For Grand Theft Auto V on the Xbox 360, FAQ/Walkthrough by Bkstunt Movie Mezzanine: Last week, @fauxbeatpoet wrapped up his coverage of the 2016 New York Film Festival with these capsules. No Home Video: On Women- Directed Films. Boutique labels- -including Criterion- -speak up about why there aren't more female- directed films on home media. In the last week, 3. Todd Haynes. Another fun Twitter search: . Cinephiles are an obsessive lot. We get excited about movies and in the process we become advocates. The more inaccessible or overlooked the film, the more ardent we become. We want others to share our excitement, but access is paramount, and nothing assures excitement around a film quite like a Criterion release. As Joe Rubin, co- founder of cult DVD label Vinegar Syndrome, puts it: . Last month, film critic Sophie Mayer analyzed Criterion. While Mayer notes a higher number of films are directed by women in mainstream film. That number is likely to be much lower than 7%. The 2. 6% number also doesn. While women directed movies in the early Hollywood era, the profession became mostly male territory by the 1. Ida Lupino). Even by the 1. There were also more notable films made by women in the 1. Even so, think of your favorite female- directed films: no matter which genre or country they hail from, the largest percentage were likely made in the 1. Despite the continuing gender bias, more women have been making movies of note in the last 3. This is an important factor to consider, as more than half of Criterion. Much of their library derives from a period when there were generally fewer working female filmmakers. Instead of relying on statistics to examine Criterion. No matter what the numbers, statistics, or decades show, given their power, Criterion would go a long way in challenging the canon by releasing more titles made by women. But the reality is that releasing films from a smaller demographic is much more difficult than one might imagine. Last week, I queried Twitter for female- directed titles that should get the Criterion treatment. Great responses poured in, among them the films of Dorothy Arzner and Maya Deren, Claire Denis. Some of these films, however, are already. We had to restore them ourselves. Keeping the operation small has allowed them to find, restore, and release films that would otherwise never see the light of day. Putting out a dream title is not as simple as posting on Facebook or tweeting a favorite. It can take years, even decades, before a distributor has everything in place. Some issues these companies commonly encounter relate to licensing rights, obtaining access to full prints, and financing or finding a co- financier for a restoration. Other rights owners may be difficult to work with or demand too much money. Each film has a different set of circumstances surrounding its release. Studio licensing is a common roadblock for certain distributors specializing in classic Hollywood. While a company like Criterion has been able to sub- license classic films from Hollywood studios and give them the deluxe treatment, there are still hundreds more collecting dust in vaults because they. Twilight Time is one such distributor: While they. They expect a certain return on investment, so it isn. This is why sub- licensing is so important. If you give DVD distributors a chance to beautify a beloved classic, everyone benefits: the studio, the DVD distributor, and cinephiles alike. Another potential deal- breaker is a distributor. For Rubin, access can be difficult, given that Vinegar Syndrome specializes in exploitation, sexploitation, and hardcore films, which can be harder to find than your average studio title. This includes the work of female directors, who for the most part were few and far between in the genres and decades Vinegar Syndrome specializes in. There are barely a handful of names. While Rubin had bought the rights for three of Rothman. But by coincidence, Rubin met Rothman through a mutual friend who was trying to help her track down the rights owners to her films. Rothman had managed to find the prints for the other two missing films, and they. Distributors advocate for little- known films that may also be possibly unprofitable. He likes the idea that there. Over the years, Heller has noticed that films made by women have definitely resulted in less- than- enthusiastic reactions. When Milestone puts out a film by a woman, . The vast majority of people obsessively discussing home- video releases on the Internet are men. These collections allow Wood to release multiple rare gems. Which takes us back to the matter of canon. Why do film critics care how many films Criterion is releasing made by women, instead of by large companies like Kino, or small niche labels like Vinegar Syndrome? While the collection has many blind spots, Criterion. By offering a little bit of everything, it can more easily present itself as a definitive canon. The level of prestige Criterion carries is so high that it can easily challenge the male- dominated film canon as we know it, exposing a much larger number of cinephiles to female- directed films. Most DVD distributors can. While many companies, Criterion included, will restore at least some of their films through the assistance of other organizations, Criterion will always have more money to finish a top- notch restoration than most other DVD labels. Creating special features can also be expensive, so for many labels it boils down to budget. In that case, a company may instead decide to invest funds into a plethora of special features to satisfy a customer, since they know that no matter how much money the company dumps into trying to restore something, it can never be perfect. In addition to commissioning essays, Keller was known for translating French criticism to be included in the Masters of Cinema booklets, including materials from Cahiers du Cin. This helps guide the couple in determining what special features should go on the disc. They research and help create materials that will provide the viewer with as much cultural, historical, and political context that. But the more you learn about the hard work that other DVD distributors put into their own releases, the more you want to challenge cinephiles. When a film comes out on another label, featuring a beautifully restored transfer and enlightening special features, is all that. But if people really care about finding these films, they need to look a little wider. To be sure, Criterion is the best in the business, and still worth celebrating. We live in an age where virtually everything is available to us at our fingertips. If we want to be advocates for women- directed films, it. In the process of researching, reporting, and writing this piece, Tina Hassannia reached out to the Criterion Collection for a response regarding its catalog titles written and/or directed by women. Peter Becker, president of the Criterion Collection, responded in detail; we have included his response as a separate post, and thank him for his honest and thorough comments.
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