The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

SYNOPSIS: A true twentieth-century trailblazer, Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and the first openly gay U.S. politician elected to public office; even after his assassination, in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world. The Oscar-winning The Times of Harvey Milk, directed by Robert Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen, was, like its subject, groundbreaking. One of the first feature documentaries to address gay life in America, it’s a work of advocacy itself, bringing Milk’s message of hope and equality to a wider audience. This exhilarating trove of archival footage and heartfelt interviews is as much a vivid portrait of a time and place (San Francisco’s historic Castro District in the seventies) as a testament to the legacy of a political visionary.

* Director-approved digital transfer, from the meticulous UCLA Film and Television Archive restoration (with DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
* Audio commentary featuring director Robert Epstein,coeditor Deborah Hoffmann, and photographer Daniel Nicoletta
* New interview with documentary filmmaker and UC Berkeley professor Jon Else
* New program about The Times of Harvey Milk and Gus Van Sant’s Milk, featuring Epstein, Van Sant, actor James Franco, and Milk friends Cleve Jones, Anne Kronenberg, and Nicoletta
* Postscript containing interview clips not used in the film
* Rare collection of audio and video recordings of Harvey Milk
* Interview excerpts from Epstein’s research tapes
* Footage from the film’s Castro Theatre premiere and the 1984 Academy Awards ceremony
* Panel discussion on Supervisor Dan White’s controversial trial
* Excerpts from the twenty-fifth anniversary commemoration of Milk’s and Mayor George Moscone’s assassinations
* Original theatrical trailer
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic B. Ruby Rich, a tribute by Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk, and a piece on the film’s restoration by the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s Ross Lipman


Topsy-Turvy

SYNOPSIS: The world of Gilbert and Sullivan comes to vivid life in this extraordinary dramatization of the staging of their legendary 1885 comic opera The Mikado from Mike Leigh. Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner brilliantly inhabit the roles of the world-famous Victorian librettist and composer, respectively, who, along with their troupe of temperamental actors, must battle personal and professional demons while mounting this major production. A lushly produced epic about the harsh realities of creative expression, featuring bravura performances and Oscar-winning costume design and makeup, Topsy-Turvy is an unexpected period delight from one of contemporary cinema’s great artists.

* Director-approved digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Dick Pope (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* Audio commentary featuring director Mike Leigh
* New video conversation between Leigh and the film’s musical director, Gary Yershon
* A Sense of History, Leigh’s 1992 short film written by and starring actor Jim Broadbent
* Deleted scenes
* Featurette from 1999 including interviews with Leigh, stars Broadbent and Allan Corduner, and other cast members
* Theatrical trailer and TV spots
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin


The Mikado

SYNOPSIS: The legendary Gilbert and Sullivan troupe the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company joined forces with Hollywood for this 1939 Technicolor version of the fabled comic opera, the first complete work by the famed duo to be adapted for the screen, directed by musician and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Victor Schertzinger. The result is a lavish cinematic retelling of the British political satire set in exotic Japan, with such enduringly popular numbers as “A Wandering Minstrel I” and “Three Little Maids from School Are We,” and featuring performances by American singer Kenny Baker as well as a host of renowned D’Oyly Carte actors, including Martyn Green and Sydney Granville.

* Newly remastered digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* New video interview with Topsy-Turvy director Mike Leigh on The Mikado and its adaptation for the screen
* New video interview with Mikado scholars Josephine Lee and Ralph MacPhail Jr., tracing the 1939 filmed version of the opera back to its 1885 stage debut
* More!
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien