Blue Black Permanent

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MichaelB
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Blue Black Permanent

#1 Post by MichaelB » Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:33 pm

Announced for June 17:
Another female filmmaker is celebrated in June as Margaret Tait’s Blue Black Permanent, featuring actor Celia Imrie, is released on Blu-ray/DVD. Tait’s film, made with the BFI Production Board and released in 1992, was the first feature directed by a Scottish woman. It was remastered by the BFI in 2018 as part of the ongoing centenary celebrations for Margaret Tait.

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antnield
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#2 Post by antnield » Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:50 pm

Extras:

- Film poems – the work of filmmaker Margaret Tait (2018, 31 mins): BFI curator Peter Todd welcomes academic Lucy Reynolds and writers So Mayer and Anna Coatman to talk about the work, rhythm and poetry of film poet Margaret Tait
- Margaret Tait Film Maker (1983, 35 mins): Arts Council England film featuring the only filmed interview with Margaret Tait
- Other extras TBC

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Blue Black Permanent

#3 Post by knives » Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:57 pm

Have to imagine Portrait of Ga is being looked into especially in light of the announced extras.

kubelkind
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:42 pm

Re: Blue Black Permanent

#4 Post by kubelkind » Wed Feb 06, 2019 4:21 pm

This is great news. The Lux DVD from a few years ago is out of print and pricey now so hoping for some upgrades of the many goodies therein!

Calvin
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#5 Post by Calvin » Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:04 pm

This is fantastic news, but I do hope that the extras list is much longer by the time of release.

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antnield
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#6 Post by antnield » Sun May 19, 2019 9:20 am

BFI website has added some more extras:

- Film poems – the work of filmmaker Margaret Tait (2018, 31 mins): BFI curator Peter Todd welcomes academic Lucy Reynolds and writers So Mayer and Anna Coatman to talk about the work, rhythm and poetry of film poet Margaret Tait
- Margaret Tait Film Maker (1983, 34 mins): Arts Council England film featuring the only filmed interview with Margaret Tait
- A Portrait of Ga (1952, 5 mins): Margaret Tait's hypnotic and deeply personal short documentary by about her mother. Made in Orkney shortly after Tait returned home from Rome in 1952
- The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (1955, 7 mins): Tait's entrancing interpretation of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem
- Rose Street (1956, 20 mins): Tait's 1956 film about the Edinburgh street that runs parallel to Prince's Street
- **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Fully illustrated booklet with new writing by So Mayer, Peter Todd, Gerda Stevenson and Sarah Neely and full film credits

WmS
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#7 Post by WmS » Sun May 19, 2019 11:20 am

kubelkind wrote:
Wed Feb 06, 2019 4:21 pm
The Lux DVD from a few years ago is out of print and pricey now so hoping for some upgrades of the many goodies therein!
I bought a copy two months ago from the National Library of Scotland, who say they still have it in stock:

https://shop.nls.uk/movingimage/

dfzp
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#8 Post by dfzp » Sun May 19, 2019 12:13 pm

This looks like the release of the year.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Blue Black Permanent

#9 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Sun May 19, 2019 12:51 pm

I used to live a stone's throw from her house in Rose Street Edinburgh and in dreamy moments paused outside for a few seconds hoping to suck up some inspiration from the stone walls.
Portrait of Ga is wonderful - Poetry found in the unwrapping of a boiled sweet

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MichaelB
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Blue Black Permanent

#10 Post by MichaelB » Fri May 31, 2019 12:26 pm

Full specs announced:
Blue Black Permanent
A film by Margaret Tait

With Celia Imrie, Jack Shepherd, Gerda Stevenson

Dual Format Edition and iTunes release on 24 June 2019


Blue Black Permanent, Margaret Tait’s only feature film, made when she was 74 and created from her own screenplay, was co-produced by the BFI in 1992. It was the first ever Scottish feature directed by a woman. Now newly remastered in 2K, it will be released by the BFI in a Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray & DVD discs) and on iTunes on 24 June 2019.

The release follows a celebratory season held at BFI Southbank in October/November 2018 to mark Margaret Tait’s centenary. Special features on the discs include a selection of her short films and a filmed panel discussion that took place during the BFI season.

Born in 1918 on Orkney, Margaret Tait was a doctor in WWII before she studied film in Rome. Returning to Scotland in the early 1950s, she made over 30 distinctive short films, mostly self-funded and shot on 16mm.

Blue Black Permanent, starring Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Calendar Girls), Jack Shepherd (The Golden Compass, Bill Brand) and Gerda Stevenson (Braveheart, Heartbeat), is a haunting and magical film that moves between Edinburgh and Orkney as it tells of a photographer’s attempt to come to terms with her mother’s death through her childhood memories. Filled with flashbacks and dream sequences, it’s also a film about the islanders’ relationship with the ever-present sea.

This new release will be launched with a special FREE screening and cast and crew reunion on Saturday 15 June at 4pm at Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9. A post-screening discussion with members of the cast and crew will include the actor and poet Gerda Stevenson, who plays lead character Greta, Kate Swan (Co-Producer/Executive Producer), Rod Stoneman (Executive Producer/Deputy Commissioning Editor for Channel 4), Andrea Calderwood (Location Manager), along with Douglas Weir (Technical Producer, BFI), who oversaw the film’s remastering, Dr Sarah Neely, Director of Margaret Tait 100 and author of a book-length study of Tait’s films, and Richard Demarco, gallerist and host for the event, who was a great friend of Tait’s as well as an early champion of her work.

Tickets are free but need to be booked through Eventbrite.

For more details on events marking Margaret Tait’s centenary: www.margaretait100.com

Special features
• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition;
A Portrait of Ga (1953, 5 mins): Margaret Tait's hypnotic and deeply personal short documentary about her mother;
The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (1955, 7 mins): Tait's entrancing interpretation of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem;
Rose Street (1956, 15 mins): Tait's film about the Edinburgh street that runs parallel to Prince's Street;
Margaret Tait: Film Maker (1983, 34 mins): the director talks to video artist Tamara Krikorian in this in this portrait directed by Margaret Williams;
Film Poems Panel Discussion (2018, 31 mins): Curator Peter Todd examines Tait’s work with Lucy Reynolds, So Mayer and Anna Coatman in an onstage discussion filmed at BFI Southbank;
• Illustrated booklet with essays, film credits and notes on the extras (first pressing only)

Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1336 / PG
UK / 1992 / black and white, colour / 86 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.66:1 / BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio (320kbps)

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