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"The very oldest film is footage of the 1895 Derby. That's as old as British film, almost any film, gets," expains Robin Baker, head curator of the BFI National Archive. "We'll have original negatives of films such as Olivier's Henry V, Brighton Rock and Alfred Hitchcock's nine surviving silent films - fantastically rare material."

What the Master Film Store will do, says Mr Baker, is "add hundreds of years onto the life expectancy of those films. If we leave them as they are, they're just going to deteriorate more and more. What we will be doing is instantly halting any further degradation. Our ambition is not one of commerce, but of preservation. We want to look after the films and make them as accessible to the public as we can."

knives wrote:I thought Round Hay Garden Scene was British?

MichaelB wrote:The BFI unveils its new state-of-the-art nitrate storage facility.

Can a matrix of ice-cold concrete bunkers with 1.2-ton steel blast-doors be beautiful? At the British Film Institute's new Master Film Store near Gaydon in Warwickshire, the answer is yes. This engrossing architecture manages to evoke not only Donald Judd's gnomic concrete sculptures at Marfa in Texas, but ushers us into the pages of W G Sebald's novel Rings of Saturn, and his descriptions of the surreal bomb-testing landscape of Orford Ness in Suffolk.

MichaelB wrote:The BFI's latest "You Ask The Questions" feature allows you to quiz Ken Loach.

RobertAltman wrote:The Repo Man announcement from MoC has whetted my appetite for more Alex Cox, and I'm wondering if the BFI double features are the definitive releases of these particular titles. Has anyone here seen them?

nolanoe wrote:Considering that THE DEVILS was shown in a fully uncut version a few weeks ago, can we assume that BFI is working on a proper DVD of this?? I have heard various rumors as of why this was never properly released, and with so many films FINALLY making their way to home cinema, one can hope.

MichaelB wrote:

nolanoe wrote:Unlike Fox, United Artists, MGM or Universal, who have been happy to do business with the BFI, MoC and other independent labels, Warner Home Video don't sub-license their titles - which is why there are no Warner titles on Criterion either.

MichaelB wrote:I don't think Warner controls the UK rights to the RKO library - Citizen Kane was released by Universal over here.
As for the Digital Classics quartet, were any of those 100% Warner productions? Green Mansions was made by MGM, and I'm pretty sure Petulia and Lisztomania weren't made wholly by Warners.

Sixteen BFI catalogue titles be to reissued in Dual Format Editions this autumn
Includes Saturday Night and Sunday Morning & The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Over the next three months, the BFI will release sixteen titles from its DVD and Blu-ray catalogues in new Dual Format Editions (which contain the DVD and Blu-ray versions in one box), beginning with the 1960s timeless British classics Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (released 17 October).

This new range of Dual Format Edition titles also includes the first nine Flipside films (details announced previously), Michelangelo Antonioni’s stunning Red Desert, Kenneth Anger’s legendary experimental shorts, the Magick Lantern Cycle and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s colourful and highly erotic ‘Trilogy of Life’ films The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights. All the original special features from the original releases will be included, and extensive booklets are contained in each edition. The separate DVD and Blu-ray editions are now deleted.

The release schedule for the remainder of 2011 is as follows (links are to the individual Criterion Forum threads):

17 October
• Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1962) RRP £19.99
• The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1960) RRP £19.99

24 October
• Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964) RRP £19.99
• BFI Flipside titles 001-009 (Various, 1964-1970) RRP £19.99 each

7 November
• Magick Lantern Cycle (Kenneth Anger, 1947-1981) RRP £22.99 (3-disc set)

5 December
• The Decameron (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1970) RRP £19.99
• The Canterbury Tales (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1972) RRP £19.99
• Arabian Nights (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974) RRP £19.99

Sam Dunn, Head of BFI Video Publishing, comments:
‘We now have a schedule in place to reissue a raft of titles as Dual Format Editions with more to follow next year. Our proven commitment to High Definition continues, with many of our titles making their very first appearance on any home entertainment format. We are also committed to providing excellent value to consumers, offering new High Definition transfers from original negatives, as well as a range of quality additional features and indispensable booklets.’

ellipsis7 wrote:I'm putting my money on Renoir's THE RIVER reemerging in dual format hopefully sometime soon...

MichaelB wrote:

ellipsis7 wrote:I'm putting my money on Renoir's THE RIVER reemerging in dual format hopefully sometime soon...

I think the current priority is to reissue titles that have already been given separate DVD and Blu-ray releases which have gone OOP. The BFI hasn't put The River out on Blu-ray at all yet.

Bürgermeister wrote:Any idea why Amazon aren't selling the new Dual Format release of Red Desert, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner?