EIGHT FILMS BY JEAN ROUCH

"Rouch has remained a cinephile secret for decades... Much of his work has been unavailable in the U.S. — until now." —IndieWire Icarus Films presents Eight Films By Jean Rouch “Rouch's films can be considered a race toward presence, spurred on by the dream of capturing life as it happens."  —Sam Dilorio, Film Comment "One of the most secretly influential of all filmmakers." —Richard Brody, The New Yorker October 2, 2017: Icarus Films is excited to announce that Eight Films By Jean Rouchwill be released on home video DVD, with select titles also available on video-on-demand, on November 14, 2017. The new Jean Rouch box set from Icarus Films will include eight newly restored films on four discs, a 24-page booklet with two essays about Rouch and his methodology, and a new documentary about Rouch, his films, and his influence on African cinema, titled Jean Rouch, The Adventurous Filmmaker.  Jean Rouch was an inspiration for the French New Wave, and a revolutionary force in ethnography and the study of Africa. Beginning in 1955 with his most controversial film The Mad Masters through 1969’s darkly comic Little By Little, these films represent the most sustained flourishing of Rouch’s practice of “shared anthropology"—a process of collaboration with his subjects. Astonishing on their own terms, now restored in high-definition and released for the first time, Eight Films By Jean Rouch is essential for anyone interested in better understanding the development of ethnography and the cross-currents of colonialism and post-colonial social change in Africa, as well as documentary film practice, film history, and world cinema as a whole. The eight films are: Disc 1 The Mad Masters / Les Maîtres fous (1955 / 29 minutes / 1.33:1) A possession ritual of the Hauka religious sect using the delirious techniques of "cine-trance" also doubles as a theatrical protest against Ghana’s colonial rulers. The most controversial and also the most widely celebrated work by Jean Rouch.  “One of the most profound explorations of the African view of the colonial world.” –Senses of Cinema (Read more) Mammy Water (1956 / 19 minutes / 1.33:1) An exploration of the spiritual traditions of a fishing village on the Gulf of Guinea. When the catch is bad, villagers must honor the water spirits, or Mammy Water, with a ceremony. Moi, Un Noir (1958 / 74 minutes / 1.33:1) A complex portrait of Nigerian migrants in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast. Winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc in 1958, Moir, Un Noir marked Jean Rouch's break with traditional ethnography and his embrace of the collaborative and improvisatory strategies he called, "shared ethnography" and "ethnofiction." “The most daring of films and the humblest.” –Jean-Luc Godard “Moi, Un Noir was as much psychodrama as ethnographic film, even while raising the question of moi's identity.” –J. Hoberman, Artforum Disc 2 The Human Pyramid (1961 / 93 minutes / 1.33:1) At a Lycée on the Ivory coast, Rouch meets with white colonial French high-school students and their black African classmates (all non-actors) and persuades them to improvise a drama.   “Groundbreaking metafiction.” –The New Yorker (Read more) The Lion Hunters (1965 / 81 minutes / 1.33:1) Documentation of the lion hunt performed by the gow hunters of the Songhay people, shot on the border between Niger and Mali over a period of seven years. “A must-see.” –Chicago Reader (Read more) Disc 3 Jaguar (1967 / 93 minutes / 1.33:1)  Three young Songhay men from Niger journey to the Gold Coast (modern day Ghana). After filming the trip in mid-1950s, the four reunited a few years later to record the sound, remembering dialogue and making up commentary.  Also available on iTunes and Amazon Video. “Exuberant in its spontaneous good humor.” –Ethnographic Film Little By Little (1969 / 96 minutes / 1.33:1) Jean Rouch’s Nigerian collaborators travel to France to perform a reverse ethnography of late-1960’s Parisian life. “A truly mesmerizing, frequently hilarious, and provocative masterpiece.” –Indiewire "Attacks the logic of mainstream cinema, subverting expectations about what film is and can be.” –Sam Dilorio, Film Comment Disc 4 - Bonus Disc: Two Films! The Punishment (1962 / 64 minutes / 1.33:1) A film by Jean Rouch  An aimless young woman is sent home from school with nothing to do. Drifting through the streets of Paris, she comes across a variety of people.  Jean Rouch, The Adventurous Filmmaker (2017 / 55 minutes / 1.78:1) A film by Laurent Védrine  A new documentary about Jean Rouch, his films, and his influence on African cinema. Bonus features include: a 24-page booklet with two essays on Rouch and his methodology, HD digital restorations, and two bonus films— The Punishment by Jean Rouch and Jean Rouch, The Adventureous Filmmaker by Laurent Védrine. Watch the trailer of EIGHT FILMS BY JEAN ROUCH

