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PRESS RELEASE

Film / Arts / Internet desk


Worldwide collective viewing and discussing Edgar Reitz' films


Paris, 5 October 2003 - Starting on Friday evening 31st October 2003,
connaisseurs of the work of Edgar Reitz on the internet intend to
collectively view his films every fortnight with an ensuing discussion
by e-mail.

It will take about a year to see the 13 episodes of Edgar Reitz' Heimat
and 12 episodes of Die Zweite Heimat. These films were broadcast on
television in 1984 and 1993 respectively and are together about 40 hours
long. The third series of 6 films in the Heimat series are expected to
be broadcast in December 2004, shortly after this collective viewing
session is over.

Enthusiasts have gathered around a website founded in 1996 by ReindeR
Rustema, 30, from Amsterdam, and Alan Andres, 50, from Boston, and many
others. Rustema: "This website started with me posting a little message
in the newsgroup rec.video.releases whether anyone could help me get a
copy of a certain episode. A month later Alan Andres in Boston wrote me
a reply. We then decided to make more information on these beautiful
films available on the web. Since then every day a few people
spontaneously decide to search for this."

Until November 2004, every other Friday Ivan Mansley, 65, from London,
will introduce the new episode by e-mail before the fans will watch
their own videocopies of the series around 21:00 that evening. Over the
weekend reactions will be e-mailed to the e-mailinglist and discussion
will last until the next episode is introduced two weeks later.

The unavailability of the films on DVD is a problem. Rustema: "Just like
in 1996, it is still not easy to find a copy of these films, while you
can find it in top-100 lists of most filmcritics! Since 1997 there is a
petition for a DVD release on the website, which is signed by around 700
people. Reitz himself has confirmed that this is of help to convince
those who are going to finance the DVD." 


For more information on the third Heimat series http://www.heimat3.de

The Heimat-site can be found at http://reinder.rustema.nl/heimat/

For more information (in English, French, Dutch and some German)
contact:

ReindeR Rustema 

e-mail: reinder@rustema.nl 
instant messaging: ICQ 13736841 or AIM rrr@mac.com 
telephone: +31 20 6861668 or +31 6 21224775 (8:00-24:00 GMT+1)