Yugoslavian films on DVD/BD

[djvaso]

Das Lied der Schwarzen Berge (Fantom Durmitora) (1933), the very first survived feature film shot on locations in Montenegro will be released on DVD. The project is a joint effort of Montenegrin Cinematheque and Cultural and Informative Center of Zagreb - Croatia with the participation of Bundesarchiv and Montenegrin Film center. I hope that the release will be commercially available and on pressed disc unlike Non v'è resurrezione senza morte (Voskrsenja ne biva bez smrti) (1922) release which is not.

They will publish a book of the same name and the DVD soon.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Thanks for the recommendations of vendors of Yugoslavian films. Is there generally good availability of films from the Black Wave period? Makavejev (I'd love to find a copy of Manifesto), Petrovic, Pavlovic, Zafranovic etc

[djvaso]

After long hiatus, Slovenian Film center has released no less than three Blu-rays in Si-Fi Klasika edition:

[Calvin]

Has anyone got any thoughts on Farewell Until the Next War? I thought that Pavlovic's Zaseda was a highlight of Il Cinema Ritrovato last Summer so I'm very interested in seeing more of his films. Does this release have English subtitles?

[vertovfan]

I received the Slovenian blu-rays today and re-watched "Farewell until the Next War" (I'd seen it quite a few years ago on DVD, but didn't remember much about it). Like many of Pavlović's other films, it's dark and pessimistic but also quite good. Per the back cover:

"[...] by far the most ambitious, honest, bitter, and controversial Partisan film produced in the country that was about the collapse in flames and genocide only a decade later. Based on an equally uncompromising novel by Vitomil Zupan, the enfant terrible of Yugoslav literature, Farewell until the Next War continues the comprehensive deconstruction and demythologization of the official narrative of Partisan heroism, initiated by Pavlović three years earlier with Manhunt." Jurij Meden, in: Retrospective o partigiano! Pan-European Partisan Film, Austrian Film Museum & Viennale, 2019.

And from the inner liner notes:

With its critical and direct message about the senselessness of war, Farewell until the Next War - a film of lavish production, long takes, close-ups, and details that possess symbolic value - focuses on a chance encounter between a former Partisan and a German soldier, which triggers a series of flashbacks to the time of not only the struggle against the occupiers but also the fratricidal war. The more liberal critics labelled this anti-war drama as the end of Partisan film, while the official reviews were extremely harsh. Today, the work ranks among the most remarkable achievements of Slovenian cinema.

There are English, Croatian and Slovenian subtitles for the feature, but none for the extras (a short film about the restoration, and a documentary film about author Vitomil Zupan). The cover and interior notes are written in both Slovenian and English.

Sreča na vrvici (Hang on Doggy!) has English and Croatian subtitles, while Po isti poti se ne vračaj (Don't Come Back by the Same Way) has English, Croatian, Italian, German, Hungarian, French and Portuguese subtitles.

[djvaso]

Thanks to Vertovfan, I found out about the latest Blu-ray disc of the Cinematheque of North Macedonia "Five Macedonian Enthographic Films" and after a somewhat complicated procedure I bought it.

[djvaso]

Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (Sjećaš li se Dolly Bell) in Japan
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0D9813897/

[djvaso]

I forgot to mention that several years ago, mobile operator A1 (formerly VIP) and the Yugoslav Film Archive released a non-commercial DVD box set containing 20 restored films as part of the "A1 Kinoteka" project. It's a shame they weren't released on Blu-ray discs.

[djvaso]

The Cinematheque of North Macedonia has released the film 'Mis Ston' (Miss Stone) (1958), directed by Živorad 'Žika' Mitrović, on Blu-ray. Potential buyers will have to wait a bit longer to make their purchase due to a slightly unusual procedure that requires a purchase contract to be finalized first. Because of local elections (?!) in the country, the Government has suspended the issuing of any contracts by state-related organizations until the electoral process is completed.

[djvaso]

Otac na službenom putu (When Father Was Away on Business) will be released in Blu-ray by Malavida Films in France on December 15th:
https://www.fnac.com/a22423583/Papa-est ... li-Blu-ray

[djvaso]

The very first Blu-ray from the recently established Croatian label FILMOKAZ:

FILMOKAZ presents classics of ex-yu cinematography!
First release: SKUPLJAČI PERJA (I Even Met Happy Gypsies) by Saša Petrović!
In addition to the film itself, the following special features have been confirmed so far:
Two short documentary films by Saša Petrović (both remastered):
- PUTEVI (Roads) (1958; 18 min)
- SABORI (Assemblies) (1965; 11 min)
- ZABRANJENI BEZ ZABRANE (Forbidden Without a Ban) (Milan Nikodijević and Dinko Tucaković; 2007; 57 min) – a documentary about the most prolific and most celebrated era of former Yugoslav cinema, the so-called Black Wave
A booklet including the following texts:
- IVANA RALOVIĆ: On Collecting What Can Never Be Collected – On the Roma in the Works of Aleksandar Saša Petrović
- Between Freedom and Morality – A Conversation with Aleksandar Petrović from '68

