Second Run DVD

[criterionmaster]

Does anyone buy any of these? I just came across their MySpace and they look to be a great company, but I want to hear more about them.

























www.myspace.com/secondrundvd

[criterionmaster]

Forthcoming Second Run DVD releases:

November 6th:

KNIGHTS OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER (KRZYZACY)
A FILM BY ALEKSANDER FORD (POLAND / 1960)
SECONDRUNDVD 019

“ An epic film and one of the best of its genre” - Kinema

Knights of the Teutonic Order is considered as one of the greatest Polish films of all time, this epic is a spectacular historical romance and war film set in the Middle Ages. Based on the best-selling book by Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz (author of Quo Vadis), the epic scope of Knights of the Teutonic Order compares with the best of the Hollywood epics.

Main Feature: 166 minutes/ Polish with English subtitles/ Mono/ Colour/ PAL/ Region 0/ Aspect ratio: 1.77:1 / anamorphic 16:9

November 13th:

AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES
(NEKAM ACHAT MISHTEY EYNAY)
A FILM BY AVI MOGRABI (ISRAEL/FRANCE 2005)
SECONDRUN DVD022

Shot in the Occupied Territories by renowned Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi, this controversial documentary draws a parallel between the Israeli - Palestinian situation today and the myths of Samson and Masada. Mograbi makes provocative comparisons between Israeli’s deep-rooted identification with these stories and contemporary Palestinian suicide bombers. He offers a powerful, at times chilling, lament to the continuing cycles of violence, rooted in the past but threatening to completely engulf everyone's future. A believer in the power of dialogue, Mograbi is passionate in his desire to see an end to the bloodshed.

With the roots of so much real-world conflict left unexamined by today’s restless media, this film reminds us just how vital filmmakers like Avi Mograbi are. Documentary today is rarely immersed in questions of this magnitude - or tackles them with the level of eloquence shown here by Mograbi. Avenge but One of My Two Eyes is an exceptional and challenging film, a rare event in contemporary cinema.

DVD extras include a newly filmed interview with Avi Mograbi.

Main Feature: 100 minutes/ Hebrew, English & Arabic with English and Arabic subtitles/ Stereo/ Colour/ PAL/ Region 0/ Aspect ratio: 1.77:1 / anamorphic 16:9

A couple of clips on You Tube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvpruBhMGpg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuNYhyXAWlo

November 27th:

A LONG WEEKEND IN PEST AND BUDA
(EGY HET PESTEN ES BUDAN)
A FILM BY KAROLY MAKK (HUNGARY 2003)
SECONDRUN DVD021
A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda reunites Karoly Makk with Mari Torocsik and Ivan Darvas, who starred in his classic film Love over 30 years ago. With them, Makk recreates that finely tuned sense of place, history and intimate human stories that characterise his best films, showing a director still working at the height of his talent. Emotionally mature and profoundly moving, the film reveals that, despite our best efforts, we can never quite escape the past.

Main feature: 86 minutes/ DVD Extras: 33 minutes/ Hungarian with English subtitles/ Stereo/ Colour/ PAL/ Region 0/ Anamorphic 16:9/ 1.77:1

[mixed]

I have interrogation. Great flick, solid direction, nice story, just a plain good movie

[criterionmaster]

The first batch of Second Run titles for 2007:

JANUARY:

THE PARTY AND THE GUESTS (O slavnosti a hostech)
A film by Jan Nemec
Czechoslovakia / 1966
Second Run DVD 020
" an acute piece of historical foresight, and a marvellous idea" Time Out
Distinguished by being 'banned forever' in its native Czechoslovakia, Nemec's film is perhaps the most politically dangerous film made during the flowering of Czech cinema in the 1960's. Not only a biting satire on totalitarianism and an unflinching satire on conformity, its astute observations of human nature make it a universally relevant film.

