Other Cinema / Provocateur

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dekadetia
was Born Innocent
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:57 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Other Cinema / Provocateur

#1 Post by dekadetia » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:13 am

Has anyone here had the chance to check out an Other Cinema DVD? I noticed that Anchor Bay released The Entity last month, and I thought I'd look around for a R1 DVD of Peter Tscherkassky's Outer Space (thought they'd be interesting as a double feature, the latter comprised entirely of footage from the former), though I didnt expect to actually find one. Well, here it is, packaged with 5 other interesting-sounding shorts on the Experiments in Terror short film compliation. This is the first I've seen of this label, so I know little of their quality; the few reviews I read were positive, but there's no mention that I can see on DVD Beaver or this forum so far.
othercinemadvd.com wrote:The Other Cinema Digital project provides an alternative platform for the distribution of extraordinary film works. We celebrate peculiar visions and offbeat sensibilities, drawn from the contemporary underground as well as the archives. Be it auteur, exploitation, or industrial, OCD delivers a decidedly different audio-visual experience -- opening up spaces both marvelous and dangerous.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#2 Post by Gregory » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:04 pm

Technical quality is consistently excellent. It's a very eclectic label, of course, so many people may be disappointed with blind buys. Outer Space, for example, is the stand-out on Experiments in Terror, but for many that film is worth the price all on its own. The only general recommendation I'll make is to say that everyone with a serious interest in film should give Craig Baldwin's own films a serious look sometime, especially those with any interest in culture, intellectual property issues, and corporatization and deregulation of the media. I found both Spectres of the Spectrum and Sonic Outlaws to be a blast to watch.

An important note: the Other Cinema DVDs are now distributed by Facets, and I've found that many sites list the label as "Facets." Facets is not producing the DVDs, but I'm worried that people will be misled and not order them because of this error.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Other Cinema

#3 Post by Gregory » Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:01 pm

This is a pretty old thread (I think people started discussing the releases in the Facets thread at one point), so an update is in order. Other Cinema has been dormant for a while but is supposed to be resuming its activities later this year or possibly early next. This includes a release of Baldwin's latest, Mockup on Mu, which I'm excited for.

Noel Lawrence, who used to work for Other Cinema, went off to start a new label, Provocateur. They have released the latest Experiments in Terror compilation, Saul Landau's 1971 documentary on Fidel Castro, and Rob Nilsson's film Words for the Dying, which deals with John Cale's collaboration with Brian Eno, more specifically with Eno's reluctance about the filming and Nilsson's insistence on making the film anyway.
The thread title should probably be changed to incorporate Provocateur.

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solaris72
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:03 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Other Cinema

#4 Post by solaris72 » Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:23 pm

Gregory wrote:Other Cinema has been dormant for a while but is supposed to be resuming its activities later this year or possibly early next. This includes a release of Baldwin's latest, Mockup on Mu, which I'm excited for.
Saw this at the Maryland Film Festival. Was excited about it, love the idea of reappropriating old scifi movie footage, but really found almost nothing at all to like in it. Also given the sheer amount of footage from various movies (some of which are in the public domain, some of which are decidedly not) used in the film, I can't imagine releasing it will be legal. I mean, it even uses footage from original Star Trek!

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Other Cinema/Provocateur

#5 Post by Gregory » Sun Jun 21, 2009 4:36 pm

The vast majority of it is public domain or films to which he's cheaply purchased the rights, but I think he also does slip a few things into the works, so to speak. The legality issues is a byproduct of his work (and that of Negativland, John Oswald, etc. etc.) and is something that adds another side to its interest.

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Tableau
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:06 pm

Re: Other Cinema/Provocateur

#6 Post by Tableau » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:03 am

Craig Baldwin also has a massive collection on archival film reels. you can also purchase clips from him. Just tell him what you're looking for and he can likely find it on 16mm or 35. He also runs a gallery/filmhouse called ATA in San Francisco (where his reel library is), if you're ever in SF, check it out; they have amazing showcases.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Other Cinema/Provocateur

#7 Post by Gregory » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:18 pm

He gets a good amount from his own archives, but I would not call it massive (and a lot of what's in there he's said he never watched). It's certainly miniscule compared to the Prelinger Archive. Prelinger is a comrade-in-arms of Baldwin, but exactly what percentage of Baldwin's source materials came from the Prelinger Archive I couldn't say. The latter was acquired by the Library of Congress several years back anyway.
Baldwin doesn't really run ATA Gallery, but I second the recommendation of their regular programs for anyone interested in independent film and experimental media.

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