The BFI has announced a home entertainment slate from April to June. Among a collection of titles that are typically diverse and interesting, the main events include the latest addition to the BFI cult label Flipside, I’ll start counting, the contemporary and themed drama County lines, the second volume of Play for today BBC TV plays and the famous film Spike Lee Jungle Fever. This is the full version, with all titles now available to order online from the BFI Store.
April 19th
Blu-ray: Young Jenny Agutter, in one of her earliest film roles, appears in a British cult classic I’ll start counting. A grim tale coming of age like nothing else, this grim thrush is on display in a new 2K update and is the latest addition to the Bips Flipside mast that has been long gone. The film has never gone out for home entertainment in the UK and is in high demand. Highlights to be released in the UK will include a new interview with Jonny Trunk about Basil Kirchin’s soundtrack, and a selection of rare archive films about New Town’s post-war dream.
Blu-ray / DVD: April will also see the acclaimed first feature of writer / director Henry Blake County lines comes to Blu-ray and DVD in dual-format editing. Blistering contemporary drama, nominated by BIFA, inspired by real events and described by Mark Kermode as “a scary but pitiful portrayal of a headline scandal”, short films by Henry Blake and audio re-recording .
May 17th
Blu-ray: BFI designation of the BBC geography series Play for today followed by a second collection of amazing events. Over three discs, Play for today: Book Two featuring six other plays broadcast between 1972 and 1979 including Peter McDougall’s plays Elephant Cemetery (with Billy Connolly) and Just a boy game (starring Frankie Miller) and in-demand people The Spongers, all available on Blu-ray for the first time.
Blu-ray: Radio On, Chris Petit’s grim combination of an edgy mystery story and a live road movie, is getting its first UK Blu-ray release. A bona fide cult classic, with music from the likes of David Bowie and Kraftwerk and an early on-screen appearance with Sting, the film remains one of the most exciting British cinema shows and is being screened in re- new 4K writing made by the BFI.
Blu-ray: Interracial romance causes social unrest in Spike Lee attractive and inspiring Jungle Fever. Featuring an all-star cast of Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Anthony Quinn, Halle Berry and Samuel L Jackson, the film reaches BFI Blu-ray thirty years after its release out of the beginning.
Blu-ray: Experimental Pat Murphy and John Davis Maeve getting their first home show. Substituting a female alternative to the usual narrative of The Troubles, this much-watched gem of 1980s independent films is full of debate and controversy, and ripe for re-enactment. lorg.
June 21st
Blu-ray: Mira Nair’s haunting picture of child poverty, Salaam Bombay! coming to Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. As a BAFTA and Oscar nominee, the film is an unmistakable portrayal of the plight of thousands of children displaced on the streets of Mumbai and remains a powerful and influential piece of over 30 years since it was originally released.
Blu-ray: The electronic stars Anna May Wong in EA Dupont’s sumbuous melodrama Piccadilly, updated by the BFI National Archives. A late landmark of Britain’s silent cinema, something with sexual and racial tension, and featuring an early screen show by Charles Laughton, it is accompanied by Neil Brand’s famous 2004 score.
Blu-ray / DVD: Previously announced, but with a new release date, Friendship Death the Tilda Swinton stars as an out-of-earth android discussing the big questions of life with a British war journalist, played by Bill Paterson, in Peter Wollen’s compelling science fiction film, retrieved in 4K by the BFI National Archive.
Each of these notices will include a selection of special features and an illustrated booklet (first press only) to provide contextual information. Full details of the special features will be available closer to release dates.
All titles can now be pre-ordered online from the BFI Store and other home entertainment online retailers.
Note that the intended distribution of Targets (directed by Peter Bogdanovich), originally planned for release in March 2021, has now moved back to later in the year with the exact date announced later. time.