Friday The 13th Match-Up: A SERBIAN FILM Vs. TRUE LEGEND

Two big ScreenAnarchy favorites hit big screens today in very different ways.  One of the films is the ultra-extreme A Serbian Film, being distributed by Invincible Pictures.  The other is Yuen Woo-Ping's True Legend, which is being taken on by newcomer Indomina Releasing.  These two labels have a lot to prove today.  In the case of Invincible Pictures, they've been distributing films for about six years now, but never have they had a film in their stable with the reputation of A Serbian Film.  Indomina Releasing, on the other hand, is just now dipping their toes in the distribution waters, having acquired a number of high profile Asian action films last fall, they are just now releasing the first of these films commercially.  In both cases, this is the biggest challenge they've faced thus far, and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how they are approaching their films.

When A Serbian Film premiered at SXSW in 2010, it started a buzz that never really stopped.  The word was that the word was so extreme that it stood little to no chance of being picked up and played theatrically.  Even in these days of the Saw and Hostel films, when "torture-porn" plays on thousands of screens every night, this one went over that edge.  For over a year now, the film has been making the festival rounds, and a few months ago, Invincible Pictures signed on to distribute A Serbian Film in the US. 

Between Invincible's contract being signed, and their planned release, a lot happened.  A Serbian Film was signed in the UK, where it was slashed by five minutes by the BBFC for general theatrical play and home video.  Only a very few "private" screenings of the uncut version were held in that country.  It has since been released in the UK in that truncated form, with very little to no chance of seeing its way clear to an uncut release.  Then, a couple of months ago, Angel Sala, the director of Spain's famous Sitges Film Festival, was arrested months after showing the film and charged with exhibition of child pornography.  This was a bit odd, to say the least.  The film showed at Sitges last October, but was then blocked from screening in San Sebastian by a Spanish judge.  Sala was picked up in March, about 6 months after the Sitges screening.

Now everyone was nervous.  The charge of exhibition of child pornography is ludicrous.  No one is arguing that the film isn't extreme, but to accuse the filmmakers of that crime is not only factually incorrect, but also misleading.  This got the attention of Invincible Pictures.  In response, they formulated a plan to get the film out to the public in the most responsible way they could think of.  Unfortunately for us here in the States, that means cutting the film. 

Here's how it breaks down: As I've previously reported here, A Serbian Film will be available in two versions across two formats.  First, there is the theatrical version.  This is a 98 minute version that cuts some of the most graphic footage from the film, this is also the only version screened for the MPAA as far as I can tell.  This edit received an NC-17 rating, and will be seen in a few theaters starting this weekend.  The other version is 103 minutes, but is still slightly edited to remove about one minute of footage, presumably near the film's climax, which seems to be the most challenging part of the film for censors and, now, legal authorities.  This second unrated and "uncut" (Invincible's words, not mine) version will be available exclusively on a web service called FlixFling, whish is slightly different from something like Amazon VOD or On Demand cable services.

FlixFling is a service by which you can download a film, either to own or to rent, and stream it from your computer to a portable device.  These devices include Android phones, tablet computers, iPhones, as well as viewing it on your home computer.  These options, frankly, aren't very exciting to me, however, as I understand it, the service is also available via the Roku streaming video device.  Roku also streams Netflix, Amazon VOD, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and dozens of other video and audio services.  I have one and I love it.  If I understand it properly, this also means that this is the best option for viewing the film on a TV.  I intend to try the film through this device and service very soon.

Invincible Pictures have also given a rough Blu-ray/DVD timetable of "this year", though if they stick to customary theatrical windows for independent distributors, I would say that we may see the film on home video in the late summer/early fall.  When I asked them about home video and version details, they told me that as of now (and this is subject to change) the "uncut" version would be available on Blu-ray exclusively and the theatrical "rated" version would be only on DVD.  An interesting approach, but not one without precedent. 

Indomina is going in another direction with True Legend.  Indomina is releasing True Legend theatrically in four markets in the US today.  There are no announced plans for VOD, and expansion of the release is still up in the air.  As with many independently distributed films, expansion depends upon demand and response from theater-goers.  This property is considerably less complicated than A Serbian Film, and that makes Indomina Releasing's decision pretty understandable, however, this limited release may alienate fans in areas which aren't getting the film.  We shall see.

The promotion for both films has also been different.  Invincible Pictures may have more experience with distribution, but I have yet to see much in the way of advertising or media push for the film.  I've been monitoring the usual social networking sites for action, and, frankly there hasn't been much.  When I was looking up theater bookings for A Serbian Film for this column, I was shocked to see that neither Invincible's homepage, nor their subsite for A Serbian Film had the listings.  I had to go to a horror news site to get it, which doesn't seem very logical, and that was only after a few minutes of Googling.  Indomina, on the other hand, has been very active on Twitter and Facebook.  They've been re-tweeting fan comments about True Legend, and they've also had a few advance screenings of the film in their market cities like Austin to try to build some buzz around True Legend.  When I visited their website looking for bookings, I had to dig for the listings, but they were there. I think I would have to give this round to Indomina, even though I think that omitting VOD from their distribution plans is a mistake.

