[KineJapan] Question about finding DVD regions

[Molly Des Jardin]

David and Stephen,

Thanks for the explanation about Hong Kong films; I wasn’t aware they are typically region-all.

We do have region-free players at the library and in classrooms generally, but because many people do not have them at home or are watching on their computers, it’s always preferable to get region-all or region 1 for their home use if it’s available. That’s why I thought I’d try to check around before purchasing the region 3 DVD. As I mentioned, we are able to get more and more region-all Korean DVDs these days through purchases as well as donations, so that’s really helpful. Not typically the case for Japan, where we almost always buy region 2.

When things aren’t available on DVD or through a (usually American) company’s streaming institutional subscription, we unfortunately have little opportunity to formally collect them for the library. I would of course be interested to get Chinese films dealing with Japan if they were available in a format we could accession — and you’re right, these things disappear without someone (institutional or otherwise) preserving them actively. It’s very frustrating.

Thank you for the note about Assassination! I saw its poster the other day, and didn’t know it was coming to the US.

Molly

On Aug 11, 2015, at 11:56 AM, Stephen Cremin <stephen at asianfilm.info> wrote:

> The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong in April through Intercontinental, who released it on DVD in July. But YesAsia.com (who sell the DVD) claim it's Region 3. Maybe your best option is to get a Region-free player for Penn Libraries. Otherwise, you're keep going to keep hitting such problems. CJ Entertainment America probably gave it a small theatrical release in the US, but they may not have decided to release it on DVD. With the collapse of the DVD market in South Korea, it's still a miracle that DVDs are coming out there at all.
> 
> How are you collecting Mainland Chinese films that touch on Japan issues? They aren't released on DVD because there's isn't a market. They're available legally on streaming sites, but such sites are increasingly blocking viewers (including paying subscribers) from accessing them from outside China. And then they can drop off those streaming sites at any time, due to licensing terms expiring, etc. For all researchers, it's a worrying time with more and more films now only available on expiring Vimeo links from sales agents and producers.
> 
> We talk about the early decades of cinema being lost. But some films that are less than ten years old are now inaccessible (with or without English subtitles).
> 
> Stephen 
> 
> PS: Another Korean film with Japanese elements, ASSASSINATION, just opened in the US through Well Go USA, so there should be a DVD of that in the coming months.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 11:14 PM, Desser, David M <desser at illinois.edu> wrote:
> 
> Korean movies are region-3. Movies released through Hong Kong distributors are typically region-all. 
> 
> David Desser 
> ________________________________________ 
> From: KineJapan [kinejapan-bounces at lists.osu.edu] on behalf of Molly Des Jardin [mollydes at upenn.edu] 
> Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 7:08 AM 
> To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum 
> Subject: [KineJapan] Question about finding DVD regions 
> 
> Good morning all, 
> 
> I have a question for you that is more film related than Japan related. I’m trying to find the Korean film “Ode to My Father” (2014) on a region-free DVD release for the Penn Libraries. I looked on IMDB where I did not see the info I was looking for. I’m not sure where else to look on the web to see what regions the film has been released in on DVD. Often, Korean DVDs are English subtitled and Region 0 so they can be played anywhere, but this one is advertised on American Amazon as Region 3. I’m embarrassed to say that my Korean language skills aren’t up to reading through somewhere like Yes24.com, as I would with Japanese. 
> 
> Any light someone could shed on this process would be very helpful for my future film searches too, for both Japan and Korea! 
> 
> Thank you, 
> 
> Molly C. Des Jardin, PhD 
> Japanese Studies Librarian 
> University of Pennsylvania 
> 527 Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center 
> 3420 Walnut Street 
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206 
> Tel: 215-898-3205 
> Fax: 215-898-0559 
> mollydes at upenn.edu 
> 
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