Camera Obscura: The Walerian Borowczyk Collection

[swo17]

Now that the Kickstarter project is closed, is there an option for people who might be learning about this late, or who still want to donate? Maybe once the available materials for all of the shorts have been reviewed, if more funds are necessary to restore them, there could be another smaller Kickstarter project?

[EddieLarkin]

Now that the Kickstarter project is closed, is there an option for people who might be learning about this late, or who still want to donate? Maybe once the available materials for all of the shorts have been reviewed, if more funds are necessary to restore them, there could be another smaller Kickstarter project?

There is precedent. AnimEigo still take pledges for their Bubblegum Crisis release despite the Kickstarter finishing over a month ago. They simply accept Paypal pledges at their main site. Unlike the Boro Box Set though, it won't be available at retail so I guess they had more incentive to provide the option.

[knives]

A genuine thanks to Michael and the whole Arrow team for just having the faith in this project to put it out there. If only every company could put out that much faith and bravery.

[zedz]

It's sort of surreal to realize that Michael's dream project (the Borowczyk shorts collection he hoped to produce as a follow-up to the Svankmajer set) has not only finally come to pass, but in a form that's far, far beyond his (or my) wildest dreams. It's worth remembering that only five years ago this was a project that looked like it could never happen.

If anybody who's contributed to the Kickstarter doesn't already own the Svankmajer and Quay Brothers shorts collections, grab them right now (the Quay set is only 8.99 at amazon.uk at the moment). They'll be excellent primers for what's in store for you, both in terms of content and production quality.

[knives]

Though I imagine (thanks to this wonderful Kickstarter) the quality of transfer will far exceed those. I'm really happy at the success of this set.

[MichaelB]

Well, the Quay set was state-of-the-art for 2006. But admittedly the words "for 2006" are fairly significant here.

(God, was it really eight years ago?)

Incidentally, I should make it absolutely clear that this is also Daniel Bird's dream project, and he's been working on it for even longer. He's very much the senior producer here - much of this simply wouldn't be happening without his input.

[spectre]

Just to clarify, what are the features likely to appear on this set? Monsieur Kabal, Goto, Blanche, Immoral Tales and The Beast?

[MichaelB]

Just to clarify, what are the features likely to appear on this set? Monsieur Kabal, Goto, Blanche, Immoral Tales and The Beast?

Yes - those five features plus a minimum of fourteen shorts (everything important from 1959-84).

[AidanKing]

Belated congratulations to all involved on reaching the target.

With this being the internet, you obviously can't congratulate without asking for something, so I wonder if there are some more entries to the (excellent) Boro's Dictionary due soon?

[TonyleStephanois]

Some preliminary specs and pre-order added

This groundbreaking collection brings together Walerian Borowczyk’s key films from a twenty-five-year period stretching from 1959 through to 1984.
This unique release includes five of Borowczyk’s provocative feature films: Theatre de M et Mme Kabal, Goto, l’ile d’amour, Blanche, Contes Immoraux and La Bete as well as his groundbreaking short films from this period.

Not only are many of these films available on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time, but also in new digital high definition restorations approved by the director’s widow, Ligia Branice.

In addition to exclusive documentaries featuring cast and crew, an hour long portrait of Borowczyk is to be included, featuring the director’s musings on painting, animation and sex.

Accompanying this seminal release is a book edited by Borowczyk experts Daniel Bird and Michael Brooke featuring newly commissioned essays on Borowczyk’s films and art, as well as an account of the meticulous restoration process involved.

To round off the release is, for the first time, an English translation of Borowczyk’s 1992 collection of short stories, Anatomy of the Devil, translated by the director's assistant, Michael Levy.

Arrow Academy’s Walerian Borowczyk Collection is a vital addition to anyone interested in either world cinema, animation or experimental film.