EIGHT FILMS BY JEAN ROUCH Digitized and restored with the support of the Centre National du Cinéma Pre-Book Date: 10/10/17  | Street Date: 11/14/17 In French & English w/English subtitles SRP: $44.98 | UPC: 8-54565-00216-6 An Icarus Films Release

100 YEARS OF OLYMPIC FILMS — CRITERION

presents

 

100 YEARS OF

OLYMPIC FILMS

 

Deluxe Blu-ray and DVD collector's sets include 53 films

and a 216-page illustrated book, to be released December 5, 2017

 

Features landmark work by Kon Ichikawa, Bud Greenspan, Milos Forman,

Leni Reifenstahl, Claude Lelouch, Masahiro Shinoda and many more!

 

 

We are pleased to announce Criterion's upcoming release of 100 YEARS OF OLYMPIC FILMS. Spanning fifty-three movies and forty-one editions of the Olympic Summer and Winter Games, this one-of-a-kind collection assembles, for the first time, a century's worth of Olympic films - the culmination of a monumental, award-winning archival project encompassing dozens of new restorations by the International Olympic Committee.

 

These documentaries cast a cinematic eye on some of the most iconic moments in the history of modern sports, spotlighting athletes who embody the Olympic motto of "Faster, Higher, Stronger": Jesse Owens shattering sprinting world records on the track in 1936 Berlin, Jean Claude-Killy dominating the slopes of Grenoble in 1968, Joan Benoit breaking away to win the first-ever women's marathon on the streets of Los Angeles in 1984.

 

In addition to the work of Bud Greenspan, the man behind an impressive ten Olympic features, this stirring collective chronicle of triumph and defeat includes such landmarks of the documentary form as Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia and Kon Ichikawa's Tokyo Olympiad, along with lesser- known but captivating contributions by major directors like Claude Lelouch, Carlos Saura, and Milos Forman. It also serves as a fascinating window onto the formal development of cinema itself, as well as the technological progress that has enabled the viewer, over the years, to get ever closer to the action. Traversing continents and decades, and reflecting as well the social, cultural, and political changes that have shaped our recent history, this remarkable marathon of films offers nothing less than a panorama of a hundred years of human endeavor.

 

BLU-RAY AND DVD SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR'S SETS FEATURE

* 53 newly restored films from 41 editions of the Olympic Games, presented together for the first time 

* Landmark 4K restorations of Olympia, Tokyo Olympiad, and Visions of Eight, among other titles

* New scores for the silent films, composed by Maud Nelissen, Donald Sosin, and Frido ter Beek

* A lavishly illustrated, 216-page, hardcover book, featuring notes on the films by cinema historian Peter Cowie; a foreword by Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee; a short history of the restoration project by restoration producer Adrian Wood; and hundreds of photographs from a century of Olympic Games

 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM A CENTURY OF OLYMPIC FILMS

 

Stockholm 1912

The Games of the V Olympiad Stockholm, 1912 (dir. Adrian Wood)

 

Berlin 1936

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (dir. Leni Riefenstahl)

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty (dir. Leni Riefenstahl)

 

Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956

White Vertigo (dir. Giorgio Ferroni)

 

Tokyo 1964

Tokyo Olympiad (dir. Kon Ichikawa)

Grenoble 1968

13 Days in France (dirs. Claude Lelouch, François Reichenbach)

 

Sapporo 1972

Sapporo Winter Olympics (dir. Masahiro Shinoda)

 

Munich 1972

Visions of Eight (dirs. Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Yuri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, Mai Zetterling)

 

Barcelona 1992

Marathon (dir. Carlos Saura)

 

Beijing 2008

The Everlasting Flame (dir. Gu Jun)

Click here for a complete list of the films

and more information about the release!

