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Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts and Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:08 pm
by swo17
Will include 17 films, and the line is being upgraded to Blu-ray
If you’re like me, you loved Criterion’s Eclipse line because it brought you rare gems you’d been searching for and introduced you to films you didn’t know—including some by your favorite filmmakers. Criterion is relaunching Eclipse this November, as a Blu-ray line, and I’m thrilled to announce that I will be the series editor. We’re going to be upgrading some of the most popular titles as well as producing brand-new sets, and we’ll be kicking off the series relaunch with a new release of Abbas Kiarostami’s early films. This deep dive into the prolific and wide-ranging first two decades of the director’s career will include playful shorts made for children, probing feature-length documentaries on education, and exquisite narrative masterpieces about adolescent longing and disappointment.
In the coming months, you can look forward to Eclipse sets of the six extraordinary features directed by Kinuyo Tanaka, Japan’s first successful woman director; and five searingly radical documentaries from the husband-and-wife team of Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi. And we’ll get you singing and dancing with Blu-ray upgrades of Carlos Saura’s electrifying Flamenco Trilogy and Ernst Lubitsch’s joyously risqué pre-Code musicals. Also in the pipeline are sets devoted to the early films of Ruben Östlund and the revolutionary cinema of Sara Gómez.
With the relaunch of the Eclipse line, Criterion reaffirms its commitment to making the full richness of film history accessible with the reliable permanence of physical media. Each release will use the best available materials and feature an essay in which an expert shares historical context and insight about the films.
The standard cinema canon has been shaped—and sometimes misshapen—by what films are available. In a vicious cycle, films that can’t be seen are forgotten, and hence less likely to be restored. Preservation and access, on the other hand, form a virtuous cycle, spurring rediscovery and further efforts to ensure the survival of a fragile medium. Alongside the ever-expanding Criterion Channel, Eclipse is once again fostering this rediscovery, serving as an enduring home for deep cuts and hidden treasures. Follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, and Letterboxd and subscribe to our newsletter to ensure you receive our future Eclipse announcements.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:10 pm
by aox
Excellent, and on BD... sign me up. So happy to have Eclipse back. Employee of the year material there.
Additionally, this set sounds fantastic.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:12 pm
by ryannichols7
major!!! and what a way to re-kick off the line with a huge name director too
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:17 pm
by knives
This is incredibly exciting! Does anyone know about which films are lost. As far as my counting goes this leaves three or four films in limbo.
Also, I imagine this is where the rest of the Eustache films will come to.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:25 pm
by tenia
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:34 pm
by dwk
I wonder which one is missing? At first I thought Homework because it is on the Koker trilogy, but I see it is listed on the cover.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:57 pm
by RPG
dwk wrote: Wed Aug 06, 2025 4:34 pm
I wonder which one is missing? At first I thought
Homework because it is on the Koker trilogy, but I see it is listed on the cover.
The Traveler is also included on one of the main line releases (can't remember which one, maybe
Certified Copy?). Not sure if any other repeaters are in this set, but I can't wait to get it and find out.
Edit: It's on the
Close-Up release.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 5:33 pm
by swo17
Already available:
Traveler (Close-Up)
Report (Certified Copy)
Homework (Koker)
Project (Taste of Cherry)
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 7:56 pm
by What A Disgrace
I wonder if new masters will be utilized for The Traveler and Report. I know The Traveler was in HD but I think it had poor bitrate, but the source materials for The Report were clearly compromised and I'm not sure if it is recoverable.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2025 8:06 pm
by denti alligator
Great news! However, I too hope that they will use new masters for the Traveler and the Report. These look significantly better on the French set.
P.S. Who's the "I" in the quoted first post?
P.P.S. I count 20 "early films." Too bad they couldn't get them all. The Report and Jahan-Nama Palace are the two missing from the French set. But we know Criterion has The Report, so there will be two films from the French set that they won't include, plus Jahan-Nama Palace, which I think is hard to find.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2025 1:07 am
by gcgiles1dollarbin
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2025 1:12 am
by andyli
What A Disgrace wrote: Wed Aug 06, 2025 7:56 pm
I wonder if new masters will be utilized for The Traveler and Report. I know The Traveler was in HD but I think it had poor bitrate, but the source materials for The Report were clearly compromised and I'm not sure if it is recoverable.
