Milestone Films Official Thread

[Rayjg]

Wow, that's quite a history for this film.

[Gacivory]

New Charles Burnett!!!!!! Yes!!!

[MifuneFan]

Bushman (1971) coming to Blu-ray on April 2nd. Looks to have a nice set of extras, including 2 documentaries, and commentary tracks.

https://kinolorber.com/product/bushman-1

In 1968, Peace Corps veteran David Schickele enlisted his friend Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam to star in a light-hearted comedy about the adventures of a young Nigerian intellectual in San Francisco. Using a docu-fictional style reminiscent of Cassavetes' Shadows, the film observes the foibles of late 1960s African-American culture with an outsider's incisive eye. The result is a vibrant snapshot of the nation's racial politics, from interracial romance to cross-cultural misunderstandings and countercultural joy. The film morphs into a documentary when the director's voice abruptly intrudes to narrate its star’s enraging fate: Okpokam was accused of a crime he did not commit and was thrown in prison before being expelled from the country.

Bushman has been restored by the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and The Film Foundation. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Additional support provided by Peter Conheim, Cinema Preservation Alliance. A Milestone Films & Video and Kino Lorber Release.

Product Extras:

• Give Me a Riddle (a documentary by David Schickele, 1966, 67 minutes)
• Tuscarora (a documentary by David Schickele, 1992, 58 minutes)
• Audio commentary by film historian Daniel Kremer and filmmaker Rob Nilsson
• Audio commentary of an archival interview

Bushman – Official Re-Release Trailer - YouTube

[MifuneFan]

Nancy Savoca's Household Saints (1993) coming from Milestone Films on April 23rd. It's sourced from a new 4K restoration. It has lots of extrsa, including, and interestingly, a new interview with Savoca and Lili Taylor that is courtesy of The Criterion Collection. I assume it was conducted the same time they did an interview for CC's upcoming release of Dogfight.

Extras

• Renata (1982, Nancy Savoca’s student film)
• Bad Timing (1983, Nancy Savoca’s student film)
• The Many Miracles of Household Saints (2023, making-of documentary by Martina Savoca-Guay)
• Archival interviews with Jonathan Demme, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tracey Ullman, Lili Taylor,
• Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay, Judith Malina, Peter Newman
• New interview with Nancy Savoca and Lili Taylor by Richard Guay (Courtesy of and © The Criterion Collection)

Nancy Savoca’s star-studded indie gem Household Saints is a chronicle of a spirited Italian-American New York family that perfectly balances humor, tragedy, and pathos. Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D’Onofrio) is a butcher with a wicked sense of humor who “wins” his wife Catherine (a stellar Tracey Ullman) in a pinochle game. Over the protests of his mother (Judith Malina) who talks to ghosts and makes deals with saints, Joseph marries Catherine. When the old lady dies, her spirit is channeled into her granddaughter Teresa who yearns to serve God. Perfectly embodying a modernday Bernadette, Lili Taylor imbues Teresa with a mix of dedicated innocence and naïveté. Executive produced by Jonathan Demme, with memorable performances from Michael Imperioli, Michael Rispoli and Victor Argo, Household Saints showcases a unique voice in 1990s independent filmmaking. Household Saints has been digitally restored and remastered by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in collaboration with Milestone Films with support from Ron and Suzanne Naples. Restoration Supervisor: Ross Lipman, Corpus Fluxus. Picture Restoration: Illuminate Hollywood. Sound Restoration: Audio Mechanics.

Household Saints Trailer - YouTube

[Bruhingtonbruh]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Nancy Savoca's Household Saints (1993) coming from Milestone Films on April 23rd. It's sourced from a new 4K restoration. It has lots of extrsa, including, and interestingly, a new interview with Savoca and Lili Taylor that is courtesy of The Criterion Collection. I assume it was conducted the same time they did an interview for CC's upcoming release of Dogfight.

Household Saints Trailer - YouTube

Extremely excited for this release! Discovered it in a thrift store years ago on VHS. Apparently the Vhs is super coveted and goes for a grip. To see this obscure vhs only film finally get revived onto blu ray and in 4k is a miracle in itself!

[MifuneFan]

Bless Their Little Hearts (1984) coming August 6th.

https://kinolorber.com/product/bless...-little-hearts

A key masterpiece of the L.A. Rebellion, Bless Their Little Hearts distills the social concerns and aesthetics of that trailblazing movement in African American cinema. Searching for steady work, Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) views his chronic unemployment as a kind of spiritual trial. But selling a few catfish can’t sustain a family of five while his wife, Andais (Kaycee Moore), works to support them with dignity. Unable to face his own failures, Charlie finds solace in an affair that threatens his marriage, children, and everything he holds dear. Bless Their Little Hearts showcases director Billy Woodberry’s attentive eye and sensitivity to real-life issues, making for an agonizingly beautiful film that ranks as “one of the great domestic cataclysms of modern movies” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker). Film restoration by Ross Lipman with Billy Woodberry at UCLA Film & Television Archive. 2K Digital restoration by Re-Kino, Warsaw.