 

32-BLU-RAY EDITION

SRP $399.95 PREBOOK 11/7/17 STREET 12/5/17
CAT. NO. CC2811BD ISBN 978-1-68143-361-5 UPC 7-15515-20451-4

 

43-DVD EDITION

SRP $399.95
PREBOOK 11/7/17 STREET 12/5/17
CAT. NO. CC2812DDVD ISBN 978-1-68143-362-2 UPC 7-15515-20461-3 

Kino Lorber Studio Classics — June 2017 Home Video Releases

Kino Lorber Studio Classics  Announces its June 2017 Home Video Releases

Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Blake Edwards' Curse of the Pink Panther and Son of the Pink Panther, Inspector Clouseau Starring Alan Arkin, Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia, Brannigan Starring John Wayne, The Hound of the Baskervilles Starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, Hal Ashby's 8 Million Ways to Die, The Complete Series of Larry Cohen's 1967 TV Espionage Thriller Coronet Blue And More Coming to Home Video from Kino Lorber Studio Classics in June 2017

New York, NY — May 8, 2017 -- Kino Lorber Studio Classics proudly announces its home video releases for June 2017.   Streeting on Blu-ray and DVD June 6th is Ridley Scott's 1492 Conquest of Paradise (1992), which tells the epic story of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World, starring Gerard Depardieu and Sigourney Weaver. This edition features audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, and includes deleted scenes.   Streeting on DVD June 13th are Brannigan (1975), starring John Wayne as a Chicago policeman sent to London to bring back a crime boss; Sam Peckinpah's action-packed Western classic Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), featuring audio commentary by film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Wedlle and Nick Redman; the action thriller Runaway Train (1985) starring Jon Voight and Eric Roberts; the Charles Bronson Western From Noon Till Three (1976); and the Hammer classic The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (which also includes a special featurette with Christopher Lee).   Hal Ashby's 8 Million Ways to Die (1986) starring Jeff Bridges and Rosanna Arquette streets on Blu-ray and DVD June 20th, with special features including an interview with star Andy Garcia, an interview with star Rosanna Arquette, an interview with star Alexandra Paul, an interview with writer Lawrence Block, and audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.    The complete series of Larry Cohen's TV espionage thriller Coronet Blue (1967) street on DVD June 20th. This series, which starred Frank Converse and Joe Silver, and featured guest stars such as Candice Bergen, David Carradine, Roy Scheider, Jon Voight, and Billy Dee Williams, comes in a four-disc set featuring an interview with show creator Larry Cohen.   Also streeting June 20th is a 2-disc double feature set of the 1960s animated adventure classics Thunderbirds Are Go! (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968) on Blu-ray and DVD. Special features on Thunderbirds Are Go! include audio commentary with producer Sylvia Andersion and director David Lane, audio commentary by film historians Jeff Bond and Nick Redman, "History and Appeal" Featurette, "Factory of Dolls and Rockets" Featurette, "Epics in Miniature" Featurette, and the theatrical trailer. Special features on Thunderbird 6 include audio commentary with producer Sylvia Andersion and director David Lane, audio commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford and cartoon writer William Hohauser, "Lady Penelope" Featurette, "Building Better Puppets" Featurette, "Tiger Moth" Featurette, and the theatrical trailer.   On June 27th, Blake Edwards' Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), starring Ted Wass, David Niven and Robert Wagner, including an interview with Ted Wass as a bonus feature; and Son of the Pink Panther (1993), starring Roberto Benigni, with special features including audio commentary by Jason Simos of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society, two deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and the extended alternate trailer, will both become available on Blu-ray, along with Inspector Clouseau (1968), directed by Bud Yorkin and starring Alan Arkin in the title role, with audio commentary by film historian William Patrick Maynard as a bonus feature.   Also streeting on Blu-ray and DVD June 27th are the sci-fi musical The Apple (1980), with special features including audio commentary by star Catherine Mary Stewart, moderated by film historian Nathaniel Thompson, an on-camera interview with star Catherine Mary Stewart, deleted scene still gallery, and the original theatrical trailer; and John Boorman's adventure classic Hell in the Pacific (1968), starring Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, with special features including an interview with director John Boorman, an alternate ending, audio commentary by film historians Travis Crawford and Bill Ackerman, and an interview with art director Anthony Pratt.