One of the more successful independent distributors in the last few years has been Magnolia/Magnet.  Their major releases all get regular theatrical play, as well as Amazon VOD, and many times previews well in advance of both on HDNet on satellite.  Magnolia also has a lot of help.  They are part of the 2929 Entertainment family, which not only holds Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing, it also includes the Landmark Theater chain, which certainly can't hurt things for them.  They seem to have the most forward thinking distribution model in independent films today, and I think that both of these relative newcomers can learn from them.

Both Indomina and Invincible have their challenges, and they could end up hurting the bottom lines.  With Indomina, there is the ravenous kung-fu film fan community.  Many of us, and general fans of international cinema, are equally happy importing a title from Hong Kong or buying it locally.  This could bite into profits for Indomina if they sit on titles for too long.  One of the complaints we've heard from readers is that Indomina grabbed a ton of very in-demand Asian titles and then sat on them without giving any idea of their plans.  This uncertainty bred impatience in the fan community, and lots of people just went ahead and imported the films.  Indomina is still tight-lipped about their plans for future releases.  In fact, all I've heard so far was a vague tweet about Bodyguard & Assassins being available on DVD this summer in Best Buy.  As I've tried to get more information, about this, it's been slow in coming.  I love reporting good news, and I hope they come through with some details soon.

A positive model for distributing this type of film on home video can be found in the UK with Cine Asia.  Cine Asia picks up great, big name, contemporary HK, Japanese, and Korean films and gets them out to home video relatively fast.  Many of the titles that Indomina is holding on to are already available on region free Blu-ray and DVD from Cine Asia, and they are very reasonably priced.  It is hard to resist that, I have a lot of their releases.  I prefer to buy US products, though, not out of any sense of patriotism, just because it encourages these distributors to get more films out into the market.  In the US, we have Well Go USA and FUNimation doing similarly good work, if on a smaller scale (in regard to live action films). Well Go USA are really pushing forward in this market, with theatrical runs for all of their major Asian titles, and the announced day and date release of Jackie Chan's next film, they stand to make even more gains.

Invincible's challenge is that they've picked up a challenging film.  People who are interested in seeing a film like A Serbian Film want to see the film that director Srdjan Spasojevic made, which is difficult.  As such, in the year since it debuted at SXSW, many of the interested parties have illegally downloaded the film in order to see it.  The announcement in the UK that the film would not be available uncut only caused that to happen more.  This, obviously, eats into the profits of Revolver in the UK, who are trying to make the film work there, and I think it is going to be a concern for Invincible Pictures here in the States.  In fact, when I posted the news and detailed the versions that Invincible was going to make available, the comments for that article said as much. 

There are people who want to see A Serbian Film on a big screen, and they will go see what version is available.  However, I think that the FlixFling option is probably going to be the more popular, just because of the edit issue.  FlixFling is an interesting option, although, I don't know how many people will want to see this film for the first time on their cell phone.  The Roku streaming video device is certainly more attractive of an option, but even more VOD options would be welcome, I believe.

Both films will be showing theatrically in a few select markets.  They will, of course, both be showing in Austin, even though they've both already screened there, simply because there is no city in the US, perhaps no city in the world, as movie crazy as Austin, Texas.  They'll also both screen in New York, because that is what you do.  From there, their paths diverge with True Legend screening in San Francisco and Honolulu, and A Serbian Film showing in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Ottawa, Canada.  I'll post theaters below.

In conclusion, I really don't know who is smarter on this one, I really hope they both succeed.  Indomina has got better marketing from what I've been able to see, but I really like the idea of VOD from Invincible Pictures.  I think the bottom line is that it is all up to us.  We need to go out and support the films that we believe deserve our support.  If you go and pay your hard-earned money to see these films, it will send a message to the distributor and the exhibitors.  The theatrical listings will expand to other cities, the VOD options might become more accessible, and more films will come.  I think it is a little bit funny that they both chose Friday the 13th to make their big pushes, let's hope they get lucky.

What do you think?  Let me know in the comments.

Theater listings for A Serbian Film:

New York
Cinema Village, Greenwich Village (www.cinemavillage.com)
Forest Hills, Queens (www.cinemartcinemas.com)
Alpine Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (www.alpinecinemas.com)

Los Angeles
Sunset 5, Hollywood (www.laemmle.com)
Playhouse 7, Pasadena (www.laemmle.com)

Austin
Alamo Drafthouse, South Lamar (www.originalalamo.com) Only at the Alamo: May 13th, 10pm

Phoenix
MADCAP Theater, Tempe (www.madcaptheaters.com) May 13th and 14th, 10pm and Midnight

Ottawa
Mayfair Theatre (www.mayfairtheatre.ca)

Theater listings for True Legend:

Austin:
Alamo Drafthouse - S. Lamar

Honolulu:
Mann Chinese 6

New York:
Regal E-Walk

San Francisco:
Landmark Lumiere