criterionforum.org

That is true - I forgot about the Oscar win for The War Game and its availability before the BBC screening!

Gregory wrote:I want to see his television work but have not had the chance. Cathy Come Home was available in the UK (now OOP?). I wonder what the chances are of these surfacing.

Well, it's taken several years to reply to this, but...

Days of Hope is worth the entrance fee alone

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:Days of Hope is worth the entrance fee alone

One hopes the creator and signatories of this hilarious petition will be happy.

Hilarious not because of the sentiment, but the wording - it doesn't just call for the series to be released on DVD but also "an explantion [sic] of the failure by successive BFI governors to release this series of films".

I'm happy to provide the requested explantion: it's a BBC production, which means that the BFI probably couldn't license it even if the governors unanimously ordered the DVD Publishing arm to do so.

In fact, I have no doubt that if the long-defunct BFI Archive Television strand had been allowed to continue past 2004, it would have got round to Days of Hope sooner rather than later (it ticked every conceivable box, being a major work by a major director that had been completely unseen since its first and only broadcast) - but for reasons best known to themselves the BBC started demanding wholly unrealistic licensing fees for their content. Which is why all the old BBC titles put out by the BFI are long OOP and why you hardly ever encounter BBC-produced extras on UK labels these days, unless it's on 2entertain, the BBC's own DVD arm.

But at least it looks as though this new box is worth the (very long) wait - it doesn't quite contain everything that Loach made for the BBC, but it's certainly the vast majority, and pretty much everything that's really important.

MichaelB wrote:

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:Days of Hope is worth the entrance fee alone

One hopes the creator and signatories of this hilarious petition will be happy.

Will they release the hostages now it's coming out?

When are we going to see a release of 'Questions Of Leadership'?

If you ever fancied interviewing Ken Loach, now's your chance.

See here for examples of the BFI's three previous 'You Ask The Questions' interactive YouTube features.

Ken Loach replies.

This is pretty cool. Last week, Ken Loach put out a public call for numbering tape to finish his last feature film. He apparently still edits on a Steenbeck, and the numbering tape he needs is no longer produced. Pixar, of all places, just came to the rescue, sending him all 21 of their rolls, a custom illustration, and a note from their editors wishing him good luck.