[Calvin]

The very first Blu-ray from the recently established Croatian label FILMOKAZ:

FILMOKAZ presents classics of ex-yu cinematography!
First release: (I Even Met Happy Gypsies) by Saša Petrović!
In addition to the film itself, the following special features have been confirmed so far:
Two short documentary films by Saša Petrović (both remastered):
- PUTEVI (Roads) (1958; 18 min)
- SABORI (Assemblies) (1965; 11 min)
- ZABRANJENI BEZ ZABRANE (Forbidden Without a Ban) (Milan Nikodijević and Dinko Tucaković; 2007; 57 min) – a documentary about the most prolific and most celebrated era of former Yugoslav cinema, the so-called Black Wave
A booklet including the following texts:
- IVANA RALOVIĆ: On Collecting What Can Never Be Collected – On the Roma in the Works of Aleksandar Saša Petrović
- Between Freedom and Morality – A Conversation with Aleksandar Petrović from '68

Is there a purchase link yet?

[djvaso]

Is there a purchase link yet?

From the owner of the label:

Once I know the exact release date, I'll also post the purchase link. I believe by the end of next month. Yes, the subtitles will be more complete. With two options (Roma-only and for all dialogue).

[vertovfan]

Wonderful news, both for the more complete subtitles, and the bonus films!

[Matt]

Is there any kind of website link for the company? I'd love to get this disc, but I'm afraid I'll forget about it if I don't have some sort of bookmark for it.

[djvaso]

Is there any kind of website link for the company? I'd love to get this disc, but I'm afraid I'll forget about it if I don't have some sort of bookmark for it.

Not at the moment. I will continue to report news here.

[Peacock]

Is there a purchase link yet?

From the owner of the label:

Once I know the exact release date, I'll also post the purchase link. I believe by the end of next month. Yes, the subtitles will be more complete. With two options (Roma-only and for all dialogue).

Apologies if I’ve missed something here. So the press release (?) shared is in English. Are these two sets of subtitles English or Croatian? (Seems odd to offer two different sets of English subtitles in a Croatian label.) You’d more likely expect Croatian subs for the entire movie or just Croatian subs for the Roma dialogue..,

This release sounds great, it would be sad if it’s not English friendly.

[djvaso]

Apologies if I’ve missed something here. So the press release (?) shared is in English. Are these two sets of subtitles English or Croatian? (Seems odd to offer two different sets of English subtitles in a Croatian label.) You’d more likely expect Croatian subs for the entire movie or just Croatian subs for the Roma dialogue..,

This release sounds great, it would be sad if it’s not English friendly.

This is the translation of the original Facebook post:

A Croatian Blu-ray label is being launched! The first release will be the worldwide Blu-ray premiere of a classic of ex-Yu cinema. Limited to 1000 copies. So, there aren't even enough for all the group members, so hurry up and buy! Especially since the release will also include English subtitles. A concrete announcement will come within a month. As for the packaging and extras, you can expect something in the style of Criterion / Radiance / Indicator.

[Peacock]

Thank you for clarifying, fantastic stuff!

[djvaso]

From Mondo Macabro newletter:

2026 AND BEYOND

So that's it for now. But know that this is just the start of a stellar year for Mondo Macabro. We have more amazing films coming, every single one of them being new to US releases.

Yes, you read that correctly. As of right now, our entire remaining slate consists of nothing but films that have never been released in the US before. Not just new-to-disc or new-to-HD, never before released at all in the United States of America.

Maybe there is hope for our country after all.

We plan on getting the next batch out by the middle to end of the summer, and the final batch for the Halloween Sale (which we are going to try and get out before the end of the year, and not wait until 2027).

What's in that next batch? You won't know until we are ready to put them on sale but I can give you some hints here, if only geographic/temporal ones: We'll have one 70s Spanish film and one 80s French one. So far, par for the course for MM. But then it gets weird: We have an incredible double bill of films from the former Yugoslavia and then going even further afield for the final title, a truly insane film from a post-Soviet era Uzbekistan. That's right, our first Central Asian film! Mondo Macabo knows what the kids are clamoring for, and it's 90s Uzbek artsploitation cinema.

[Aunt Peg]

I would love to see a release of Okupacija u 26 slika (Occupation in 26 Pictures) (1978) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079659/re ... 20pictures from the former Yugoslavia. I don't know if it has ever been seen in the U.S. but it is hard to imagine it was screened at festivals at the time.