The golden disc fair
Posted on 15.10.2023
It has become a not-to-be-missed event and a meeting place for heritage film publishers and their audiences. For the 5th annual Publishers’ DVD fair we asked five of the twenty-four publishers present - three independents, one group and one public service representative - to talk about their work.
Does it really make sense to work in physical video? Does this format have a future?
Bernard Delerue, Arte Editions: It's true that the physical video market has been decreasing for a number of years, but certain niches remain dynamic, and heritage cinema is one of them.
Carine Bach and Patrice Verry, Extralucid films: Physical video is a passionate vocation. You might have long hours and you can't expect to get rich, but our love of the medium means that we're convinced it will be able to reinvent itself and survive for a long time to come.
Manuel Chiche, The Jokers: As long as there are people who closely or remotely can be associated with the word cinephile (and who still have enough space to store DVDs), there will be a future. A bright one, no. But a future, nonetheless.
Paul Richer, UFO distribution: If it's unreasonable, it's for the sake of my company! Physical publishing (DVD, vinyl) is in our DNA. And just like vinyl is making a comeback, we'd like to think that physical video will do the same.
Jean Ziemniak, Pathé vidéo: It may even make even more sense to work in physical video today, particularly in the heritage film segment, which is holding up better and has even reported growth since 2018. Finally, the 4K UHD physical medium still offers the best possible experience, both in terms of image and sound. Because very often, even the 4K programmes offered by streaming platforms are compressed due to insufficient Internet bandwidth.
Which publications are you most proud of and why?
Arte Editions: The work carried out over many years with Agnès and Rosalie Varda on the Varda and Demy catalogues, or the work done on the films of Costa-Gavras, always in close collaboration with the directors or rights holders. More recently, the box set Truffaut - La Passion cinéma, co-published with Atelier d'images!
Extralucid films: Virgins (Keren Ben Rafael, 2018) because it's the first release in our Extramonde collection. When we launched the company in 2019, I immediately wanted to support this film. It also marks the start of a lovely series of editions devoted to first works, and notably films directed by women: River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt), Babyteeth (Shannon Murphy) and soon to be released, Huesera: The Bone Woman (Michelle Garza Cervera). We would also like to mention Assa (Sergey Solovyov, 1987), where we discovered the heady cold-wave of the group Kino and its charismatic leader Victor Tsoï, the star of Leto.
UFO distribution: Our first edition, in 2013: The Bill Douglas Trilogy. It's every publisher's dream to help discover a filmmaker, offer the public a beautiful release and achieve success. The editions of Bertrand Mandico's first two films, The Wild Boys and After Blue. An opportunity to support an exceptional filmmaker in every sense of the word.
Pathé vidéo: We are particularly proud of the Pathé Restorations collection because it reflects the diversity of our catalogue, which includes "rediscovered treasures" such as Abel Gance's The Wheel (1923) in 2020 and, more recently, Henri Desfontaines' cine-novel Belphégor/The Mystery of the Louvre (1927); iconic films such as Melville's Le Samouraï, which will be released in a numbered collector's edition in late November; and even comedies, as shown by the special event release of Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra by Alain Chabat this December.
The next release you're basing all your hopes on?
Arte Editions: The Delphine Seyrig box set, which premiered in Lyon but will be released on 7 November! And, of course, the complete Michael Haneke collection on twelve Blu-rays two weeks later, which we hope will be buoyed by the four previously unreleased films in the box set.
Extralucid films: For the holiday season, we will be releasing four collector's editions of Dario Argento movies. We're very proud to be able to promote the second half of his career, which we think is often underestimated. We already published Trauma last year, which was a great success, and now we're completing the maestro's oeuvre with The Stendhal Syndrome, Sleepless, The Card Player and his latest film, Dark Glasses!
The Jokers: Always the new one, because we're always trying to do better. So this lovely box set of four swordplay films by Kenji Misumi, with booklet and documentary. And then the monster edition of The Host. In UHD. I love this format.
UFO distribution: The upcoming one, of course! Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist, which will be available for pre-order at the DVD fair. This is the director's last major interview, where he looks back at his masterpiece with a vast amount of archival footage. Friedkin, as usual, is fascinating and displays the humility the greats are known for.
Pathé vidéo: We have plans to release a number of restored editions in 2024. For example, Ces Messieurs de la Santé by Pière Colombier, a 1934 satirical comedy starring Raimu as a banker on the run, presented at Cannes Classics this year; or Cinq tulipes rouges by Jean Stelli, an original crime film set in the midst of the Tour de France, screened at this year's festival in the Lumière Classics section!
Interview by A. F.
From 10.30 am to 7.30 pm, in the village of the International Classic Film Market. Free admission.
ATTENDED BY 24 PUBLISHERS:
ARTE ÉDITIONS / ARTUS FILMS / CARLOTTA FILMS /CULTPIX AB / EPICENTRE FILMS ÉDITION / ESC ÉDITIONS / EXTRALUCID FILMS / GAUMONT VIDÉO / JHR FILMS / JOUR2FÊTE / L’ATELIER D’IMAGES / LA TRAVERSE / LES ALCHIMISTES / LES ANNÉES LASER / MALAVIDA / PATHÉ FILMS / POTEMKINE FILMS / RE:VOIR / RIMINI ÉDITIONS / SIDONIS PRODUCTION / SPECTRUM FILMS / TAMASA DISTRIBUTION / THE JOKERS FILMS / UFO DISTRIBUTION