Extras

• Audio commentary by film scholar Ed Guererro
• The Pocketbook (1980, Billy Woodberry’s first film)
• Workshop with Billy Woodberry (courtesy of Indiana University Black Film Center/Archive)
• Billy and Charles: Ross Lipman’s interview
• Interview with Ed Guererro
• Bless Their Little Hearts behind-the-scenes photos courtesy of Billy Woodberry
• Booklet with essays by filmmaker Allison Anders and Cornell University professor Samantha N. Sheppard.

BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS official trailer - YouTube

[OceanBlue]

Thanks for posting the above MifuneFan, a helpful reminder for me to add Bless Their Little Hearts to my Blu-ray film titles want list (had forgot to add the title to it after first reading about it in the main Kino Lorber thread).

[SanCarolina59]

The Dragon Painter (1919) is coming September 24, 2024 in a release absolutely loaded with extras (including two additional feature films with Sessue Hayakawa and a feature length documentary):

Sessue Hayakawa (The Bridge on the River Kwai) plays Tatsu, a painter-turned-hermit living in the wilds of Japan. Thought mad by local villagers, he truly believes that his princess fiancée has been captured by a dragon, an obsession that leads him daily to artistic inspiration. When a surveyor comes across Tatsu while trekking across the mountains, he informs famed artist Kano Indara about his discovery. Kano is desperate to find an heir to teach his art, but when Tatsu meets Kano’s daughter (Tsuru Aoki) and sees only his lost princess, a clash of wills brings the household to the brink of disaster. Long considered lost, THE DRAGON PAINTER survives today as a tribute to Hayakawa’s talents and a shining example of Asian-American cinema.

2023 4K digital restoration by San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Eye Filmmuseum, and George Eastman Museum. The film was photochemically restored by AFI in 1988. However, this new restoration features recently discovered additional footage located at Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam that greatly enhances the storyline of Umé-ko, portrayed by Hayakawa’s real-life wife Tsuru Aoki. Restoring the film today with modern restoration tools enabled an additional level of cleaning and repair resulting in a final version that more closely resembles the original appearance.

Product Extras :

Two scores for The Dragon Painter – by Mas Koga and Makia Matsumura
Reconstructing The Dragon Painter (2024, 66 min.)
His Birthright (1918, 47 min., starring Sessue Hayakawa)
The Man Beneath (1919, 66 min., starring Sessue Hayakawa)
Illustrated booklet
Optional Dutch, French, German and Spanish subtitles

[MifuneFan]

Naked Acts (1986) coming to Blu-ray from Milestone Films on February 11th. It's sourced from a new 4K restoration.

https://kinolorber.com/product/naked-acts-1

Celebrated as a key film in the canon of independent cinema by African Americans in the 1990s, Bridgett M. Davis’s Naked Acts was included in the seminal anthology “The 50 Most Influential Black Films” by S. Torriano Berry. Beautiful aspiring actor Cicely (Jake-ann Jones) has just landed her first major role, but there’s a big problem: it requires a nude scene. Her mother was a Blaxploitation star known for her sex appeal, while Cicely is a survivor of sexual assault with life-long body image issues, all of which has left her with a strong aversion to disrobing in public. Now, with the support of her boyfriend Joel (Ron Cephas Jones), she attempts to get past her fear. Digitally Restored and Remastered in 4K by Lightbox Film Center. In Collaboration with Milestone Film From the 16mm A/B Rolls Preserved at the Indiana University Black Film Center & Archive. With Support from Ron and Suzanne Naples. Restoration and Release with Creative Consultation by Maya S. Cade. Cover art design by Lauren Caddick.

Extras

• Archival Audio Commentary by Director Bridgett M. Davis (2000)
• Archival Interview footage with Bridgett M. Davis (1990s)
• Creative Detours (1992 short film by Bridgett M. Davis)
• Film Scholar Maya Cade interviews Director Bridgett M. Davis
• Last Wish (1992 short film by Bridgett M. Davis)
• Naked Acts at BAM Premiere (2024)
• Naked Acts Trailer

Naked Acts 4K restoration trailer! - YouTube

[MifuneFan]

Milestone Films will be doing a new release of the film Losing Ground (1982) on Blu-ray sourced from a new 4K restoration. The release wil also include the Kathleen Collins film The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy (1980) as a bonus on a 2nd disc.

https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Ground...%2C84&sr=1-366

Written and directed by renowned playwright, author, and filmmaker Kathleen Collins, Losing Ground is a brilliant portrait of a marriage at a crossroads. Just as philosophy professor Sara Rogers (Seret Scott, Pretty Baby) embarks on an intellectual quest for "ecstasy," her artist husband Victor (Bill Gunn, Ganja & Hess) sets off on more earthly explorations of joy. When the couple rents a country house upstate, their summer idyll becomes complicated by Victor's involvement with a young model. One of the first feature films by an African-American woman, Losing Ground was undistributed for decades before it premiered theatrically in 2015. Added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2020, it is now heralded as a canonical work of American independent cinema. The new 4K restoration of reveals the beauty and saturated colors of Ronald K. Gray’s lush cinematography.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Milestone Films will be doing a new release of the film Losing Ground (1982) on Blu-ray sourced from a new 4K restoration. The release wil also include the Kathleen Collins film The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy (1980) as a bonus on a 2nd disc.

https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Ground...%2C84&sr=1-366

Really enjoyed this film. The original Blu-ray is quite good, but I remember it not having much in the way of dirt/scratch cleanup.

