one of the world’s greatest documentary-makers, Frederick Wiseman, a British B-movie classic from 1962, and a pioneering rediscovery from the Associated-Rediffusion television archive.

26 January: CINEMA EXPANDED: THE FILMS OF FREDERICK WISEMAN on Blu-ray (3-disc set)

With a groundbreaking career spanning seven decades, Frederick Wiseman is one of America’s most revered storytellers. Marking their first UK release, this 3-disc / 5-film collection features a selection of Wiseman’s documentaries made between 1967 and 1975 – Titicut Follies, High School, Hospital, Juvenile Court and Welfare.

16 February: DANIEL FARSON’S GUIDE TO BRITAIN VOLUME 1 on Blu-ray/DVD (Dual Format Edition)

Paving the way for later programme-makers in the Louis Theroux mould, Daniel Farson was a pioneering investigative journalist who appeared on Associated-Rediffusion (the first ITV franchise holder for the London/South East area) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. DANIEL FARSON’S GUIDE TO BRITAIN VOLUME 1 is a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition set that showcases his most innovative, eccentric and important work on a wide range of topics relevant to post-war Britain.

23 February: STRONGROOM on Blu-ray

A carefully planned heist on a suburban bank goes awry in Vernon Sewell’s taut and thrilling STRONGROOM (1962). A British B-movie much loved by directors such as Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino, starring Colin Gordon, Ann Lynn, Derren Nesbitt and William Morgan Sheppard, STRONGROOM appears on Blu-ray for the first time in a brand-new BFI remaster. After its recent screening on a new 35mm print at BFI Southbank’s Film on Film Festival, the film’s Blu-ray release will be preceded by a revival in selected UK cinemas from 30 January.

16 March: CHILDREN’S FILM FOUNDATION BUMPER BOX: VOLUME 6 on DVD and NEGATIVES on Blu-ray

Fans of the Children’s Film Foundation archive will be delighted by the latest instalment; CHILDREN’S FILM FOUNDATION BUMPER BOX: VOLUME 6 offers another glorious opportunity for a warm wallow in nostalgia. As ever, the films feature well-known names galore, including Francesca Annis, Susan George, Joe Brown, Wilfrid Brambell, Irene Handl, Michael Elphick and Gareth Thomas. The nine thrilling adventures included in the set range from Mystery on Bird Island (1954) to Danger on Dartmoor (1980).

The final release this quarter — the 53rd in the legendary BFI Flipside strand which revives forgotten gems — is the debut film from director Peter Medak. Born in Hungary in 1937, Medak has enjoyed a fascinating career spanning over 50 years, from Brit-gangster hit The Krays (1990) to episodes of modern TV classics such as The Wire and Breaking Bad. His provocative 1968 debut, NEGATIVES, stars Glenda Jackson, Diane Cilento and Peter McEnery. A dreamlike, acutely cinematic character study, it explores the dark heart of unconventional relationships in the free love era. This will be the first time NEGATIVES has been available on any format in the UK.

These titles will contain a selection of extra features and an illustrated booklet (first pressing only) to provide contextual information. Review copies will be available approximately one month ahead of release date.

All titles are available to pre-order online today from usual home entertainment retailers.

[andyli]

Fantastic news on the Wiseman set. Fingers crossed it sells well enough for labels to consider doing more.

[Beloved Aunt]

I wonder if BFI would be willing, or able ($$$, rights situation, etc.) to release Anthony Page's seemingly MIA television film-filmed play Alpha Beta with Albert Finney and Rachel Roberts? It's supposed to have performances from those two that are possibly the best of either's career.

[MichaelB]

Well, not only does it survive but the BFI appears to be sitting on the best-quality archival materials, including the original 35mm negative, so that's one of the usual hurdles easily surmounted.

So the question is really down to the rights, which will either be with production company Memorial Enterprises (Finney's own company) or the BBC – although the latter is a definite possibility given that the rights to the Memorial/BFI production Loving Memory ended up with the BFI. And of course on whether they think there's any commercial justification, although it certainly looks like potential Flipside material.

[Beloved Aunt]

You'd think there might be at least a smidge of a reason to think a release of Alpha Beta might do alright, what with Finney and all.