In a press release, IFC Films laid out a number of films they'll be presenting through their various platforms of release, which includes theatrical, Festival Direct Video-On-Demand and their DVD rental partnership with Blockbuster (which seems to have stopped their releases of DVDs elsewhere, which is extremely disappointing). I use Netflix, and my cable provider doesn't offer Festival Direct... so I'm sort of fucked when it comes to their releases, but I have to hand it to them for getting so many films out there. Their 2009 release schedule includes:
Angel - dir. François Ozon - with Sam Neill, Charlotte Rampling, Michael FassbenderFrontier of the Dawn [La frontière de l'aube] - dir. Philippe Garrel - with Louis Garrel, Laura Smet
Summer Hours [L'heure d'été] - dir. Olivier Assayas - with Charles Berling, Juliette Binoche, Jérémie Renier
La belle personne - dir. Christophe Honoré - with Louis Garrel, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
Let It Rain [Parlez-moi de la pluie] - dir. Agnès Jaoui - with Agnès Jaoui
Days of Darkness [L'âge des ténèbres] - dir. Denys Arcand - with Diane Kruger, Rufus Wainwright, Emma de Caunes
Night and Day - dir. Hong Sang-soo
Disengagement [Désengagement] - dir. Amos Gitai - with Juliette Binoche, Jeanne Moreau
Dog Eat Dog [Perro come perro] - dir. Carlos Moreno
Everlasting Moments [Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick] - dir. Jan Troell
Fear Me Not [Den du frygter] - dir. Kristian Levring - with Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen
I'm Going to Explode [Voy a explotar] - dir. Gerardo Naranjo - with Daniel Giménez Cacho
The Man from London [A Londoni férfi] - dir. Béla Tarr - with Tilda Swinton
The Necessities of Life [Ce qu'il fait pour vivre] - dir. Benoît Pilon
Paris - dir. Cédric Klapisch - with Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, François Cluzet, Albert Dupontel, Karin Viard
When a Man Comes Home [En Mand kommer hjem] - dir. Thomas Vinterberg
White Night Wedding [Brúðguminn] - dir. Baltasar Kormákur - with Hilmir Snær Guðnason
A Year Ago in Winter [Im Winter ein Jahr] - dir. Caroline Link
Alexander the Last - dir. Joe Swanberg - with Jess Weixler, Justin Rice, Jane Adams, Josh Hamilton
Zift - dir. Javor Gardev
There are more titles at the link above, and I've also heard from elsewhere that Jean-Claude Brisseau's À l'aventure and Antti-Jussi Annila's Sauna are on the roster for 2009. I could be wrong, as I thought both Paris and Disengagement belonged to Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures Classics, respectively. Expect plenty more acquisitions throughout the year following 2009's big film festivals.
6 comments:
Thanks for the scoop, as always.
I'm excited to see these films getting picked up, but like you I'm quite ticked at their reluctance to allow for customers to actually own a copy of these movies.
By the way, Puffball is available on Netflix on demand.
Uck Fi-FC!
Wow, what a nice slate! I've been wanting to see Frontier of the Dawn and Man From London again, and I'm glad I'll finally get to see Night and Day. Amazing that nobody wants to pick up Headless Woman
Well, I would be really disappointed to hear if IFC wanted The Headless Woman for a VOD service. It demands to be seen on the big screen, and I might suggest the same for some of IFC's other planned VOD titles, but it's all about money.
In fact, I can't quite figure out which titles will be released theatrically and which won't.
The Tarr film belongs on the big screen. No question.
I'm really of two minds about this news -- I mean, IFC's taste is magnificent, but they've really made things tough for other distributors, myself included. There's just no way to compete with that VOD channel.
That said, it's a shame IFC's DVD releases are so....common. These films deserve to live on with something more memorable. More significant.
Agreed on all points, Andrew.
I suffered through watching Flight of the Red Balloon on their IFC in Theatres On Demand channel, which was in sub-DVD picture standards which is especially upsetting for a film as visually magnificent as that one.
And, as my cable provider doesn't offer the VOD channel, it does me no good... nor does their relationship with Blockbuster as I don't rent there either.
They can keep a film like Dog Eat Dog on their VOD for all I care, but when the only way to see the new Garrel or the new Tarr film is through the On Demand service, it's a real tragedy... even if it's great that these films are finally getting out there.
I'd imagine the VOD would make it especially hard for you, Andrew, which is really unfortunate.
Joe & Andrew,
My hope is that filmmakers stop selling their films to IFC for fear of a VOD purgatory. I'm not sure how these licenses work, but if I were Bela Tarr, I'd be pissed if MFL could only be seen on small screens. In fact, I'd deliver a massive whale to their offices.
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