Deaf Crocodile

[MichaelB]

I can't believe that Deaf Crocodile is still in 2026 releasing Mosfilm titles they licensed back in 2021, they must have picked up more titles in the last few years. Most people don't seem to care about it at all but I guess I'm a sucker who cares. This label has released and announced some films that I'm interested in but I don't want to support Deaf Crocodile or give them any money so I hope that those films (for example Dead Mountaineer's Hotel) will come out from UK labels at some point.

What a bizarre attitude. Why, if you refuse to support Deaf Crocodile for licensing films of which you disapprove (seemingly on the basis of knee-jerk presumption rather than actually asking them), do you then propose to support other labels if they license the same films?

It's doubly absurd when they're about to release Yuri Norstein's work, because Norstein was publicly opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and his career has been regularly buffeted by financial problems that had nothing to do with him. So why victimise him again?

Incidentally, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel may be culturally Estonian, but it's also a Soviet production directed by a Russian (Grigori Kromanov)—which is why the exteriors were filmed in Kazakhstan (also then part of the USSR) and the music was created on an EMS Synthi 100 setup in Moscow—in fact, the same one on which Eduard Artemyev created the music for Stalker in sessions booked during the same week.

[Calvin]

I've yet to let my morals get in the way of buying these releases and I'm very excited for the Yuri Norstein release. I can vividly remember as a child watching an English-dubbed tape recording of Hedgehog in the Fog recorded off Channel 4, whose animation commissioner, Clare Kitson, championed Norstein's work and actually later wrote the book Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator's Journey which I would highly recommend.

That being said, I'd be lying if I said that DC's Mosfilm releases didn't trouble me a bit. Particularly their Karen Shakhnazarov releases, which contained 'new' interviews (unsure exactly when they were filmed) despite the fact he is subject to international sanctions due to his rather full-throated personal support of Putin and Mosfilm, under his leadership, going so far as to provide the Russian military with both financial and material support. Releasing his work in the current climate seemed...a bold choice to say the least, especially considering there didn't seem to be much prior demand there.

Norstein himself certainly seemed opposed to the war. I would have liked if DC could have included Yuri Norstein Talks Literature and War', which I understand is a more recent Japanese documentary from the same director as the one that they included on The Overcoat.

One year after the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, we interviewed Yuri Norstein, the world-renowned animator known for The Tale of Tales and The Little Hedgehog in the Fog, who lives in Moscow. The interview was conducted over three sessions and lasted a total of eight hours. In response to our questions, Norstein provided a rich interpretation of the world, referencing numerous works of art and literature. What a single painting by Van Gogh reveals to us, what Russian literature by Pushkin, Chekhov, and Gogol teaches us about human dignity, and what light-hearted concepts Issa, Basho, and Hokusai offer... What can we learn from the art and literature of our predecessors? This documentary film is a gift for all those seeking clues in this confusing world. A stunning 90 minutes filled with Norstein's overwhelming passion and erudition.

Deaf Crocodile would also seem like the perfect outlet to showcase the cinema of 'the other side' and release some Ukrainian poetic cinema e.g. The White Bird Marked with Black, The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, Babylon XX, The Enchanted Desna. Hopefully one day!

[MichaelB]

There's no "seemed" about it—Norstein was one of the signatories of a statement by prominent Russian artists expressing opposition to the Ukrainian invasion.

I mean, it's a genuine dilemma, and I do sympathise (I myself have yet to finish my Cine Outsider review of Ilya Muromets to my satisfaction, because despite numerous clear mitigating factors it's nonetheless a film with a strongly, frequently-expressed pro-Russian viewpoint that can't help but raise eyebrows if watched today), but it's not one that's going to be resolved by boycotting one label in favour of another, especially if the first label has been putting in most of the actual work and expense. And I'm pretty sure that the Karen Shakhnazarov films were licensed prior to 2022.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Firstly, it should be noted that, with the exception of Ilya Muromets which was released before the war (and features a key element of defending Kyiv from invading forces), there’s barely any elements of pro-Russian sentiment or propaganda in any of their licensed titles, especially ones like Kin-Dza-Dza and ZeroGrad which were made primarily to mock the system of government and the shape of the Union at the time as it was falling apart.
Also, the boys running Deaf Crocodile have spoken out against the current war several times on their podcast (on the side of Ukraine) and have stated many times that they would very much love to release films from Ukraine with the only reason they haven’t being due to trouble securing rights with the Dovzhenko Film Center.
And finally, it should be noted that releases like those of the Ptushko films (which allowed them to fund over 100K via Kickstarter) have helped ensure them the ability to perform big restorations like Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel or the in-progress resurrection of Roy del Espacio without fear of them having to close up shop.

[TMDaines]

I wasn't aware of Karen Shakhnazarov's views and feel a bit grim now having recently bought those Blu-rays.