Limited Edition collection featuring:

Five feature films:
- Theatre of Mr & Mrs Kabal (1967)
- Goto, Isle of Love (1968)
- Blanche (1971)
- Immoral Tales (1974)
- The Beast (1975)

And the short films:
- The Astronauts (1959)
- The Concert (1962)
- Grandmother's Encyclopaedia (1963)
- Renaissance (1963)
- Angels' Games (1964)
- Joachim's Dictionary (1965)
- Rosalie (1966)
- Gavotte (1967)
- Diptych (1967)
- The Phonograph (1969)
- A Private Collection (1973)
- Venus on the Half-Shell (1975)
- The Greatest Love of All Time (1978)
- Scherzo Infernal (1984)

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Brand new 2K restorations (all features, most of the shorts)
- High Definition digital transfer
- Newly created exclusive content
- Collector’s booklet featuring limited edition exclusive content, new writing on the film, archive content and more!
- More to be announced closer to the release date

[Thornycroft]

Wow. New documentaries, a book (I'm assuming that isn't a typo) of essays, plus a Borowczyk short story collection. Absolutely outstanding. I just wish I'd had the money to kick in during the Kickstarter.

[jindianajonz]

- Brand new 2K restorations of Borowczyk films
- High Definition digital transfer

Does this mean all the shorts will be in HD?

[swo17]

Note the RRP of £149.99. So those who paid £60 for the set through Kickstarter did indeed get a screaming deal. (You can still pre-order it direct from Arrow now for just £10 more though.)

[perkizitore]

You get 10% off your order towards future purchases, so essentially you get this for £63.

[MichaelB]

- Brand new 2K restorations of Borowczyk films
- High Definition digital transfer

Does this mean all the shorts will be in HD?

We don't yet know. The Goto restoration has to be finished before we know how much surplus budget we have to play with, and that only started a few days ago.

I can certainly guarantee that at least nine of the fourteen shorts will be in HD, and it's very very likely that that won't be all.

[MichaelB]

Culture.pl on The Obscenely Fertile Filmmaker Borowczyk, which doubles as an introduction to Arrow's box set.

[antnield]

Cine Outsider interviews Daniel Bird about the project.

[fatboyslim142]

WHY hasn't his ONLY Polish film 'The Story of Sin' been included as it is in the 59-75 period since it was made in 1975?

[Gregory]

And the Polish films (half a dozen surviving shorts, The Story of Sin) were considered, but they badly need restoration, and there's a possibility that they might get one, so it made sense to wait. Arrow hasn't ruled out a follow-up "Polish Borowczyk" single-disc release, although of course this will depend on how well the confirmed releases sell.

[MichaelB]

None of the Polish films are being included, for various rights and materials reasons.

There's a possibility that they might be restored before too long (a possibility that may well hinge on the success of Arrow's box set!), so there didn't seem to be much point in including substandard copies now - and given that Arrow had to launch a Kickstarter campaign to restore Goto, you should now have a pretty good idea of the kind of money they would have needed in order to restore the Polish titles too.

And this is quite aside from the rights situation - the Polish films are spread across several companies, with all that that implies in terms of the challenges involved in striking a deal that also works with existing agreements with Ligia Borowczyk and Argos Films.

So if you really want to be picky, the box set spans the release of his first French film Les Astronautes in 1959 to the release of La Bête at the very start of 1975.

[fatboyslim142]

How many Polish films did he do including his only Polish feature film?

[MichaelB]

How many Polish films did he do including his only Polish feature film?

It's hard to be precise because Borowczyk's various filmographies are a mess and many of the very early Polish films no longer survive - at least as far as his widow and everyone else who's looked for them are aware.

But six shorts definitely still exist (as I've seen all of them): Strip-Tease, Requited Love, Banner of Youth, Once Upon a Time, House and School, all made between 1957 and 1959, and then the feature Story of Sin in 1975.

[htshell]

Once Upon a Time and Banner of Youth are on the Anthology of Polish Experimental Animation DVD set.

[MichaelB]

And House and School are on the original Anthology of Polish Animation set.

But at present they only exist as SD masters in terms of off-the-shelf video availability, and haven't undergone the kind of restoration that the French shorts have received. So we'd rather hold off on them for now, and thus open up the possibility of releasing restored copies at some point in the future - and hopefully not too long into the future either.

(Conversely, if we included them, there'd be far less incentive to pick up restored versions later!)

[htshell]

Oh yes, I wasn't arguing against your reasoning, more like pointing out that they were available to be viewed! I keep kicking myself for not picking up a cheap 16mm print of Dom on ebay a few years ago.