[KineJapan] Holder of Mizoguchi rights

Eija Niskanen eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi
Mon Jun 2 08:03:39 EDT 2014


Hmm, I think all the prints that the Finnish KAVI screened, were 35mm. I
doubt there are any DCP prints of Mizoguchi... Film archive theaters always
have all the screening formats, 35mm, 16mm, DCP, and some HDCAM or similar.
Or does the NFC Kyobashi theater have DCP?
Eija


2014-06-02 14:09 GMT+03:00 Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>:

>
> I think you've hit upon an interesting point, Sten.
> Very few venues in Europe now are capable of projecting 35mm, having torn
> out all their projectors to be replaced with 35mm (even such an important
> archive as the Imperial War Museum in London no longer has the facilities
> to project from film), and even those places that can tend to be
> increasingly discouraging programmers from showing prints (in this recent
> interview I did with Mirai Mizue, he mentions the struggle he had
> persuading Berlin Film Festival to screen his new film WONDER from 35mm:
> http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/interviews/free-anime-mizue-mirai-wizard-blobs-blocks
> )
>
> But the other crucial aspect is that no Japanese studio is going to spend
> the money digitising films unless they actively want to promote particular
> directors or titles - so for example the Kinoshita retro at FilmEx a few
> years back seemed primarily an excuse to get this director back in the
> limelight again. Meanwhile Kurosawa and Ozu continue to be popular
> internationally, so there's an ongoing process of digitally "restoring"
> these works. And there was that digital restoration of JIGOKUMON a few
> years back which seemed motivated by the idea of getting this historically
> very important work  back into the international eye.
>
> However, two things strike me is that firstly Kadokawa don't really seem
> very interested in making Daiei's back catalogue available for overseas
> viewers, nor particularly knowledgeable about what they have. Secondly,
> someone whose word I would trust in the international sales wing of a major
> Japanese studio pointed out that under Japanese copyright law, with
> Mizoguchi dead now for over 50 years, his films are effectively public
> domain. So the money you are spending is really licensing the physical
> carrier medium of the films rather than the creative contents of the films
> themselves. If you can get hold of a print, you shouldn't have to pay
> Kadokawa, Kokusai Hoei, Shochiku or whoever just for licensing fees,. But
> if you want access a print, you will have to pay them for the print rental.
>
> Now whether this is true, I can't guarantee, but it has interesting
> implications for what is selected for digital "restoration" to be made
> available for international festivals or retrospectives, therefore
> radically re-shaping the canon. If there's no money to be made from
> Mizoguchi's films, then no one will go to the bother of making them
> available in the way Shochiku did with Kinoshita's films.
> One suggestion though- you could screen from Bluray from the films Masters
> of Cinema have made available, and with most European cinemas only equipped
> with 2K projectors anyway, there would be no less quality than a DCP. In
> this instance, you'd be paying Eureka, I guess, for using their materials.
>
>
>
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> Sharp. *
>
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>
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>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 13:35:00 +0300
> From: sten at niijanaa.net
> To: kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu; quentin.turnour at nfsa.gov.au
> CC: kinejapan-bounces+quentin.turnour=
> nfsa.gov.au at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
>
> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Holder of Mizoguchi rights
>
> Hello all,
> many thanks for your suggestions regarding the rights - Ill contact
> Kadokawa and Shochiku once the lineup has been verified.
>
> As to difficulties with NFC and in response to Mark and Quentin - the
> biggest issue lies in the fact that since most of cinemas in Europe are now
> digitised to DCP projection, there is a scarce of venues which can show
> 35mm, especially from the two-turret system as required by NFC to preserve
> the prints. Both print handling difficulties with platter based projection,
> and attractiveness of the venues (as filmotheques tend to cater to older
> audiences or fans)
> --
> Sten-Kristian Saluveer
> Creative Director / Partner
> Niijanaa Films
> ph Japan + 818044345242
> ph Europe +3725165242
> sten at niijanaa.net
> Skype: stenskype
> www.niijanaa.net
>
> And of course, we all know the reluctance of Japanese distributors to
> digitalise the films even if there is a demand from market / fest circuit.
>
> With best wishes,
> Sten
>
> --
> Sten-Kristian Saluveer
> Sent with Airmail
>