It's complicated. My wife and I watched Oci ciornie last year, despite it being directed by Mikhalkov, whose views are just as vile and offensive. I somewhat treat historical works in the same way as I would films from The Third Reich: spending money on watching is by no means endorsement. I certainly would have far less appetite to buy or watch works made in contemporary Russia, unless by dissidents.

[MichaelB]

With regard to another point made above, no fewer than six of the Indicator releases I've worked on over the last few months were licensed prior to 2022 - Carnal Knowledge and the five Basil Dearden titles. Those kind of gaps really aren't as unusual as is being made out, especially if restoration is involved.

And few labels are more approachable than Deaf Crocodile, so badmouthing them on the basis of an assumption seems... impolite.

[willoneill]

I'm just assuming that any Mosfilm licenses were acquired before the invasion of Ukraine, or is that not necessarily the case? It would have to be, right, since Deaf Crocodile is small enough that the punishment for violating current sanctions would essentially end their business. The releases themselves are genuinely fine and I have no problem buying them (and I buy pretty much most of them), but I do draw the line at the Shakhnazarov titles. While I do wish Deaf Crocodile would avoid working with him, the people in charge of Disney, Paramount, etc. support people just as bad so one has to be realistic. Even Mubi and A24 has some questionable connections. The world is imperfect.

[MichaelB]

I think it's very safe to assume that no sanctions are being violated here.

In fact, have they released much from Mosfilm since 2024? Off the top of my head, I can think of the Aleksandr Ptushko and Karen Shakhnazarov titles (which were mostly, possibly entirely, 2022-24 releases), but nothing else immediately springs to mind—the animated films are from a different source. And it's not even the tiniest bit unusual for there to be a two or three-year gap between licensing and release.

[TechnicolorAcid]

I think it's very safe to assume that no sanctions are being violated here.

In fact, have they released much from Mosfilm since 2024? Off the top of my head, I can think of the Aleksandr Ptushko and Karen Shakhnazarov titles (which were mostly, possibly entirely, 2022-24 releases), but nothing else immediately springs to mind—the animated films are from a different source. And it's not even the tiniest bit unusual for there to be a two or three-year gap between licensing and release.

There is White Sun of the Desert coming in January and allegedly two more Shaknazarov films (possibly Courier and We’re from Jazz).
I will add that even though I don’t like Shaknazarov in regards to what he stands for and don’t align with him at all, I will admit to liking ZeroGrad tremendously (I spoke about it earlier in the thread) and I think it’s release is more an attempt to separate the art from the artist, as have all the subsequent releases I assume.

[MichaelB]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that.

[zedz]

I can't believe that Deaf Crocodile is still in 2026 releasing Mosfilm titles they licensed back in 2021, they must have picked up more titles in the last few years. Most people don't seem to care about it at all but I guess I'm a sucker who cares. This label has released and announced some films that I'm interested in but I don't want to support Deaf Crocodile or give them any money so I hope that those films (for example Dead Mountaineer's Hotel) will come out from UK labels at some point.

What a bizarre attitude. Why, if you refuse to support Deaf Crocodile for licensing films of which you disapprove (seemingly on the basis of knee-jerk presumption rather than actually asking them), do you then propose to support other labels if they license the same films?

Personally, I stopped watching French films after they bombed the Rainbow Warrior, American films after they bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japanese films after they invaded Manchuria. British films I haven't watched since the nineteenth century.

[spectre]

I'm just assuming that any Mosfilm licenses were acquired before the invasion of Ukraine, or is that not necessarily the case? It would have to be, right, since Deaf Crocodile is small enough that the punishment for violating current sanctions would essentially end their business. The releases themselves are genuinely fine and I have no problem buying them (and I buy pretty much most of them), but I do draw the line at the Shakhnazarov titles. While I do wish Deaf Crocodile would avoid working with him, the people in charge of Disney, Paramount, etc. support people just as bad so one has to be realistic. Even Mubi and A24 has some questionable connections. The world is imperfect.

While I think we have an obligation to draw ethical lines, they're far more effective when they're targeted as opposed to being absolutist. You raise Mubi as an example: I absolutely support boycotting their streaming platform and would encourage others to do so due to their voluntary financial involvement in genocide as there's simply no other way to make that unethical business decision a bad one for them to have made, and I'll just find other ways to watch the films on there that I want to watch. But that doesn't mean I would categorically oppose watching, say, Israeli films at the cinema – e.g. Nadav Lapid's Yes!, which is apparently one of the best films of the year. It's not that being a dissident means Lapid has kept his nose clean; it's that critical takes on Israeli society and culture from within are vital to engage with right now, and I hardly see what could be gained from acting as if the country's artists have ceased to exist.

