Recent Film Restorations

[beamish14]

Elmer Gantry is a very nice surprise. I keep hoping that Sony will restore Lord Jim

[beamish14]

Sogo Ishii’s Shuffle and The Master of Shiatsu

[Stefan Andersson]

Manolescu (Tourjansky, 1929) w/Ivan Mosjoukine, Brigitte Helm; a Murnau Stiftung restoration begun in 2018:
https://www.giornatedelcinemamuto.it/an ... index.html

[Stefan Andersson]

Anémic Cinéma:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/__trashed-4/

Rien que les heures:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/__trashed-5/

Time to Love, Erksan:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/sevmek-zamani/

The Long Memory, Hamer:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/the-long-memory/

Lemonade Joe:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/li ... ska-opera/

A Spring for the Thirsty, Illjenko:
https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/kr ... sprahlych/

Sans titre, Carax, is listed on the Recovered & Restored main page but not found in the catalogue or on site.

[Stefan Andersson]

City of Hope, Sayles, 4K restoration:
https://tiff.net/events/city-of-hope-with-john-sayles

[qw0aszx]

PEKING OPERA BLUES was restored again in 4K by Shanghai Film Festival, Ritrovata Asia handled the scanning and restoration from original camera negative. A Dolby Atmos remix was also produced. Ritrovato this year will also screen this restored version rather than the one done by Shout: https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/eventi/do-ma-daan/

Curious how this would turn out since all Shout restorations used a much inferior scanner to do the scanning.

[bad future]

5 years ago my blu-ray wishlist was topped by Peking Opera Blues and Typhoon Club, and both seemed like long shots for HD, let alone 4k. Now I'm looking at a not so distant potential future where I've bought both on UHD more than once... crazy how quickly these things can shift!

[Stefan Andersson]

Sans titre, Carax, 2025 restoration:
https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/63219.html

[Stefan Andersson]

Upcoming French restorations:
Marianne de ma jeunesse, Duvivier
Conte de la folie ordinaire, Ferreri
Prix de la beauté, Genina, silent version
El Dorado, L´Herbier
L´homme du large, L´Herbier
L´Epervier, L´Herbier
Les malheurs de Sophie, Jacqueline Audry
Immortel (Ad Vitam), Bilal
Les tribulations d´un Chinois en Chine, de Broca
Mina Tannenbaum, Dugowson
https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/aides ... ine_190901

[Stefan Andersson]

Some restored Hungarian films (format and year of restoration not mentioned):

Jutalomutazás, coloured Hungarian feature film, 1975, director, screenwriter: István Dárday, Györgyi Szalai
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... itain.html

Ismeri a szandi mandit?, coloured Hungarian feature film, 1969, director: Lívia Gyarmathy
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... onday.html

Cold Days/Hideg napok, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1966, director: András Kovács
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... ays-2.html

...hogy szaladnak a fák!, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1966, director: Pál Zolnay
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... -sack.html

20 Hours/Húsz óra, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1965, director: Zoltán Fábri
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... hours.html

Ház a sziklák alatt, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1958, director: Károly Makk
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... cks-3.html

Professor Hannibal/Hannibál tanár úr, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1956, director: Zoltán Fábri
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... bal-2.html

fekete-fehér, black and white Hungarian feature film, 1956 (released 1986), director: Zoltán Várkonyi
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/films-3/ ... truth.html

Full list:
https://nfi.hu/en/core-films-1/core-fil ... otMenu=744

[Stefan Andersson]

Virgina (Virdžina, 1991), Srđan Karanović, 2K restoration from a 35mm internegative, audio from the original 35mm mono sound negative:
https://thefilmstage.com/exclusive-alte ... l-release/

In the Soup, 4K
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/140 ... n-the-soup

Trees Lounge, 4K
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/140 ... ees-lounge

The Party – Nature Morte, w/ Tilda Swinton, 2K:
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/140 ... ture-morte

Mirage (Assarab), Ahmed Bouanani, 4K
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/140 ... ge-assarab