Voted as one of the best films of the 1960's by the New York Times critics, this will be the first ever release of this film on DVD.
ROMEO, JULIET AND DARKNESS (Romeo, Julia a tma)
A film by Jiri Weiss
Czechoslovakia / 1960
Second Run DVD 028
" In this restrained and tragic love story, Weiss admirably captures the daily stress and consequences of living in fear." - The Guardian
Jiri Weiss was one of the generation that paved the way for the Czech New Wave of the 1960's. Romeo, Juliet and Darkness is a tragic love story about a student who hides a Jewish girl in his apartment attic in WWII Prague. Wonderfully shot in a beautiful black and white photography the film examines the consequences of a young man's act of compassion in the face of the Nazi occupation.

This will be the first time this film has been made available on DVD.

FEBRUARY:

MY WAY HOME (Igy jottem)
A film by Miklos Jancso
Hungary / 1965
Second Run DVD 024
In the final days of WWII, a seventeen year old boy is captured and imprisoned at a remote barracks, where he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Russian soldier. His attempts to return home form the crux of this wonderfully lyrical film, which displays all of Jancso's consistent themes: the psychological presence of landscape, the randomness of violence and the arbitrary nature of power.

The disc will be the second in our series of Jancso films. Our release of The Round Up is pencilled in for later in 2007.

MARCH:

PALMS (Ladoni)
A film by Artur Aristakisyan
Russia / 1993
Second Run DVD 026
" A wholly remarkable experience" - The Guardian
A hundred years after the invention of the cinema, an original film is a rare discovery. The sense of wonder, the magic of cinema, is sadly very rare. The closest we have got to it recently is to see Palms. Poetic, spiritual and hallucinatory, Palms is remarkable at every level.
Aristakisyan grew up in Kishinev, the capital of Moldova. For a number of years he lived amongst the tramps and beggars of the city: drug addicts, the emotionally disturbed, and the physically handicapped. Palms, his graduation film, is the result of those four years.
The winner of many international awards, this will be the first ever DVD release of this unique film. All my writing about it is just waffle - you really should see this film. It is a profoundly challenging piece of work.

DIARY OF MY CHILDREN (Naplo gyermekeimnek)
A film by Marta Meszaros
Hungary / 1984
Second Run DVD 025
One of the world's most accomplished female directors, Meszaros' film connects the personal with the political, portraying the impact of individuals upon history and of historical forces upon individuals lives.
For a director who has amassed such a large body of work(over 60 films we believe) Meszaros is poorly represented on DVD. This will be the first in her renowned trilogy of 'Diary' films which Second Run will be releasing in 2007/2008.

Then, later in Spring 2007, the following titles are scheduled:

RAT-TRAP
(Elippathayam)
A film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
India / 1981
Second Run DVD 027
"A brilliant character study" - Sight and Sound
In Indian cinema, Adoor Gopalakrishnan is considered the true heir to Satyajit Ray. The first film to bring him international acclaim, Rat-Trap is outstanding for it's characterisations and detail. Set in Kerala in the early 1980's, the film takes a look into the life of a lazy feudal lord, unable to accept the socio-economic changes, who subsequently falls prey to the metaphorical rat-trap set by his own arrogance. Our first release from the Indian sub continent this will be the first time this film has appeared on DVD.

THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT
(Trzecia czesc nocy)
A film by Andrzej Zulawski
Poland / 1971
Second Run DVD 023
" A complex and surreal work... a haunting first feature" - Time Out
This highly influential award-winning film was Andrzej Zulawksi's debut feature film. Set during the time of the Nazi occupation of Poland and rich with multilayered apocalyptic imagery and symbolism, it shows one of Europe's most visionary directors at his best. We are huge fans of Zulawski's work and are delighted to be able to bring you the first ever DVD release of this film.

[criterionmaster]

Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (Second Run DVD 028) now scheduled for Feb 12.

Party and the Guests (Second Run DVD 020)now scheduled for Feb 19.