Bologna Diary (11) - The Cinema Ritrovato DVD Awards

I had cause last year as part of this Bologna diary to report upon the somewhat eccentric goings on at Cinema Ritrovato DVD Awards. I was again bemused at the prizegiving by the row of aging mostly white haired men sitting along a table as they ran though their choices. During the course of that year one of their former number Peter Von Bagh had died and been replaced by a male, white haired French film critic. Membership of the Cinema Ritrova Awards panel is a bit like the Papacy.

This year the six judges were again one short on the panel. The American Mark McElhatten had not been able to get Bologna but his contribution remains sufficiently invaluable that again this year his membership was confirmed. (The last time he made it on stage he amused the crowd by nodding off throughout but I digress and I know I’m being a bit mean).

It has to be said that the many winners, selected from a good range of entries do take us into the nether reaches and do reveal the virtue of the DVD format. For al the facility of access involved in later delivery methods, the DVD does appear to be the most efficient way of getting the movies out and maximizing the information.

Those many winners, some chosen from those who followed the rules and provided six copies of the discs, others nominated as personal choices of each of the judges because that condition of entry weren’t followed.  If you want to know the whole panoply of winners you can go to Jonathan Rosenbaum’s website. 

There was one surprise omission. Criterion, which has done more to bring the great works of the cinema to DVD and to surround those films with magnificent  ancillary material did not get a look in when the gongs were handed out.

The rapt Awards audience. Photo Neil McGlone