The Widow (Mimangin), Park Nam-ok, 1955, South Korea
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/140 ... w-mimangin

La Paga, Ciro Durán, 1962, Colombia, Venezuela, 4K
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/14046/la-paga

[jsteffe]

Regarding A Well for the Thirsty/A Spring for the Thirsty at Ritrovato: this is HUGE news, bigger than it appears on the surface. The restoration credits on the website indicate that it was restored from the camera negative, which makes it an outlier compared to many recently restored Ukrainian films--including Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. My guess is that because the film was banned in the 1960s and not distributed, the negative remained in Ukraine and was not sent to Gosfilmofond in Moscow. (Maybe there is another reason why it is in Ukraine now.) In any case, we should be able to see the film in outstanding quality.

Although the film was banned, studio and cultural figures in Ukraine did see it when it was under discussion at the studio's Artistic Council, including Sergei Parajanov. I feel certain that it inspired Parajanov to further push the boundaries in his own poetic cinema, especially the sound editing in The Color of Pomegranates. I personally don't think that Illienko ever made a better film--not even The Eve of Ivan Kupalo or White Bird with Black Markings.

To this day I remember the phenomenal visual impact that it had when I saw an unsubtitled print screened in Las Vegas. Yuri Illienko was there with his friend Virko Baley on his way to screen it at the San Francisco Film Festival. Baley was a music professor at UNLV and the director of the Nevada Symphony Orchestra. At the time working with Illienko on the film Swan Lake: The Zone, for which he composed the score and served as a producer. At any rate, people who manage to see it at the festival should be in for a major treat!

[jmj713]

Does anyone know who if anyone owns the rights to Makhmalbaf Family films? I think some of Mohsen's films may be available in HD, but I haven't seen any signs of restorations of his daughter Samira's The Apple (1998), his wife Marzieh's The Day I Became a Woman (2000), and his younger daughter Hana's Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (2007). A comprehensive restoration effort and boxed set would be amazing to have.

[spectre]

Seconded, particularly re: The Day I Became a Woman (which at least exists on DVD via Artificial Eye and is still floating around on eBay and elsewhere)! Of equal urgency, his masterpiece A Moment of Innocence is OOP and only available to buy at triple-figure prices even on (ancient, I think non-anamorphic) DVD. Salaam Cinema – not to be confused with the execrable Once Upon a Time, Cinema – is another amazing Makhmalbaf film that desperately needs a release.

You can at least get his "poetic trilogy" (the equally masterful Gabbeh, as well as The Silence and The Gardener which I haven't seen even though I own the set) from Arrow. But fingers crossed that something happens with the rest of these films soon!

[TechnicolorAcid]

Seconded, particularly re: The Day I Became a Woman (which at least exists on DVD via Artificial Eye and is still floating around on eBay and elsewhere)! Of equal urgency, his masterpiece A Moment of Innocence is OOP and only available to buy at triple-figure prices even on (ancient, I think non-anamorphic) DVD. Salaam Cinema – not to be confused with the execrable Once Upon a Time, Cinema – is another amazing Makhmalbaf film that desperately needs a release.

‘A Moment of Innocence’ is coming from Second Run sometime soon so that’s one Makhmalbaf film off your list. Curious to know why you think ‘Once Upon a Time, Cinema’ is execrable since I thought that was one of his most beloved films

[spectre]

That's incredible news, re: A Moment of Innocence – I hadn't heard anything about this until now! Can't wait.

As for Once Upon a Time, Cinema, which I saw on the big screen last year with a mostly Persian audience (and there was at least something interesting in being able to observe what aspects of the film people were responding to), it's a really odd film that functions for the most part as a (very lax) pastiche of silent film and ends with a self-important "greatest-hits" sequence of Iranian cinema. The worst thing is that it's often trying to be funny but just … isn't, for the most part.