Likewise, I think it's a bit fundamentalist to make 1980s Soviet-backed films a casualty of a successor regime's actions, and that's not out of any ignorance about what's going on in Ukraine or the roles that Russian cultural imperialism and Soviet nostalgia have played in it. There are some people who would have us take Tolstoy and Dostoevsky off the library bookshelf, as if political leaders like Putin (and Trump, and Netanyahu, etc.) are built up from art and literature rather than being the dead end of it. These are the architects of a world full of propaganda images, AI slop and shitty TV, not cinema that interrogates the human soul.

I'm not saying cultural boycotts can't be effective to some extent, and I understand everyone draws the line somewhere. I acknowledge that the boycott of South African sporting teams etc. may have played some role in the end of Apartheid (would want to see the receipts on how effective that actually was compared with other factors like the end of the Cold War, though). But if anyone here thinks that the problem with our world right now is that we have too much art from the wrong places being made available, then they've taken their eye off the ball. I would far rather focus on direct structural links to violence and oppression and organise around that than fall back on cancelling artists merely for the crime of being Russian (even if they also have questionable political views, as so many other important artists born in other countries do). I don't see why art should be collateral damage of the cause of opposing political movements that despise it.

[BoltzmannBrain]

What a bizarre attitude. Why, if you refuse to support Deaf Crocodile for licensing films of which you disapprove (seemingly on the basis of knee-jerk presumption rather than actually asking them), do you then propose to support other labels if they license the same films?

Dead Mountaineer's Hotel is an Estonian film and my understanding is that it has been licensed from the Estonians. If it's actually owned by Mosfilm, then I wouldn't be interested in purchasing it in the foreseeable future.

It's doubly absurd when they're about to release Yuri Norstein's work, because Norstein was publicly opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and his career has been regularly buffeted by financial problems that had nothing to do with him. So why victimise him again?

Never heard of him, and not sure that I'd jump on Deaf Crocodile's side if they release stuff by one Russian who is anti-Putin.

With regard to another point made above, no fewer than six of the Indicator releases I've worked on over the last few months were licensed prior to 2022 - Carnal Knowledge and the five Basil Dearden titles. Those kind of gaps really aren't as unusual as is being made out, especially if restoration is involved.

I'm thinking that Deaf Crocodile is such a small company that they wouldn't have been able to license a big bunch of titles which would last five years... in 2021, when they hadn't released a single Blu-ray yet. It would have been quite a risky investment, especially because they didn't know if those Russian films would sell at all. Seems more likely that they licensed a smaller batch first and then went back to the source after the Ptushko titles turned out to be a success. Of course Indicator, Criterion and others have sat on titles longer than five years, but they are bigger labels and I don't think they (or any label really) acquired a heavy load of financially risky titles before releasing their first movie, which is what DC has done, or so we are meant to think.

And Deaf Crocodile also released In the Moscow Slums, a (Mos)film from 2023 by Putin supporter Karen Shakhnazarov... are we supposed to believe that DC licensed that movie two years before it was completed?

And few labels are more approachable than Deaf Crocodile, so badmouthing them on the basis of an assumption seems... impolite.

I have approached them about this issue on the Blu-ray forums and I didn't like the evasive reply they gave, which is only more reason not to support them.

In fact, have they released much from Mosfilm since 2024?

There's a post from earlier this month that teases forthcoming 2026 releases which include Mosfilm titles; I made my post when I saw it.

[TechnicolorAcid]

I understand the moral dilemma of a situation like this and I think you have good points in there, especially about the ethics of supporting releases directed by people like Shaknazarov but I agree with Michael that maybe it’s best not to try and start things in a public forum and try to contact them via their contact page first. I’ve chatted with both Craig and Dennis & I can confirm firsthand that they both seem like communicative enough people who are willing to discuss things when you’re not badmouthing them publicly. Just a possible suggestion.

[MichaelB]

There are some people who would have us take Tolstoy and Dostoevsky off the library bookshelf, as if political leaders like Putin (and Trump, and Netanyahu, etc.) are built up from art and literature rather than being the dead end of it. These are the architects of a world full of propaganda images, AI slop and shitty TV, not cinema that interrogates the human soul.

You’ve just reminded me that at the exact same time I was working on the Yuri Norstein commentaries, I was recording one for a Dostoevsky adaptation! (Radiance’s upcoming Une Femme Douce.)

Although I think the other one that I was doing at the same time, Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Lightship, is still OK. I know Robert Duvall is famously Republican, but I don’t think he’s an out-and-proud Trump (and therefore Putin) supporter.

