[KineJapan] Edward Yang's Yi Yi

Mon Mar 21 23:45:47 EDT 2016

Thanks Eija, Michael, and Stephen for your helpful advices!

Yes, what I wanted to know was who could give me permission for the screening of this film in the US. And following Stephen’s suggestion, I already contacted Pony Canyon, but not using the intl at ponycanyon.co.jp <mailto:intl at ponycanyon.co.jp> address which is notorious for replying so slowly. Instead, I simply called the company and talked directly to the person in charge. That person implied there would be some conflicts regarding oversea distribution, but promised to get back to me with more detailed information. 

I will keep you posted about what would happen with this endeavor. Another film to be screened at UCSB this May is Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film Cemetery of Splendor (2015), and everything has been cleared on this side.

Best,
Naoki

> On Mar 21, 2016, at 8:09 PM, Stephen Cremin <stephen at asianfilm.info> wrote:
> 
> Thanks, Michael
> 
> And it’s possible Criterion purchased ALL rights, rather than just home video rights. It just simplified things even if one has no plan for theatrical distribution.
> 
> Naoki, keep us updated.
> 
> Stephen
> 
> 
> On 22 March 2016 at 10:32, Michael Kerpan <mekerpan2 at gmail.com <mailto:mekerpan2 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Since Criterion released Yi Yi on Blu-Ray not all that long ago, I
> would think they might know who has US screen rights.
> 
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 10:27 PM, Stephen Cremin <stephen at asianfilm.info <mailto:stephen at asianfilm.info>> wrote:
> > There’s confusion here over regional rights.
> >
> > Pony Canyon were the major investor of the film, and may have financed it
> > 100% (or with some small help from Tokyo-based Omega Project), after other
> > investors pulled out after the Asian financial crisis. The project was
> > announced at a press conference in Busan as one of three films by Stanley
> > Kwan, Edward Yang and Iwai Shunji.
> >
> > So, yes, Pony Canyon likely own the global rights to Yang’s film.
> >
> > While Naoko asks for the “currently copyright holder”, what she needs is
> > “currently copyright holder in the United States”. I’m travelling and don’t
> > have access to last year’s Busan catalogue, but the information inside may
> > not be relevant since the “Print Source” is likely a local (not US)
> > copyright holder or Pony Canyon itself.
> >
> > Pony Canyon did early on hire London-based sales agency Capitol Films to
> > handle the film’s global rights, but I’m sure that deal has expired.
> > Similarly, Capitol initially licensed it to Winstar Cinema in the US, but
> > it’s unlikely that contract lasted more than 15 years, and rights would have
> > reverted to Pony Canyon.
> >
> > Perhaps the “unspecified complication” was the screening fee. If there is a
> > US copyright holder, Pony Canyon will tell you, since it’s not worth their
> > trouble to collect small screening fees from around the world for one-off
> > screenings, particularly late in a film’s life. You’ll likely have to pay
> > something to screen it.
> >
> > For many years, the hardest place to see the film was actually Taiwan, where
> > there had been no public screening or release. But there was a very cheap
> > (legal) Hong Kong DVD - I paid HK$18 or US$2.35 - that film-lovers would
> > bring back. It later screened as the closing film at a Hou
> > Hsiao-hsien-organised festival; only I think after Yang’s death.
> >
> > In summary, contact Pony Canyon (intl at ponycanyon.co.jp <mailto:intl at ponycanyon.co.jp>). This is one example
> > where they absolutely deserve any screening fee since they really stepped up
> > and got this film made when they could have easily dropped the project. It
> > only exists because of them. The Iwai film - a dystopian English-language
> > science fiction film - was never made.
> >
> > Stephen
> >
> >
> > On 22 March 2016 at 08:48, Eija Niskanen <eija.niskanen at gmail.com <mailto:eija.niskanen at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Naoki,
> >> there was an Edward Yang retrospective at Busan Film Festival last year,
> >> so they must know the rights owner.
> >> Best,
> >> Eija
> >>
> >> Naoki Yamamoto <naokiya at gmail.com <mailto:naokiya at gmail.com>> kirjoitti 22.3.2016 kello 9.26:
> >>
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> I know this might be a bit off-topic to to this forum, but could anyone on
> >> the list tell me who’s the current copyright holder of Edward Yang’s Yi Yi
> >> (2000)? I plan to screen this wonderful film at UCSB in this coming May,
> >> borrowing its 35mm print from Yale’s film archive. But the Yale’s archivist
> >> recently told me that there’s actually some unspecified “complication” with
> >> the rights to the film, and for this reason, Pony Canyon, the Japanese
> >> comply that claimed to be the film’s copyright holder, could not give them
> >> permission for a screening back in 2014.
> >>
> >> Are there anyone who recently screened this film at a film festival or any
> >> public setting? If so, could you kindly help me solve this complication?
> >>
> >> All the best,
> >> Naoki
> >>
> >> Naoki Yamamoto
> >> Assistant Professor
> >> Film and Media Studies
> >> University of California, Santa Barbara
> >> yamamoto at filmandmedia.ucsb.edu <mailto:yamamoto at filmandmedia.ucsb.edu>
> >>
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