Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (1902-1929) 6 x DVD9

There was a time in the last century where a woman ran her own studio, as Alice Guy Blache did when she began her Solax Film Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. On the West Coast, Lois Weber reigned as one of the top-earning directors of the 1910s. And in that time, Universal Studios once promoted the strength of their women-led workforce. One historian estimated that the scrappy studio north of Hollywood released some 170 movies from women directors from 1914-1919. For comparison, between 2007-2017, only 53 women directed a major studio release that cracked the list of top 100 movies at the box office.

Film fans, rejoice! The true history of the motion picture industry just got a bit more complete. The invaluable film distributor Kino Lorber has assembled a truly eye-opening collection of films from the silent era—all made by women. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is a DVD/Blu-ray box set that presents more than 50 silent feature and short films (a total running time of 1,710 minutes) digitally mastered from 2k and 4K restorations from a variety of sources, including the Library of Congress, Academy Film Archives and the New York Women in Film & Television Preservation Fund.

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Midas Run (1969) Blu-Ray

Fred Astaire plays John Pedley, an aging British Secret Service agent who feels that his hard work over the years has remained unnoticed. To get the appreciation that his country owes him, as well as a proper financial bonus that will allow him to enjoy the rest of his life in style, Pedley masterminds a brilliant plan. In Venice, he approaches the ambitious but struggling writer Mike Warden (Richard Crenna) and convinces him to participate in an elaborate heist at the end of which a jetliner owned by the British government will lose $10 million dollars in gold. Soon after, the two are joined by the freshly scorned but ready for adventure wife Sylvia Giroux (Heywood), who instantly adds a great deal of class to the operation and in the process awakens Warden's desire to be in a 'meaningful relationship'. Pedley then hires various shady 'experts' to assist them during the heist and after the gold is removed from the jetliner.

BD25 | 1080p AVC | 01:47:08 | 22.5 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none

Director: Alf Kjellin
Cast: Fred Astaire, Richard Crenna, Anne Heywood
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
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L’une chante l’autre pas / One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

Six years after Varda added her name to the Manifesto of the 343 — a declaration by 343 women publicly proclaiming that they had had an abortion, despite the procedure still being illegal in France — she made this remarkable combination of social commentary and musical about a woman's right to choose.

Agnes Varda's very touching film is a bewitching tale about two French women who become friends during a period of rootlessness for each. Pauline leaves home at seventeen to try to make it on her own as a singer; Suzanne is left alone with two small children after her lover commits suicide. Even through the two women have very little in common, they feel good with each other. Theirs is a natural, effortless relationship. At one point, Pauline describes it as "like love, with no heartaches." Over the years they are forced to go in separate directions. Suzanne has to live with her parents on their farm; later she moves to Southern France and sets up a family planning center; Pauline — now calling herself Apple — forms a group of feminist troubadours who practice consciousness raising through their songs.

The two women's interests intersect and they meet ten years later at a rally for women's abortion rights. They pick up where they left off, sharing news of their loves — Apple's for Darius, an Iranian economist, Suzanne's for her lovely children — and their experiences. Through their struggles and successes, director Varda celebrates the particular joys of being a woman. Over thousands of miles (Apple live in Iran for a while) and periods of loneliness and happiness, the two keep in touch with postcards and occasional letters. Their friendship remains a holy bond.

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