The Golden Fern: Limited Deluxe Edition (DC-031)(Exclusive)

• Three rare early Jiří Weiss shorts:
  • THE SUN SHINES ON THE RIVER LUŽNICE (NAD LUŽNICÍ SVÍTÍ SLUNCE) 1936, 10 min – beautiful, lyrical B&W tone poem of the pre-WWII Czech countryside: athletic young men and women canoeing down the River Lužnice, passing medieval castles and sleepy half-forgotten villages. Silent with music.
  • SONG OF RUTHENIA (PÍSEŇ O PODKARPATSKÉ RUSI) 1937, 11 min. Another gorgeous B&W film poem of the Czech countryside and Weiss’s personal favorite of his early shorts. Mythical images of mountains and streams and rural farmers tilling the land make this a precursor to the mystical visions of the forest in THE GOLDEN FERN. Filmed traveling on horseback through the mountains of Ruthenia (then part of Czecholovakia, now part of Ukraine), shooting the diverse community with Ruthenians (Slavs), Jews and Roma all living in the same area.
  • THE RAPE OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA (ULOUPENÍ ČESKOSLOVENSKA) 1939, 17 min. Weiss’s classic B&W agitprop short was made after he escaped to London just ahead of the Nazis. He carried with him three reels of material for his unrealized film DVACET LET SVOBODY (TWENTY YEARS OF FREEDOM) i.e. 20 years of the existence of independent Czechoslovakia from its 1918 founding to 1938 when the Munich Agreement dissolved it. In English with poetic narration written by C. Day-Lewis (father of Daniel Day-Lewis).
• New video interview with the filmmaker’s son Jiří Weiss Jr. about his father’s remarkable life story and filmmaking career.
• New commentary by film historian Peter Hames and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company
• Video essay by film historian Evan Chester.
• New reversible cover artwork by Beth Morris.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content

• Slipcase featuring new illustration by Hans Woody
• 60-page illustrated book with:
  • Introduction by filmmaker Alexander Payne (THE HOLDOVERS)
  • New essay by film historian Peter Hames
  • New essay by film critic Walter Chaw
  • Memories of cinematographer Bedrich Batka by writer William Robertson