May 2024
Let's skip the fact that we haven't written one of these in a year and dive right in. 🥲
It’s been a busy few months here at Kani HQ, between figuring out the ever-evolving shape of our little label and getting films to all of you on a regular basis. One thing you may have noticed is that we’ve increased our efforts on the theatrical front, with re-releases of Lawrence Lau’s Y2K coming-of-age Spacked Out this past December and, most recently, Patrick Tam’s heroic bloodshed masterpiece My Heart Is That Eternal Rose, ongoing since March. As for oft-requested Blu-ray, it’s on its way! It will includes 3 pieces of… media… giving us a hard time, but they are worth the wait.
We are now most proud to announce our 35th anniversary re-release of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Beijing Watermelon (1989), an under-seen masterpiece that is very close to our heart, as it gets at everything we’re trying to do : showcase complex Asian cinema that are both entertaining and politically relevant. Despite House’s thundering popularity as a cult film, the breadth and scope of Obayashi’s filmography remains woefully under-appreciated (we recommend Third Window Films’ UK releases of his Kadokawa films and KimStim’s US release of his anti-war trilogy) and we’re happy to contribute our piece to the wider availability of his work in North America. We’re experimenting with a tighter release window with this one so keep an eye out.
Shunzo (Bengal) and his wife Michi (Masako Motai) run a beloved greengrocer on the outskirts of Tokyo. When Lee, a struggling exchange student from China, visits the shop and is unable to afford the produce, Shunzo reluctantly lowers his prices. An uneasy relationship sprouts and soon, Lee’s classmates begin frequenting the shop. As Shunzo’s generosity sneaks up on him and strains his family’s welfare, he examines his role as surrogate father to his newfound Chinese friends.
Shot between May and July of 1989, Beijing Watermelon addresses the historically charged notion of a Sino-Japanese friendship at a pivotal time. This lesser-seen masterpiece from director Nobuhiko Obayashi (House) chronicles the end of a decade marked by the Japanese economic bubble and the brutal close of possibility in China. A delicate elegy to the Chinese students of its time, it finds Obayashi at his most modern, channeling the style of Ozu, while his experimental flourishes provide the perfect disruption, inviting viewers to fill in the blanks of history.
The other huge bit of news is that the 4K restoration of Lino Brocka’s Bona (1980) will premiere at Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classics section on May 19th at 14:30 (let us know if you plan on attending the festival, we’d love to meet you) ! This is a project we’ve carried for the past 3 years, the germ of the idea born even before we launched Kani Releasing, or released Brocka’s Cain and Abel. We hope to continue to work on Brocka’s legacy and are happy to say that that ball is now rolling worldwide.
Middle class school girl Bona (Nora Aunor) skips class to hang around the sets of bit actor Gardo (Philip Salvador). When her father attempts to beat some sense into her, Bona moves into Gardo’s shack in the slums, delighted to play house–only to find herself not the wife, but the maid.
Groundbreaking singer, actor, and producer Nora Aunor works with director Lino Brocka to subvert her stardom at the height of her fame. Brocka, following the success of Manila In the Claws of Light (1975) and Insiang (1976), takes her up on the challenge and sets Aunor against the familiar backdrop of Manila’s slums, yet steers clear of making poverty the sole focus of the film. Instead, Bona unfolds as a thrilling drama about blinding adoration and its stranglehold on both the lover and the beloved, set against the bustling industry of the Second Golden Age of Filipino Cinema.
This restoration from the original negatives was made possible by Cité de Mémoire in Paris, Carlotta Films (who also released Cain and Abel in France), and the research of Professor J.B. Capino, who penned the essential Martial Law Melodrama (University of California Press, 2020) and booklets for Brocka releases in North America (Criterion’s Manila in the Claws of Light). He interviewed the late Pierre Rissent in 2017 and shared crucial information with us that made this chain of events possible. Lastly, none of this would have been possible without the collaboration of Nora Aunor herself.
Poster coming next, stay tuned.
Latest titles
Spines no. 16 and 17 are in, and we hope you dug ‘em. On the one hand, Alex Cheung’s Man on the Brink (1981), a classic slice of Hong Kong New Wave/crime cinema, prefiguring Infernal Affairs with its harrowing story of undercover police work. Shot on location, with great handheld cinematography, it’s both energising and raw. On the other, Glenn Barit’s delightfully hand-made Cleaners (2019), an independent Filipino film, shot, printed and then hand-coloured for a unique Xerox’ed look. It’s a heartfelt, nostalgic look at the Philippine high school experience that has become a legitimate cult film in local film circles, and that we hope you take a chance on.
Cleaners is also streaming on the Criterion Channel, as part of “When the Apocalypse Is Over” a program of new, independent Philippine cinema curated by A.E. Hunt.
Halfway to Black Friday Sale - Starts May 24, 2024 at 12:01 EDT
Vinegar Syndrome’s annual Halfway to Black Friday sale is coming up fast, on May 24th starting at 12:01am EDT and running through the weekend. All of our 2023 releases (pictured above), and earlier ones, will be on sale at 50% MSRP. This is the first time that most of these titles will be on sale. Last we checked, the following slipcover’ed editions were also running low, so get them while you can!
Tremble All You Want: 272
Viva Erotica: 733 (of our limited, 3000 units run. Once this title is gone, it’s gone).
Sell Out! : 84
Bullets Over Summer: 335
Once a Moth: 234
Will Your Heart Beat Faster?: 75!
Cleaners: 382
In Memoriam
We meant to share this in a more timely manner, or at the end of the year, as is customary. But all these months later, it’s still on our mind, so please allow us.
Marie-Pierre Duhamel
Marie-Pierre Duhamel was a film historian, documentarian, programmer, translator, and interpreter. We first met her in Cannes in 2017, on the balcony of a small dinner friends were hosting. She was warm and very down-to-earth. She told us about travelling to China in the 1970s to study, and when asked if she goes back, she told us she no longer flies. But the not flying did not stop her from building deep, helpful relationships with Chinese filmmakers of every generation. Very close to director Qiu Jiongjiong and his producer / partner Ding Ding, she was an early supported of A New Old Play, for which she was an editing consultant and French subtitle translator. She passed away in June 2023. She had only a few obituaries, mostly in French, even though her work was fundamental to the careers of many filmmakers. Stars and directors are enchanting, but a lot of the behind-the-scenes work is forgotten. For Marie-Pierre, who never made the work about herself, it’s even easier to be forgotten if those who come after do not make a point of remembering.
Teddy O. Co
Teddy Co was a film historian and archivist. When we first met him in 2022, he was already fighting cancer, but promised us he had ten more years to live, because he had so much knowledge left to impart and books to finally write. As I relayed in the booklet of Will Your Heart Beat Faster?, before his passing, but during a period of time when he was not well enough to respond, the first time we met he told us how lonely it had been when he started researching and archiving Filipino cinema, a film tradition often stolen by weather and neglect. No one understood what he was trying to do, and there was a lot of secrecy and gatekeeping—which he has generously been doing the exact opposite of. It was his suggestion that we work on Miss Philippines (the bonus feature on the Will Your Heart Beat Faster? release) and now, without his warm, encyclopaedic knowledge, we feel a genuine absence. His presence was nonetheless felt at QCinema this past November. Veteran independent director Roxlee had a t-shirt with Teddy’s face on, outfitted with a pocket for one’s phone through which a single eyeball looks at you from beyond. Teddy lives on.
Teasing
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— With love, 🦀