Second Run General Chitchat

[Calvin]

The Film Heritage Foundation have said on their Facebook page that SR will be releasing Manthan and Ghatashraddha

[amberry]

Great news! The Manthan restoration looks exquisite, and Smita Patil is an absolute tour de force. Ghattashraddha getting a HD release is a dream too! Wondering if anyone has any John Abraham/more Ritwik Ghatak in the works - SR seems like a natural home for parallel cinema recently.

[brundlefly]

Ghattashraddha was one of my orphans from this last ‘70s list (hopefully Kummatty is on its way as well from either SR or Criterion), and that from only having watched the fuzzy copy that’s been available. Excited to own it and actually *see* it and that it will be available for others to discover.

Not that it isn’t important and worthwhile, but I wonder if FHF went after Manthan because the rights situation (and perhaps the availability of elements) was simpler. The film was funded by a farmers’ dairy cooperative, and despite Benegal’s rich expansiveness it can feel like it was. (The story centers around the attempt to establish a branch of a dairy cooperative.) For me it was easily the least of his rural trilogy, but Patil makes almost as impressive a debut(*) as Shabana Azmi did in Ankur and I recall Naseeruddin Shah’s pricklier side as being used well.

Would be amazing if FHF could shake the other Benegal films free from the rights holders and save them from the digitally scrubbed and reformatted versions that are legally online (or the tragic state of a lot of the old DVDs). Just having Second Run-proofed subtitles for any of those would be revelatory.

(*) Aside from the children’s film she and Benegal did together, about which I’m curious. And which I think was government-funded and should be more readily available?

[Bikey]

Fopp UK Sale - now on

[kekid]

I saw "Manthan" on a beautifully restored DVD. No subtitles and no supplemental information.
So the source exists. I don't know what the obstacle might be.
It needs to be released, along with other Benegal films.
If anyone has further information, please let us know.

[amberry]

SR mentioned in a recent tweet that they'd be releasing Schanelec's latest film Music in 2026

[dadaistnun]

Excellent news, especially in light of “lack of physical releases” discussion going on in the Cinema Guild thread.

[ryannichols7]

while we're on this train, can Second Run also do O Sangue / Casa de Lava: Two Films by Pedro Costa with Adrian Martin commentaries on both? I'd never look at cinema guild or grasshopper again if they followed through on that. granted the Casa de Lava disc is fine, I just selfishly want Martin on there (he and Costa are fairly close)

[Bikey]

Great profile of the great Czechoslovak composer and master of musical innovation Zdeněk Liška in today's Guardian.

Very much underrated outside of Eastern Europe, Liška should be spoken of with the same reverence as Ennio Morricone or Bernard Herrmann. His scores for the films of František Vláčil (The Valley of the Bees, The Devil's Trap), Karel Zeman (The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, Invention for Destruction) and films like The Cremator, The Shop on the High Street and Ikarie XB-1 mark him as one of the great masters of film music.

Coincidentally, all of the above titles - and more! - are available from Second Run.

[Lowry_Sam]

Coincidentally, all of the above titles - and more! - are available from Second Run.

The Criterion Channel has the documentary, The Cremator, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, Invention For Destruction, Ikarie XB-1, Marketa Lazarova, The Shop On Main Street, The Junk Shop, Adelheid, & The Devil's Trap.

His soundtracks are so diverse from modernist classical to jazz to pop/rock. Not all of them would appeal to all people, but if you do like soundtrack music, there is at least one by Liska for you.

[MichaelB]

The other great thing about Liška is that he was bewilderingly prolific. I've been a fan for a full four decades, and there's still loads of stuff I've yet to hear, because it was composed for Czechoslovak films that haven't been screened elsewhere.

Oh, and the first time I properly indulged my Liška fandom was when I produced the BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films DVD compilation - noticing that all the Liška-scored films were on the first disc, I had the disc author create an option to play just those titles.

[Bikey]

"One of the greatest Blu-ray labels ever..."

Elliot Coen at Boutique Blu-rays dedicates a whole episode to Second Run in celebration of our 20th anniversary - we're suitably chuffed and delighted!

[TMDaines]

It feels as if Second Run are the only major UK label without annual/semi-regular sales, since Arrow stopped including them. Criterion, Radiance, Indicator, Arrow, BFI etc. all have them. My wishlist is increasingly becoming Second Run heavy.

[jbeall]

So, I was about to get the Szabo set and Who Wants to Kill Jessie? from a certain behemoth online retailer, but balked at the "import charges." I still want to get these, as well as the upcoming release of Knights..., but money is tight and I'm not paying tariffs. Anyone more tech savvy than I who can suggest ways around this, outside of waiting until we have a different president?

[domino harvey]

Buy from OrbitDVD

[Bikey]

An excellent piece in PROSPECT by writer James Oliver about the importance of UK’s boutique labels keeping physical media alive and kicking, which also includes an interview with Second Run founder Mehelli Modi.

[Bikey]

Mondo Digital choose their 'Top 30 Disc Releases of 2025' - with WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE? their Second Run selection

[Bikey]

THE BARNABAS KOS CASE, OIL LAMPS and ZOLTAN HUSZARIK Box Set all feature in CineVentures' 'Best of 2025 Blu-ray/4K Releases'.

[amberry]

Spotted in the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival guide that Second Run will be releasing these Polish films on blu soon:

The Last Stage (Jakubowska)
Night Train (Kawalerowicz)
Passenger (Munk)
Knights of the Teutonic Order (Ford)

Feel like it might already be known, but Mother Joan of Angels (Kawalerowicz) coming to blu has been confirmed in this year's Kinoteka guide (along with all those from last year).

[MichaelB]

My contributor copy of Knights of the Teutonic Order is sitting mere inches away—I imagine it'll be entering supply chains soon if it hasn't already.

[Bikey]

Another welcome and positive article on the resurgence of interest in physical media - this from yesterday's LA Times

[DeprongMori]

Rarewaves is having a “2 for £16” sale on selected titles, which has a fair number of Second Run titles.

Also, lots of standard and a few LE Radiance and Indicator titles, StudioCanal Vintage Classics, 88 Films, and other boutiques.

[jbeall]

Buy from OrbitDVD

A bit late, but thanks for this recommendation. I got the Szabo boxset and Knights of the Teutonic Order, and will be ordering through this site again.

[Bikey]

Selected Second Run Blu-rays in Rarewaves' 'Collector's Editions: 2 for £16' sale ON NOW

[TMDaines]

I was very excited and then very disappointed. These are all very old titles.