[Calvin]

I'm not saying cultural boycotts can't be effective to some extent, and I understand everyone draws the line somewhere. I acknowledge that the boycott of South African sporting teams etc. may have played some role in the end of Apartheid (would want to see the receipts on how effective that actually was compared with other factors like the end of the Cold War, though). But if anyone here thinks that the problem with our world right now is that we have too much art from the wrong places being made available, then they've taken their eye off the ball. I would far rather focus on direct structural links to violence and oppression and organise around that than fall back on cancelling artists merely for the crime of being Russian (even if they also have questionable political views, as so many other important artists born in other countries do). I don't see why art should be collateral damage of the cause of opposing political movements that despise it.

I don't think that's what anyone here is suggesting. I wouldn't support a boycott of Russian artists. However, Mosfilm has supported the Russian military to the extent of providing it funds and equipment, including tanks and vehicles. Its head, Karen Shakhnazarov, is quite close to Putin, is very visible as a talking head on Russian TV and, at the outset of the war threatened those opposed with 'concentration camps' and 'sterilisation'. Being in charge of Mosfilm, he'll obviously have a lot of influence on where its assets go.

Purchasing releases of their work in particular is a line that I'm not comfortable with crossing at this particular moment in time, but I don't have a problem with wider Russian cinema. Norstein, as has been mentioned, has made his opposition to the war known and, whether the cash goes to him or to Soyuzmultfilm, I don't think there's much risk of that finding its way to the front lines in Ukraine.

[eerik]

Incidentally, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel may be culturally Estonian, but it's also a Soviet production directed by a Russian (Grigori Kromanov)—which is why the exteriors were filmed in Kazakhstan (also then part of the USSR) and the music was created on an EMS Synthi 100 setup in Moscow—in fact, the same one on which Eduard Artemyev created the music for Stalker in sessions booked during the same week.

Kromanov might have been an ethnic Russian, but the was born and raised in Estonia. His family had been living in Estonia since the 17th century, when it was part of the Swedish Empire, fleeing from Orthodox church reforms in Russia.

[MichaelB]

Incidentally, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel may be culturally Estonian, but it's also a Soviet production directed by a Russian (Grigori Kromanov)—which is why the exteriors were filmed in Kazakhstan (also then part of the USSR) and the music was created on an EMS Synthi 100 setup in Moscow—in fact, the same one on which Eduard Artemyev created the music for Stalker in sessions booked during the same week.

Kromanov might have been an ethnic Russian, but the was born and raised in Estonia. His family had been living in Estonia since the 17th century, when it was part of the Swedish Empire, fleeing from Orthodox church reforms in Russia.

I am of course fully aware of this (given that I'm on commentary duties, it would be a bit embarrassing if I wasn't!)—but my point is that there are more than enough Russian elements in this film to make a claim for it to be a wholly Estonian work somewhat shaky. See also The Devil's Bride and Lithuania; a feature-length original musical wouldn't even have been possible without being propped up by the resources of the Soviet film industry.

[eerik]

Incidentally, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel may be culturally Estonian, but it's also a Soviet production directed by a Russian (Grigori Kromanov)—which is why the exteriors were filmed in Kazakhstan (also then part of the USSR) and the music was created on an EMS Synthi 100 setup in Moscow—in fact, the same one on which Eduard Artemyev created the music for Stalker in sessions booked during the same week.

Kromanov might have been an ethnic Russian, but the was born and raised in Estonia. His family had been living in Estonia since the 17th century, when it was part of the Swedish Empire, fleeing from Orthodox church reforms in Russia.

I am of course fully aware of this (given that I'm on commentary duties, it would be a bit embarrassing if I wasn't!)—but my point is that there are more than enough Russian elements in this film to make a claim for it to be a wholly Estonian work somewhat shaky. See also The Devil's Bride and Lithuania; a feature-length original musical wouldn't even have been possible without being propped up by the resources of the Soviet film industry.

I can completely agree that it is the most non-Estonian Estonian film of that era, but I think that is almost completely down to the source material and not at all to the identity and personality of the director. Especially considering that Kromanov had previously directed Viimne reliikvia (The Last Relic), which is still one of the most beloved Estonian films of all time (challenged only by Kevade/Spring, also produced in the same year of 1969) despite most of the pricipal cast members being non-Estonians.

[49CHOMPS]

Tuevo Tulio set has been delayed to late December.

I'm hoping the 2551 set is still on track for November.

Deaf Crocodiles socials have been very quiet this past week.

[MichaelB]

2551 is shipping right now, I gather.

[TMDaines]

Did they ever say whether they have more of the Alraune limited edition after shipping out all the pre-orders?

[swo17]

They don't, and even the standard edition is now "low stock"

[JSC]

Their latest newsletter mentions a release for next year of "a huge pop star's Sci-Fi debut, newly restored in collaboration with the B.F.I."
The Man Who Fell to Earth and Privilege are the only ones that spring immediately to mind.

[MichaelB]

Well, it definitely won't be the former: StudioCanal restored and released it themselves.