DVD Publishers’ Fair
“Resist!” they say!
Posted on october 10
This year in the MIFC Village, the third edition of the DVD Publishers’ Fair brought together the sixteen publishers in attendance to present their catalogues to the public. It was an opportunity to take the pulse of a sector that is being challenged by the dematerialization of the world... Three independent publishers, Le Chat qui Fume, Extralucid Films and La Traverse, answer our questions.
How old is your company and what is its editorial line?
Stéphane Bouyer : Le Chat qui Fume is 16 years old and has 125 titles in its catalogue. We offer rare films, mostly fantastic, horror or erotic. If there is an editorial line, it is more likely to have to do with rarities or forgotten films. We also publish major titles like La Balance or Possession”- one of our biggest successes with 3,000 copies sold - which helps attract media attention to our work. The press is a bit lazy sometimes.
Carine Bach : We are going to celebrate the two year anniversary of Extralucid Films in Lyon, on October 13th! We have published nearly 20 films, which are divided into 4 collections, devoted to fantastic films from the 70s & 80s, more contemporary films, animated films, and women directors, for which we have partnered with publisher Elephant Films.
Gael Teicher : La Traverse is 10 years old. Our work is based on a few essential categories: on one side- rare works, rare filmmakers, because they are generally excluded from the traditional distribution circuits – directors such as Jean-Daniel Pollet, Pierre Creton; or because they belong to what we call "seldom distributed cinematography" - for example, filmmakers from Africa. Finally, because there are films that have been "buried" for a long time - often due to problems of rights and/or material that has been dispersed or damaged. Another focus of our work is portraits of artists.
What is the state of physical publishing?
Stéphane Bouyer : Publishing is hurting, but it is now refocused on real enthusiasts, on cinephiles who want to discover films that have never or rarely been seen. We are a small structure, with only two employees, so a certain volume of sales can be profitable for us whereas it would not be for larger publishers. And we sell directly, our films are not sold at the Fnac, so our margin is higher. We also sell a lot abroad, especially when it comes to French films.
Carine Bach : It has become a niche market but, paradoxically, new publishers are emerging! This shows the hope and faith we have in the physical medium in this all-digital era and despite the proliferation of VOD/SVOD platforms... Physical publishing is now increasingly aimed at collectors.
Gaël Teicher : Que dire ? What can I say? So-so. Or as Michel Deguy would say. It comes and goes, it goes and comes back. Both the terms publishing" and "physical" are important, creating and distributing objects that you can hold in your hand, or carry in your pocket or bag, that you store more or less well in your library or DVD library (more or less well because the question always arises: what classification should you adopt?) It is economically much more fragile than it used to be, even though it is more and more indispensable, because the material is undoubtedly a common good more than… dematerialised products? Would there really be a history of cinema today if the negative had not existed?
Among your latest releases, which one is the one not to be missed?
Stéphane Bouyer : Bayan Ko, a legendary film by Lino Brocka, which was totally lost for 35 years. It's a political film, staged like a detective story. We are proud because the Philippine archives asked us for a print - even they didn't have one! It's in theatres right now and will be released on Blu-ray in November.
Carine Bach : My favourite film of the year is Bubble Bath, a Hungarian animated film from 1980, an experimental musical synchronised to the heartbeat! It is so rich, generous, exciting... And despite its restoration by the Hungarian Film Archive and its selection at Annecy Classics, the press has scarcely mentioned its existence.
Gaël Teicher : The trilogy of book-DVDs devoted to the work of Pierre Creton, Habiter, Sur la voie and N'avons-nous pas toujours été bienveillants - released last March. This is an opportunity to discover a wonderful body of work, of which only a few feature films have had a theatrical release.
Bubble Bath, 1980
Find the publishers’ catalogues at:
www.latraverse-films.com (coming soon)
Salon du DVD - 3e édition
Sunday, Oct. 10, 10:30am–7:30pm Village of the International Classic Film Market | Rue du Premier-Film, Lyon all-digital 8th
