German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

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MichaelB
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German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#1 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jan 19, 2017 12:21 pm

17 April sees the first ever DVD and Blu-ray release of Imperial War Museum’s German Concentration Camps Factual Survey.

This hugely important film documents the liberation of Belsen and other concentration camps by Allied forces in Spring 1945. The production was originally shelved by the Ministry of Information in 1945, before being restored and reconstructed by IWM in 2014. The story of this extraordinary documentary was itself the subject of the Emmy-winning film Night Will Fall (which was released by the BFI in 2014). This Special Archival Edition has been produced in collaboration with IWM and contains the museum’s restoration, plus substantial extra features and some previously unseen footage that help to contextualise the film; a perfect-bound book, and commentary.

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zedz
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#2 Post by zedz » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:08 pm

Wow! It's amazing to see this get a home video release.

I presumed that when we got the documentary about it a couple of years ago but not the film itself that it was a no-go.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#3 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:48 am

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antnield
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#4 Post by antnield » Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:35 pm

SPECIAL FEATURES

- New restoration by IWM (Imperial War Museums)
- Presented with both an optional contextualising Intro and Outro
- Panel Discussion at the BFI Southbank (2015, 42 mins): restoration director Dr Toby Haggith (IMW) is joined on-stage by a panel of experts to discuss the film
- Audio Commentary with Dr Toby Haggith and senior curator Patrick Russell (BFI)
- Vox Pops Compilation (2015, 6 mins): cinema-goers reflect after a screening at the BFI Southbank
- Interview with Ludwig Weill at Fort Breendonk (1945, 5 mins): archival interview with a freed prisoner
- Interviews and Statements at Bergen-Belsen (1945, 17 mins): archival interviews with SS soldiers, freed prisoners and members of the British Army
- Interviews and Statements at Dachau (1945, 12 mins): archival interviews with recently liberated prisoners
- Interview with Petr Zenkl (1945, 12 mins): archival interview with the Czech politician who was imprisoned at Dachau and Buchenwald
- Alternate archival soundtrack
- 80-page perfect-bound book with new writing on the film, and full film credits

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MichaelB
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#5 Post by MichaelB » Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:17 pm

Full specs announced:
German Concentration Camps Factual Survey
A Lost Masterpiece of British Documentary Cinema from 1945
Restored and completed by IWM


Special Archival Edition DVD/Blu-ray

On 17 April 2017 the BFI will release German Concentration Camps Factual Survey on DVD and Blu-ray in a Dual Format Edition. This lost masterpiece of British documentary filmmaking recorded the horrors that were discovered in the German concentration camps upon liberation and has never been released on disc before. Now, restored and completed by IWM (Imperial War Museums), it will be presented in a Special Archival Edition with newly-created contextualising special features and archival interviews with British soldiers, SS guards and recently liberated prisoners.

On 29 September 1945, the incomplete rough-cut of a disturbing yet compelling documentary revealing the horrors of the German concentration camps was screened at the Ministry of Information in London. For five months, Sidney Bernstein (who later founded Granada Television) had led a small team – which included Stewart McAllister, Richard Crossman and Alfred Hitchcock – to complete the film from hours of footage.

Unfortunately, this ambitious Allied project to create a feature-length visual report that would damn the Nazi regime and shame the German people into acceptance of the Allied occupation had missed its moment, and was left unfinished and shelved. Even in its incomplete form, the film was immensely powerful, generating a shocked silence among audiences. But now, complete to six reels, this faithfully restored and definitive version produced by Imperial War Museums and with a newly recorded narration by actor Jasper Britton, has been rightly compared with Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog (1955).

The release of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey coincides with the anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen (15 April 1945).

The film was the subject of the 2014 documentary feature Night Will Fall.

Special features
• New restoration by IWM (Imperial War Museums) which was recognised with a Special Award at the FOCAL International Awards 2015.
• Presented with both an optional contextualising Intro and Outro
• Panel Discussion at the BFI Southbank (2015, 42 mins): restoration director Dr Toby Haggith (IWM) is joined on-stage by a panel of experts to discuss the film
• Audio commentary with Dr Toby Haggith and BFI senior curator Patrick Russell
• Vox Pops Compilation (2015, 6 mins): cinema-goers reflect after a screening at BFI Southbank
• Statement from Ludwig Weill at Fort Breendonk (1944, 3 mins): archival statement with a liberated prisoner
• Statements at Bergen-Belsen (1945, 18 mins): statements from SS guards, freed prisoners and members of the British Army
• Interviews at Dachau (1945, 38 mins): archival interviews with recently liberated prisoners
• Testimony from Dr Petr Zenkl (1945, 13 mins): archival testimony from the Czech politician who was imprisoned at Dachau and Buchenwald
• Archival soundtrack – alternative soundtrack which features only the narration and the original synch-sound
• 80-page perfect-bound book with comprehensive essays on the making of the film and its restoration, and full film credits

Product details
RRP: £29.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1272 / Cert 18
UK / 1945/2014 / black and white / 72 mins (+ extras) / Region 0 / Subtitles: English hard-of-hearing, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Russian.
Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM stereo audio (48kHz/24-bit) // Disc 2 and Disc 3: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital stereo audio (192kbps)

ethel
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#6 Post by ethel » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:48 am

The first release version of this film, Memory of the Camps (1985) was incomplete, but featured an incomparable narration track spoken by Trevor Howard.

By the nature of the subject matter of this film, much of it is almost impossible to watch. Howard's dispassionate narration let the terrible facts and pictures speak for themselves, when histrionics would only detract from their powerful effect. His underplaying makes the unbearable bearable. A great actor interprets an era he lived through.

This unforgettable version is apparently still on YouTube and the PBS website. Even so, it is a great pity that Howard's remarkable work won't appear on this release.

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Aunt Peg
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#7 Post by Aunt Peg » Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:09 am

Review from DVD Beaver - Warning this review contains very disturbing images

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film6/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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MichaelB
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#8 Post by MichaelB » Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:35 am

It's interesting to see that the BFI has broken with normal boutique-label practice and offered subtitles in multiple languages.

And it's equally interesting to see which languages: German, Hebrew, French, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Czech and Dutch.

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DeprongMori
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#9 Post by DeprongMori » Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:12 pm

I’d been planning on ordering this for some time, and was concerned when it suddenly started disappearing from all sellers. I checked with the BFI about whether it is out of print, and here is their response:
The BFI label have confirmed that the first pressing of this boxset is now deleted, however they have just sold their last 20 or so copies to the Imperial War Museum shop so it might be worth contacting them to purchase one. Their shop is here: https://www.iwmshop.org.uk/p/26062/Germ ... -BluRay%29

We shall be reprinting the film however it will be in a slightly different format - it won't be in a boxed set, and the bound book will be cut down to a leaflet. Our hope is that this printing will be available by the end of the year. The BFI label were keen to stress that they will not be permanently deleting this title.

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TMDaines
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#10 Post by TMDaines » Fri Sep 06, 2019 4:59 am

It's well worth owning. It has some of the most shockingly banal images of the Holocaust that you could ever imagine to see. Still incredibly powerful and moving.

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ochsfan
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#11 Post by ochsfan » Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:53 am

I can't find this for sale either on Amazon or the BFI site. Has it gone out of print so quickly?

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swo17
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#12 Post by swo17 » Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:39 am

Yes, see three posts up

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TMDaines
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Re: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

#13 Post by TMDaines » Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:02 am

Makes sense to release it in a cheaper release. It was quite dear for the BFI and cost shouldn’t be a deterrent from seeing this film.

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