The Traveler was in HD on Close-Up only because by then Criterion had all their SD bonus material conformed to HD containers. It was only until the Japanese and French editions that The Traveler had finally been remastered in true HD and looked much nicer.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:17 pm
by Peacock
The title missing from the Eclipse set that can be found on the French set is:
How to Make Use of Leisure Time? Painting (1977)
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:22 pm
by denti alligator
And no Report, which is odd, since Criterion have released it already as an extra.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:23 pm
by ryannichols7
denti alligator wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:22 pm
And no Report, which is odd, since Criterion have released it already as an extra.
and it has a new master too. this didn't stop them with
The Traveler
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
by domino harvey
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:46 pm
by ryannichols7
domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
eh I'll pay 35% for this
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 3:36 am
by andyli
denti alligator wrote:And no Report, which is odd, since Criterion have released it already as an extra.
I can only assume they’re bringing it out to the main line, with a new transfer and extras.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 4:04 am
by Matt
domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
At first I was aghast at this price, but many of the Eclipse DVD sets are $70. The Louis Malle one is $80! Why did I remember them being low-risk blind-buys? I clearly had too much disposable income ~15 years ago.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 1:25 pm
by Captain Paranoia
Matt wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 4:04 am
domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
At first I was aghast at this price, but many of the Eclipse DVD sets are $70. The Louis Malle one is $80! Why did I remember them being low-risk blind-buys? I clearly had too much disposable income ~15 years ago.
When divided in threes it's also nearly 60% the price of a regular disc so there's that.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:14 pm
by denti alligator
andyli wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 3:36 am
denti alligator wrote:And no Report, which is odd, since Criterion have released it already as an extra.
I can only assume they’re bringing it out to the main line, with a new transfer and extras.
Nope. I asked. They said no release is planned. Very strange decision to leave this off.
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:28 pm
by ryannichols7
andyli wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 3:36 am
denti alligator wrote:And no Report, which is odd, since Criterion have released it already as an extra.
I can only assume they’re bringing it out to the main line, with a new transfer and extras.
while that would rock, especially since they don't really have many more of his films to release (surprised they haven't done
Ten yet), I really don't see it. it's absence here is pretty baffling, especially knowing a better copy elsewhere. it's not like
Certified Copy will get a 4K upgrade and that'll be included
Matt wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 4:04 am
domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
At first I was aghast at this price, but many of the Eclipse DVD sets are $70. The Louis Malle one is $80! Why did I remember them being low-risk blind-buys? I clearly had too much disposable income ~15 years ago.
it's funny how they always seemed cheaper but this really was hardly the case. I'm content with the pricing after coming to these realizations
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:28 pm
by domino harvey
Matt wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 4:04 am
domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 5:27 pm
Three discs, $70 MSRP by the way
At first I was aghast at this price, but many of the Eclipse DVD sets are $70. The Louis Malle one is $80! Why did I remember them being low-risk blind-buys? I clearly had too much disposable income ~15 years ago.
Pricing for the DVD Eclipses:
2 Discs —> $29.99
3 Discs —> $39.99 or $44.99
4 Discs —> $59.99
5 Discs —> $69.99
6 Discs —> $69.99 or $79.99
Not enough data yet as to the price structure of the Blu sets
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts and Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:37 pm
by swo17
This one's 3 discs but it may be more instructive to consider it as featuring nearly 10 hours of content
Re: Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami - Early Shorts & Features
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:55 pm
by dwk
ryannichols7 wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:28 pm
... (surprised they haven't done
Ten yet)...
Given the rape and, to a much lesser degree, plagiarism allegations, I'm not surprised that
Ten (and
10 on Ten) have been shelved.