BFI (British Film Institute)

[chatterjees]

Hi, I am new to this forum, so please excuse my query, if it is being redundant. Was there ever any indication that BFI would upgrade Tony Richardson's A Taste of Honey [1961]?
I have one more question. I love another film by Richardson, Look Back in Anger (1959), which is an MGM title. As BFI previously released some of the great MGM titles, is there any hope that they could also be able to release a blu-ray of this title in future? Thanks.

[RossyG]

I think Studio Canal now own A Taste of Honey and Look Back in Anger. They're about to release Billy Liar on Blu-ray, so they might upgrade them one day. I wouldn't be too surprised, especially with Honey.

[chatterjees]

I think Studio Canal now own A Taste of Honey and Look Back in Anger. They're about to release Billy Liar on Blu-ray, so they might upgrade them one day. I wouldn't be too surprised, especially with Honey.

Thanks for the information. I didn't know Studio canal got the rights now. I was under the impression that only Mademoiselle [1966] could be a possibility from them (it is being released on DVD by Optimum in UK).

[GaryC]

Optimum (as was) released A Taste of Honey and Look Back in Anger on DVD in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Both discs could certainly do with an upgrade - they're both non-anamorphic 1.66:1 with no extras.

[antnield]

This summer the BFI releases the stunning new restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s classic Journey to Italy (1954), out on Blu-ray for the first time as part of a Dual Format Edition. Voted in the Top 50 in Sight & Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time critics’ poll last year, Journey to Italy can be seen in UK cinemas throughout May and will be released alongside a Dual Format Edition of Rossellini’s Stromboli (1950) by the BFI in August.

Other forthcoming releases include the first in a series of daring and controversial films made by French author Alain Robbe-Grillet. Best known in the film world as the writer of Last Year in Marienbad (1961), Robbe-Grillet also directed many features including Trans-Europ Express (1967) and Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974) – both of which will be available in Dual Format Editions in September.

Also released this summer are:

- A London Trilogy: the films of Saint Etienne – three films about the capital by director Paul Kelly, made in collaboration with one of Britain’s best-loved bands.
- Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s groundbreaking 1977 experimental film Riddles of the Sphinx made available for the first time
- The Complete Humphrey Jennings Volume Three: A Diary for Timothy – after 2012’s award-winning Volume 2, this third and final volume sees all of Jennings’ films finally available on Blu-ray/DVD.
- Classic vintage kids adventure Emil and the Detectives – includes both the celebrated 1931 Billy Wilder-scripted German version and a rare 1935 British version, on one DVD.
- The Adventures of Prince Achmed – Lotte Reiniger’s beautiful animation on Blu-ray/DVD with a wealth of previously unreleased films as extras
- John Cassavetes’ classic The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), starring the late Ben Gazzara, in a three-disc limited edition presentation, featuring two different cuts of the feature.

[MichaelB]

I've updated the BFI release calendar to the end of September.

[rohmerin]

I would very happy if they upgrade Fellini's Bidone with a new DVD / BD or whatever.

[mpreed]

Apologies if this has been mentioned before - http://petshopboys.co.uk/pettexts/3953/201305

"It couldn't happen here

The Quietus have just published online an interesting piece about our 1988 film, "It couldn't happen here", directed by Jack Bond. Go to the link below to read it. Meanwhile discussions are taking place between EMI, Jack Bond and the BFI about a DVD release next summer. Neil "

http://thequietus.com/articles/12332-it ... -revisited

[Calvin]

The BFI's upcoming Gothic season promises DVD releases.

[zedz]

I'm guessing Sleepwalkers is the first title (and I'm sure The Innocents will feature strongly in publicity). Let the speculation commence about the others!

[antnield]

Classic Ghost Stories too.

[antnield]

Win 50 BFI DVDs. (UK residents only.)

[MichaelB]

The BFI's Gothic Trailer has just gone live.

[antnield]

From the Gothic press release:

Eight new BFI DVD releases with DVD and Blu-ray premieres including the much-wanted BBC TV adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Schalcken the Painter. For younger viewers there will be Bumps in the Night; three scary stories from The Children’s Film Foundation film library.

The screaming starts with M R James’ Classic Ghost Stories (1986), narrated by Robert Powell, which include The Mezzotint and O, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad. Children’s Film Foundation films will bring a creepier note to Hallowe’en with a DVD volume featuring James Hill’s The Man from Nowhere (1975) and John Krish’s Out of the Darkness (1985). Two long-unseen archive TV titles, guaranteed to scare and delight in equal measure are the 1970 Play for Today entry Robin Redbreast and the surviving, terrifying episodes of 1972’s Dead of Night. 18 November sees Rupert Julian’s newly restored silent classic Phantom of the Opera (1925) and the BFI National Archive digital re-mastering of Thorold Dickinson’s Gaslight (1940) come out in Dual Format and the much sought-after 1979 TV adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Schalcken the Painter and the star-studded vintage ghost story series Supernatural (1977), featuring Billie Whitelaw, Denholm Elliott, Jeremy Brett, Ian Hendry and Robert Hardy, return to haunt the screens of anyone daring enough to watch them.

[reaky]

Schalken the Painter has been on a lot of people's wishlists (mine included) for an awfully long time. I'm delighted about Supernatural too.

[Stefan Andersson]

Ditto!

All those films interest me.

Cross-Roads starring Christopher Lee sounds interesting too. Maybe the BFI would like to release a Lee box set, perhaps including Alias John Preston, some of his Danziger Bros. mini-features, appearances on Douglas Fairbanks Presents and, one of my favourites, the TV movie The Disputation. The Disputation features one of Lee´s best performances, alongside Bernard Hepton and Toyah Willcox as Lee´s wife. It´s a Channel Four production I think.

The Tell-Tale Heart, a short film narrated by James Mason, should have been included in the line-up.

[Finch]

Tell-Tale Heart is owned by Columbia/Sony and was released as part of their UPA Jolly Frolics set.

[Stefan Andersson]

Thank you very much Finch!

[MichaelB]

The BFI has just won the Best Publishing Strategy by a DVD Label prize at this year's Il Cinema Ritrovato awards:

Awarded to BFI Video, for publishing an incredibly wide range of materials that enriches our film heritage, including documentary shorts, sponsored films, experimental works, and amateur films, exemplified by This Working Life: Steel -– A Century of Steelmaking on Film (1901-1987), Roll Out the Barrel: The British Pub on Film (1944-1982), and The Lacey Rituals: Films by Bruce Lacey (1951-1967). We also want to mention the BFI Flipside series, which introduces us to a little-known “parallel history” of British cinema including such releases as Andy Milligan’s Nightbirds (1970).

[zedz]

Congratulations BFI! (This reminds me that I haven't grabbed their Steel set yet. . .)

[MichaelB]

BFI faces 10% cut for 2015-16.

[hearthesilence]

That's terrible. I'm not up to speed on the British economy or their political news, but what are presumably the main reasons for this?

[Bürgermeister]

Great isn't it? everybody else are taking cuts to "help the economy" and the MP's are wanting a 10% increase of the their salaryThey should have it cut, and no expenses.

[knives]

Booger, I suppose us regular folk will just have to continue supporting them the way we have been and hope for the best.

[RossyG]

I'm not up to speed on the British economy or their political news, but what are presumably the main reasons for this?

The economy's in a bad shape. It was destroyed by the bankers but history has been rewritten by the right so that the blame is now solely on the welfare state. A conservative, neo-liberal government has used this as an excuse to push forward their agenda and slash public services, all the time telling the public that it's for their own good.

These types hate the media - which they accuse of being left-wing - and think that film is something Hollywood makes. If the BFI vanished overnight they'd never notice the effect. They'd cut funding by 100% if they thought there'd be no backlash.