> On 2 Jun 2014 at 10:12:58, Quentin Turnour (quentin.turnour at nfsa.gov.au)
> wrote:
>
> I probably don't want  to revive the last debate here about the NFC's
> openness to access requests - the mention of their name seems to get a few
> amongst our community a little itchy - but getting prints out of the Japan
> Foundation is now harder than the NFC. The JF no longer typically consider
> one-off print loans of their 35mm titles and access is normally only  in
> packages and as part of their annual funding processes. You're only work
> around might be a good contact in a  local Embassy or Consulate willing to
> arrange a loan.
>
> You will find that sourcing prints from most European archival sources
> (and I know there are quite a few good sources in European archives and
> cinematheques) won't be cheap either. As well  Kadokawa's licensing fee
> (probably at least USD600 per screening), most European archives will ask
> their own access fees, with the BFI's starting at  UKS100. Sadly its the
> costs of doing retrospective screening business; we at the NFSA in
> Australia have a few Mizoguchi prints and would also ask at least AUD200 in
> addition to the licensing arrangement -  with your only work-around maybe
> being if you have the patronage of a FIAF affliated archive who will allow
> you to waive the access fee. Also remember that most film archives will
> place restrictions on how you can project the prints. And in IHMO not a few
> of the continental archives can be just as hard to contact as the NFC (or
> are even harder to crack).
>
> Janus films have Nth American rights a number of Mizoguchis, but are
> unlikely to let them out beyond the US and Canada.
>
> Remember also that some of Mizoguchi's key films were produced for at
> least released by other companies beside Daiei. From memory OHARU was made
> for Shintoho (does Kokusai Hoei  now have their rights?) whilst, UTAMARO,
> 47 RONIN THE STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUMS and a few other titles for
> Shochiku.
>
>
>
> Best wishes
>
> Quentin Turnour, Manager, Arc Canberra Cinema Programs,
> National Film and Sound Archive of Australia,
> quentin.turnour at nfsa.gov.au
> Fax: +61 2 6249 8159
> Ph +61 2 6248 2054
> Mob: + 61 4 428 368908
> [Please note that I am often absent Mondays]
>
>
>
>
>
> From:        Rob Smith <robixsmash at gmail.com>
> To:        Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <
> kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>,
> Date:        02/06/2014 04:24 PM
> Subject:        Re: [KineJapan] Holder of Mizoguchi rights
> Sent by:        kinejapan-bounces+quentin.turnour=
> nfsa.gov.au at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> The museum of the moving image in New York has a Mizoguchi retrospective
> going on right now. Perhaps their programmer might be able to help.
> *http://www.movingimage.us/films/2014/05/02/detail/mizoguchi/*
> <http://www.movingimage.us/films/2014/05/02/detail/mizoguchi/>
> On Jun 2, 2014 2:22 AM, "Eija Niskanen" <*eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi*
> <eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi>> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Finnish Audio-Visual Institute (former Finnish Film Archive) has screened
> several Mizoguchi classics during the past years - I subbed some of them
> into Finnish). You could contact them to ask the print sources and they
> might even hold a print or two.
>
> *www.kavi.fi* <http://www.kavi.fi/>
>
> Eija
>
>
> 2014-06-02 8:47 GMT+03:00 Mark Roberts <*mroberts37 at mail-central.com*
> <mroberts37 at mail-central.com>>:
> Dear Sten,
>
> Others can add more detail, but I believe most everything in the former
> Daiei catalog now belongs to Kadokawa.
>
> I understand your reservations about the NFC. They no longer seem
> interested in working with festivals.
>
> Have you considered the Japan Foundation as a source?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Mark Roberts
> Research Fellow, UTCP
> *http://utcp.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/data/mark_roberts/index_en.php*
> <http://utcp.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/data/mark_roberts/index_en.php>
>
>
>
> On Jun 2, 2014, at 2:40 PM, Sten-Kristian Saluveer (Gmail) wrote:
>
> Dear Kinejapaners,
> I hope you'd be able to help with a small help request.
> Namely, I am asked to help a colleague from the Baltics with a small
> retrospective of Mizoguchi and wonder if someone could point me to the
> Japanese rightsholder.
> As far as I remember the latter films of his were Daiei, but I'm not sure
> if his catalog was transferred to Kadokawa later.
>
> By any chance are there good quality prints in BFI or other European
> archives as I fear dealing with NFC and their print fees and procedures
> could be a bit too much for the organizers.
>
> With many thanks in advance
> Sten Saluveer
>> Sent from *Mailbox* <https://www.dropbox.com/mailbox>for iPhone
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