[MifuneFan]

Charles Burnett's The Annihilation of Fish (1999) coming to Blu-ray from Milestone (via Kino distribution) on June 17th. It'll be sourced from a New 4K restoration, and include a new commentary with Burnett as well.

https://kinolorber.com/product/the-a...tion-of-fish-2

New restoration! Winner of an Honorary Academy Award® for lifetime achievement, Charles Burnett remains one of our country’s most celebrated independent filmmakers. In his charming The Annihilation of Fish, Lynn Redgrave plays Poinsettia, a former housewife with an imagined lover in the form of 19th-century composer Giacomo Puccini. She moves into a Los Angeles boarding house with an energetic landlady (Margot Kidder) where she meets a Jamaican widower, Fish (James Earl Jones), who has recently been released from a mental institution despite his continued battles against unseen demons. In the face of personal challenges and differences, the couple grows together and begins to discover new things about themselves and the nuances of love and happiness.

Released in partnership with Milestone Films, restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Extras:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Director Charles Burnett moderated by Film Scholar Maya Cade
• The Final Insult (1997, directed by Charles Burnett, 55 minutes)
• Q&A with Director Charles Burnett moderated by Film Scholar Racquel Gates
• Re-Release Trailer

The Annihilation of Fish – Official Trailer - YouTube

[SanCarolina59]

Just saw this on Nitrateville, some major updates with Milestone coming up. The current owners of Milestone (Dennis Doros & Amy Heller) are retiring soon per an article from last month, with Milestone having a new owner soon (Maya Cade, head of the Black Film Archive). The article also mentions some new and upcoming releases from Milestone that haven't been previously mentioned on here, if I recall correctly:

A release of the 2002 documentary The Business of Fancydancing, supervised by director/writer Sherman Alexie (it mentions a DVD release, but I wonder if they meant Blu-ray since I don't think Milestone has done a DVD only release in quite a while).

A "newly scored, re-imagined version" of Queen Kelly (1929).

Original article quoted below (the original article can be found here for those interested):

The couple is also currently working with Native American author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie on a DVD release of his 2002 feature “The Business of Fancydancing” and on a newly scored, re-imagined version of the troubled Erich von Stroheim production, “Queen Kelly.”

In addition, Dennis Doros mentioned on Nitrateville yesterday that Milestone is working on a release of the Gloria Swanson film The Humming Bird (1924), alongside other Gloria Swanson films (presumably Queen Kelly per the first article is one as well alongside any others) as a "last hurrah" before his retirement, with the Swanson films being released this year and next. He mentioned that as for a potential physical release, The Humming Bird would likely be a special feature on a release of another Swanson film as it's currently incomplete, and missing some scenes (he also solicits if anyone has any stills from The Humming Bird, as he may use them to help bridge the missing scenes).

Original posts quoted below:

...in our efforts to bring out some Gloria Swanson films this year and next as a last hurrah, Amy and I are hoping to bring out THE HUMMING BIRD. You can't tell it by what's online, but it's one of the most beautiful tinted and toned prints around. However, it's missing a few scenes. We are getting the script and synopsis, but I am wondering if any of you out there have stills for the film? Credit will be given at the end of the film for any that you share with us? They do have to be high-res since we might use them in the film...

As for people purchasing it, I suspect we will have it out theatrically for fun, but it might be a bonus feature on another Gloria film. We just don't know yet, but the film is so beautiful to look at that Amy and I thought we should bring it out.

I started in the archival world with Gloria and want to pay homage to her family that have been very kind to me for forty years now.

Stay tuned!

[SanCarolina59]

Just saw this elsewhere, and looked at the original source to confirm - Milestone has done recently (last year) a 4K restoration of the 1925 documentary Grass: A Nation's Battle For Life, in collaboration with MoMA NYC, Paramount, & the Library of Congress. The restoration is making it's world premiere at the Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025 festival in Italy, and so far there's no information as to if/when this new restoration might be released on Blu-ray. The original source is below:

(DCP. D.: 60’. from a tinted and toned nitrate print) Restored in 4K in 2024 by Milestone Films with the collaboration of MoMA – Museum of Modern Art and Library of Congress, from the lone surviving but incomplete 35mm tinted and toned nitrate print preserved by Library of Congress, and from the internegative preserved by Paramount Pictures and scanned at MoMA laboratory, which was used as the main source for the missing frames

The program for the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival is here, the information is on page 65.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Charles Burnett's The Annihilation of Fish (1999) coming to Blu-ray from Milestone (via Kino distribution) on June 17th. It'll be sourced from a New 4K restoration, and include a new commentary with Burnett as well.

https://kinolorber.com/product/the-a...tion-of-fish-2






The Annihilation of Fish – Official Trailer - YouTube

This is a fun little movie. It's more in line with Burnett's To Sleep with Anger than Killer of Sheep, but it's a delightful sort of film. The commentary is excellent, too.