New BFI DVD and Blu-ray releases July-September 2013

Journey to Italy (1954)

Update

Unfortunately we have had to put back the release dates of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Trans-Europ Express and Successive Slidings of Pleasure to December 2013.

In an addition to the schedule we will be releasing in September 2013 Saxon Logan’s horror film Sleepwalker. Remastered from the only surviving print, this long-unseen mid-length film is presented in the Flipside strand, along with two shorts by its director, and the rare 1971 mid-length fantasy, The Insomniac, directed by Rodney Giesler.

This summer the BFI releases the stunning new restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s classic Journey to Italy (1954), out on Blu-ray for the first time as part of a Dual Format Edition. Voted in the Top 50 in Sight & Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time critics’ poll last year, Journey to Italy can be seen in UK cinemas throughout May and will be released alongside a Dual Format Edition of Rossellini’s Stromboli (1950) by the BFI in August.

Other forthcoming releases include the first in a series of daring and controversial films made by French author Alain Robbe-Grillet. Best known in the film world as the writer of Last Year in Marienbad (1961), Robbe-Grillet also directed many features including Trans-Europ Express (1967) and Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974) – both of which will be available in Dual Format Editions in September.

Also released this summer are:

A London Trilogy: the films of Saint Etienne – three films about the capital by director Paul Kelly, made in collaboration with one of Britain’s best-loved bands.
Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s groundbreaking 1977 experimental film Riddles of the Sphinx made available for the first time
The Complete Humphrey Jennings Volume Three: A Diary for Timothy – after 2012’s award-winning Volume 2, this third and final volume sees all of Jennings’ films finally available on Blu-ray/DVD.
Classic vintage kids adventure Emil and the Detectives – includes both the celebrated 1931 Billy Wilder-scripted German version and a rare 1935 British version, on one DVD.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed – Lotte Reiniger’s beautiful animation on Blu-ray/DVD with a wealth of previously unreleased films as extras
John Cassavetes’ classic The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), starring the late Ben Gazzara, in a three-disc limited edition presentation, featuring two different cuts of the feature.