Hey all, longtime lurker (on my personal account), but first-time poster. I've been working in independent/arthouse distribution for 10 years now and I've been batting around the idea of starting a boutique U.S. home video label that's solely focused on filmmaker-driven documentary and non-English language cinema. The goal would be to realize gender parity among the slate of filmmakers and also make a concerted effort to spotlight non-Western/East Asian cultures. The physical media releases would solely be Blu-ray and/or 4K UHD (when possible).

The biggest thing I'm looking for right now is a bit of help from fellow home video enthusiasts. Here's my question:

If there were to be a boxset featuring work from an overlooked international filmmaker (at least by US audiences), whose work would you most be excited to see given the "boutique" treatment? Anything goes, as long as the filmmaker's films are predominately non-English language and/or documentaries.

Thanks so much for the help! And if people are interested, I'd be glad to continue picking your collective brains as other questions come up.

The first one that springs to mind is French director Éric Rohmer. I know Criterion swooped up the Six Moral Tales, and a few others have gotten out on Blu-ray in North America, but some of his late-career movies seem to be MIA.

The Four Seasons box set is coming from Criterion soon.

Hong Sang-soo is starting to get more attention in the US. Two boutique labels have been putting out some of his older releases while also handling distribution for his newer ones. But there are some of his older films that still need releases in the US.

Fatih Akin’s early films are in desperate need of Blu-ray releases. Head On and The Edge of Heaven especially. A box set for him would hit both of what you're looking for as he has done features and documentaries.

Frederick Wiseman. In France, nearly all of his documentaries have been released on DVD across three collector sets. Unfortunately, many of the films are either in French language without English subtitles, or English language with forced French subtitles. And, the sets are PAL standard definition. If ever there was a filmmaker whose 40+ year filmography deserved the full Criterion box set treatment, it's Frederick Wiseman. Sadly, Wiseman sells his films individually at crazy high prices from his website, and only on DVD. A comprehensive blu-ray set with all of his documentaries remastered in HD would be the release of the year.

Mike Leigh’s TV films. 9 of them are on DVD on 3 box sets. But that set is more than 15 years old.

The films of Alan Clarke. Similar story to Mike Leigh. He directed a lot of tv films in England. He had a DVD box set released about 15 years ago with only 4 films. Scum is his only film that has made it to blu ray. But there is a treasure trove of films of his that need to be released on blu ray or 4K. Made in Britain chief among them.

Thanks for the suggestions, all! It's super helpful to get an idea of where peoples' interests are at the moment. I'll be sure to post again as plans for the label solidify, but feel free to keep posting suggestions in the meantime.

Is there someone you are targeting or hope to try and have a release for?