and the winner is…
On Thursday, June 25th in Piazzetta Pier Paolo Pasolini the winners of Il Cinema Ritrovato Blu-Ray & DVD Awards 2026 were announced. The competition was open to DVDs and Blu-rays released between February 2025 and March 2026 of critically acclaimed films made before 1996.
The jury, composed by Lorenzo Codelli, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Philippe Garnier, Pamela Hutchinson, Miguel Marías and Paolo Mereghetti (President) assigned the following awards:
best box set
CURZON FILMS — Blu-ray Box Set
This throws us back to the time of Criterion epic releases like their cumbersome Bergman or Fellini boxes or their more recent Pasolini offer. Now we can have everything and not overburden our shelves. So, what’s not to like? In the case of a filmmaker as transgressive as Haneke, the question should rather be: do we want all this unpleasantness in our home, even as neatly packaged? But here the impeccable curating softens the blows, as each work is followed by a short interview of the author, all recorded in the same period. Haneke speaks as a rigorous creator and a ruthless, sardonic artisan; also surprisingly funny. This overview is also an excellent occasion to delve into his earlier Austrian TV and theatrical work, arguably more interesting than his French output. It is a tribute to his art that he managed to be so successful while so consistently denying his viewers any comfort or pleasure. (Philippe Garnier)
best special features
Potemkine Films — Blu-ray / UHD Box Set
The monumental effort that, over 16 years, has seen the Cinémathèque française restore Abel Gance’s masterpiece and return it to its (almost) original form has resulted in an equally monumental box set for Potemkine. The lion’s share of the content consists of materials that explore and help shed light on the film’s dual versions, available on both Blu-ray and Ultra HD. There is a book of over 300 pages, featuring just as many photographs, published by La Table Rond, a booklet containing all the music accompanying the nearly eight hours of film, and numerous fascinating documentaries on the history of this lengthy restoration, the innovations represented by the three-screen projection, the history of Napoleon in cinema, and, of course, a critical and historical analysis of the film itself, as well as the film that Nelly Kaplan made in 1984 about Abel Gance and the making of Napoléon.
best rediscovery of a forgotten film
The British company Radiance has released a stunning box set featuring nine films directed by the unforgettable Japanese filmmaker Ōshima Nagisa on Blu-ray. A director who made his breakthrough at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight – founded by Pierre-Henri Delau, to whom Il Cinema Ritrovato has recently paid tribute – thanks to his erotic masterpiece In the Realm of the Senses. This first volume of Radical Japan marks the start of a series exploring the complete works of the revolutionary director. It is accompanied by a 160-page illustrated book featuring new essays by Rea Amit and Espen Bale, archive articles by Donald Richie and Alexander Jacoby, texts written by Oshima himself, and exclusive video interviews. (Lorenzo Codelli)
best single release
Carlotta Films — Blu-ray / UHD Box
Carlotta Films’ Blu-Ray release of the 4K restoration of Lino Brocka’s Bona (1980) is especially significant as this work of one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the Philippines was considered lost for several decades. The Blu-ray release also includes fantastic special features that will enable new audiences to discover this gem of Philippine cinema. (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur)
the peter von bagh award
Penny Video — Blu-ray + DVD Box Set
We wish there were more Elvira Notari films available to see. Early Neapolitan filmmaker Notari directed, and often also wrote, at least 60 feature films, and upwards of 100 documentaries and shorts, but precious little of her prolific filmography has survived. However, this box set curated by Maria Coletti from CSC — Cineteca Nazionale in Rome collects what we have and presents it beautifully. The set, which marks the 150th anniversary of Notari’s birth in Salerno in 1875, contains exquisite restorations of two features from 1922, both starring the mesmerising Rosè Angione: ‘A Santanotte and É Piccerella. The score for ‘A Santanotte, composed by Michele Signore for a small ensemble, is a particular highlight. Further, there are two incomplete dramas starring Notari’s son Gennariello and two beautiful documentary fragments. Our only complaint is that there are not any more passionate and picturesque films from the brilliant Notari available to be included in this set. (Pamela Hutchinson)
PRESENTED BY LORENZO CODELLI
Vinegar Syndrome/Cinématographe/OCN Distribution — Blu-ray/UHD Box Set
É ricca, la sposo e l’ammazzo was the Italian title of this hilarious, macabre comedy, which straddled the line between the classic British films of Ealing Studios and Murnau’s Sunrise. It was the debut film by Elaine May, who by 1971 was already well known as a comic actress on Broadway, performing alongside Mike Nichols. Elaine May sued Paramount for re-editing A New Leaf. She lost the case. This excellent box set offers a wealth of extras on the film and on Elaine May’s extraordinary career. She directed only four films. However, it contains neither the original screenplay nor, let alone, the ‘director’s cut’. It should not be forgotten that Paramount is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, who are among President Trump’s staunchest supporters. A few days ago, President Trump officially approved Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros, thereby authorising an unprecedented monopoly in Hollywood. (Lorenzo Codelli)
PRESENTED BY PHILIPPE GARNIER
StudioCanal UK — Blu-ray/UHD Box Set
Beloved by many (mostly Brits), this film will be a real discovery to some, greatly helped by the curating of this release by Studio Canal. Generally acknowledged as the template for the British Horror Anthology genre, it has also been unsurpassed for the intelligent gentility of its dialogue and its fantastic casting. The horrid smile caught in the last shot of Michael Redgrave playing a ventriloquist eaten up by his puppet like a malignant tumor is unforgettable and scarred many viewers for life, including our own Pamela Hutchinson, who does the running commentary. The wonderful supplements are almost comically exhaustive, such is the passion of the participants. No one, however, will complain about Nathalie Morris speaking on The Art of Ealing, a fascinating inquiry into this singular studio’s marketing strategies and unique promotional artwork. A facsimile of the striking Dead of Night “Nosferatu” poster is included in this fun package. (Philippe Garnier)
PRESENTED BY PAMELA HUTCHINSON
Hammer Films — Blu-ray Box Sets
Some of the best disc curation around at the moment is found in the horror genre. If you have fond memories of these cult British science fiction films from the atomic age, based on the serial by Nigel Kneale and directed by Val Guest, then these two lavish box sets will happily scare you silly all over again — and remind you why you enjoyed these movies so much. On these 4K Ultra HD discs the films are presented in multiple versions, and the intruding alien lifeforms shimmer and pulse in the most attractively repulsive fashion. But it is the comprehensive package of extras that will blow your minds, consisting of TV episodes, documentaries, commentaries, interviews, posters, booklets, reproduction comics and more. Plus, we love the packaging and the artwork. A very successful experiment in disc curation for an audience of loyal devotees — and a generation of new fans. (Pamela Hutchinson)
PRESENTED BY MIGUEL MARÍAS
Les Films du Camélia — Blu-ray
The danger for a filmmaker as fine and elegant as Luigi Comencini is precisely that subtlety calls not for attention, so that the new Blu-ray by Films du Camélia gives the film a new chance. (Miguel Marías)
PRESENTED BY PAOLO MEREGHETTI
Ignite Films — Blu-ray
A masterpiece of film noir, Joseph H. Lewis’s film (known in Italian as La polizia bussa alla porta) is presented here in a restored and historically accurate edition (it is spoken in three languages: English, German and Latin American Spanish), accompanied by a range of bonus features, including an interview with the director conducted by Philippe Garnier; these help viewers to appreciate all the film’s qualities.
PRESENTED BY SHIVENDRA SINGH DUNGARPUR
The Criterion Collection — Blu-ray / UHD Box Set
The Criterion Collection’s Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 5 Box Set is a wonderful showcase of the remarkable diversity of four pathbreaking films of master filmmakers that The World Cinema Project has restored over the years drawn from film patrimonies as wide-ranging as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Kazakhstan and India with special features that include interviews and essays that further contextualise the artistic and historical significance of each of the works. (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur)
