Kino Lorber has unveiled some of the details of their August 2024 Blu-Ray and DVD releases from their Kino Lorber, MHz Choice, Milestone Cinematheque, Cohen Media Group, Cinephobia Releasing, and Greenwich Entertainment imprints. Get all the details on this incredibly packed lineup below:
Street Date: 8/6/24
Synopsis: Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. The young married couple lives in a remote village in northern Senegal. For them, nothing else exists except each other. But for the rest of their tight-knit village, duty dictates that Adama soon accept the role of chief. The two lovers have their own plans… until something in the air changes. The rains do not come, the cattle begin to die, the men leave. The curse weighs on Adama’s sense of duty, and the chasm between them drives Banel into a feverish, mystical chaos. A rare debut feature that premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and Senegal’s official submission to the 96th Academy Awards®, Banel & Adama is a lush and lyrical West African dreamscape, a tragic romance that soars to the heights of longing and descends deep into the realm of myth as it sets its protagonists’ perfect everlasting love on a collision course with their community’s traditions.
Bonus Features: Q&A with director Ramata-Toulaye Sy (courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center) | Theatrical Trailer
Street Date: 8/20/24
Synopsis: Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, Green Border immediately drew controversy from the Polish government for its depiction of the European migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border. Shot in stark black-and-white, this riveting thriller explores the intractable conflict from multiple perspectives: a Syrian family fleeing ISIS caught between cruel border guards in both countries; young guards instructed to brutally reject the migrants; and activists who, at great risk, aid the refugees. Director Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa) brings an unflinching eye and deep compassion to this blistering critique of a humanitarian calamity that continues to unfold.
Bonus Features: Q&A with director Agnieszka Holland, DP Tomasz Naumiuk, and stars Behi Djanati Atai & Joely Mbundu (courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center and NYFF) | Theatrical Trailer
Street Date: 8/6/24
Synopsis: A key masterpiece of the L.A. Rebellion, Bless Their Little Hearts distills the social concerns and aesthetics of that trailblazing movement in African American cinema. Searching for steady work, Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) views his chronic unemployment as a kind of spiritual trial. But selling a few catfish can’t sustain a family of five while his wife, Andais (Kaycee Moore), works to support them with dignity. Unable to face his own failures, Charlie finds solace in an affair that threatens his marriage, children, and everything he holds dear. Bless Their Little Hearts showcases director Billy Woodberry’s attentive eye and sensitivity to real-life issues, making for an agonizingly beautiful film that ranks as “one of the great domestic cataclysms of modern movies” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker). Film restoration by Ross Lipman with Billy Woodberry at UCLA Film & Television Archive. 2K Digital restoration by Re-Kino, Warsaw.
Bonus Features: Audio commentary by film scholar Ed Guererro | The Pocketbook (1980, Billy Woodberry’s first film) | Workshop with Billy Woodberry (courtesy of Indiana University Black Film Center/Archive) | Billy and Charles: Ross Lipman’s interview | Interview with Ed Guererro | Bless Their Little Hearts behind-the-scenes photos courtesy of Billy Woodberry | Booklet with essays by filmmaker Allison Anders and Cornell University professor Samantha N. Sheppard.
CALL MY AGENT: THE COMPLETE SERIES
Street Date: 8/27/24 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: Call My Agent is a witty and satirical hit series produced by the brilliant Cedric Klapisch (L’auberge espagnol) that takes you right to the heart of the talent management business, and features top-line French actors playing themselves – Nathalie Baye (Catch Me If You Can), Cecile de France (High Tension), Gilles Lelouche, Audrey Fleurot, Julie Gayet and Francois Berleand are just a few of the faces you’ll see featured. The Samuel Kerr Agency is exactly what you would imagine a Paris-based talent agency to look, to sound and to feel like. But the drama of the staff within the agency drives the energy here – after Kerr’s death in the opening episode, the key agents have to fight to preserve all that they have built in the business. It’s brilliantly framed drama with no shortage of humor or cameo appearances from some of the biggest stars in the world including Juliette Binoche (The English Patient), Isabelle Adjani (Possession), Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher), Sigourney Weaver (Alien), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac), Christopher Lambert (Highlander) and Jean Reno (The Professional).
Street Date: 8/27/24 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: Amid the icy landscape of Finnish Lapland deep in the Arctic Circle, policewoman Nina Kautsalo (Iina Kuustonen), finds a nearly-dead woman in an old cabin. The investigation takes a surprise turn when a deadly virus is discovered in the woman’s blood sample. A German virologist, Thomas Lorenz, travels to Lapland to aid in the investigation and the pair is soon caught up in a case that forces them to work outside the law while containing the virus. Season 2 takes Nina back to Russia and through the mysteries of a Russian secret order (Ordo Paritet), whose twisted sense of justice finds purpose in condemning released criminals to death. Nina’s own sense of justice is tested when it turns out her own father is guilty of murder and an innocent man is on the killing list of Ordo Paritet. In Season 3, Nina returns to Ivalo as the new police chief when a local pharmacist is found murdered. Meanwhile, someone tries to kidnap the test car of an American car manufacturer. Despite the skepticism of her colleagues, Nina senses a connection between the cases and forges ahead with her investigation.
Street Date: 8/13/24
Synopsis: The 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, a principal architect of the Holocaust, is revisited in a gripping and surprising new vision from American filmmaker Jake Paltrow. Based on true accounts, June Zero is told from the unique perspectives of three distinct figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard; an Israeli police investigator who also happens to be a Holocaust survivor and a precocious and clever 13-year-old Libyan immigrant. Entirely shot on 16mm film, Paltrow’s vividly textured work brings to life the varied experiences of these characters, emphasizing that the same historical events are often perceived differently by people around the world. June Zero underscores the notion that shared traumas have the power to forge the strongest bonds and give rise to unexpected moments of triumph and connection. As the film delves into the complexities of the human experience during this pivotal trial, it serves as a poignant reminder that history’s impact can be both diverse and unifying.
Bonus Features: Trailers
Street Date: 8/6/24 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: Season 2 of this thoroughly enjoyable TV series by Lee Galea (“Monter Pies”) follows the tumultuous romantic life of Adam and his group of friends, lovers and elusive love interests. Season 2’s storyline has Adam’s relationship with Gabe progressing to the next level-but has he left something unresolved from the past? Adam explores his photography as it takes him into the world of adulthood and a whirlwind of fresh faces and experiences. Will Adam like the man he’s becoming?
Bonus Features: Bloopers and Stuff
Street Date: 8/6/24 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: An immersive, behind-the-scenes look inside one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a major new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain steps into the role of director on the eve of her retirement, and the film weaves together revealing scenes of the intense creative process with intimate moments inside the dancers’ personal lives.
Bonus Features: Trailers
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