Here's the review I wrote on Letterboxd after seeing it:

Had high expectations based on the three wonderful Makhmalbaf films I saw at Cinémathèque last year; but this is, sadly, an ill-conceived “love letter to cinema” that’s every bit as dull and demoralising as Agnès Varda’s One Hundred and One Nights. It’s not hard to imagine a concept like this being employed at least tolerably – the premise certainly seemed appealing on paper – but perhaps there’s something in the enterprise of paying overt homage to one’s own artform in this way that is destined for solipsism.

That’s not to say cinema has to deny itself. Erice’s Close Your Eyes is a transcendent masterpiece that’s in part “about” cinema; this film and Varda’s are about cinema via references to other people’s films. Maybe there’s a lot more to it than that, but I suspect that’s the starting point.

[Captain Paranoia]

Some of Makhmalbaf's films are available on Vimeo, last I checked.

I recall A Moment of Innocence was anamorphic on DVD, but it was a improper PAL transfer (there was also a Japanese release (that also goes for astronomical prices) that I have no idea on the quality of the transfer).

I rented Salaam Cinema and A Moment of Innocence (there was no purchase option) and both looked great. I'm certain Second Run will utilize the transfer for their forthcoming release of the latter (one of my most anticipated upcoming releases, up there with the Carax films and Eureka).

[Lowry_Sam]

Does anyone know who if anyone owns the rights to Makhmalbaf Family films? I think some of Mohsen's films may be available in HD, but I haven't seen any signs of restorations of his daughter Samira's The Apple (1998), his wife Marzieh's The Day I Became a Woman (2000), and his younger daughter Hana's Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (2007). A comprehensive restoration effort and boxed set would be amazing to have.

BAMPFA last had a retrospective in September & October 2018: Between Politics and Poetry: Makhmalbaf Film House

Unless noted all screenings were 35mm prints, with rights holders as follows:

The Apple: mk2
Blackboards: Wild Bunch
Two-Legged Horse: Wild Bunch
Buddha Collapsed out of Shame: Wild Bunch
The Day I Became a Woman: Makhmalbaf Film House

Time Of Love: Makhmalbaf Film House
Gabbeh: mk2
A Moment Of Innocence: Makhmalbaf Film House
Saalaam Cinema: Makhmalbaf Film House
Silence: American Genre Film Archive [DCP]
The President: Corinth Films [DCP]

And in case you aren't feeling disappointed for having missed it yet, 2 screenings in the program were paired with dinners:

Film to Table: The Apple
Four-course dinner with wine pairing

Watch the imported 35mm print of Samira Makhmalbaf’s directorial debut, then join your fellow filmgoers for a scrumptious meal, prepared and served by Babette chefs Joan and Patrick. Film and dinner require separate ticket purchase.

In this 1998 Iranian film, Makhmalbaf blends a fictionalized plot over a shocking real-life tale of two sisters imprisoned by their parents. “Experimental docudrama, open-ended essay, [and] a remarkable movie” (J. Hoberman).

Menu

Nan-o panir-o sabzi-khordan (bread and cheese with fresh vegetables and herbs)
Kufteh Tabrizi (Tabriz- style meatballs)
Mokhalafat (side dishes of relishes, dips and condiments)
Ranginak (date cakes)
Nan e nokhodchi (chickpea cookies)
Ice in heaven

Film to Table: Buddha Collapsed out of Shame
Four-course dinner with wine pairing

Following the film, which screens in an imported 35mm print, join your fellow filmgoers for a scrumptious meal, prepared and served by Babette chefs Joan and Patrick. Film and dinner require separate ticket purchase.

A willful eight-year-old girl is determined to go to school despite all obstacles in Hana Makhmalbaf’s “deeply affecting” (The Guardian) look at the dreams and traumas of postwar Afghanistan, set in Bamian, site of the Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taliban.

Menu

Herb kuku wrapped in lavash with Yogurt dipping Sauce
Fattoush salad
Fesenjoon (chicken, walnut and pomegranate stew)
Rice
Baklava
Cardamon poached apricots with mascarpone and pistachio