This past weekend, Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it's inked an exclusive three-year DVD distribution agreement with Milestone Films. The partnership gives Oscilloscope sole distribution rights to all of Milestone Cinematheque's past, current and future DVD releases, an absolutely exquisite catalog. Milestone's remarkable and vast film library ranges from the earliest days of cinema to the golden-age of silent movies, to the post-war foreign film renaissance to American independent narratives and nonfiction features of the 20th century.
Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles (1961) will be Milestone's first release under the new agreement, available in stores in November. Newly restored, I got to see a print of this at last year's Flaherty Film Seminar and the IFC Center in New York had a short run this past year. It has drawn strong comparisons to Charles Burnett's 1977 masterpiece, Killer of Sheep, another Milestone release. You will want copies of both of these gorgeous pieces of cinema for your library.
Also, Oscilloscope and Milliarium Zero, Milestone's sister company, will release Mariposa Film Group's documentary Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives on DVD later this year. Originally released in 1978, it was the first feature-length doc about gay and lesbian identity made by gay filmmakers and became a strong cultural touchstone for the emerging gay rights movement in the late 70s and early 80s.
This will prove to be a very exciting partnership. You can become a fan of Oscilloscope on Facebook by clicking here.
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