30 November, 2014

According to a post on the El Franconomicon FACEBOOK page by Tim Lucas, Alain Petit's landmark, comprehensive study of the films and career of Jess Franco will be republished. It will reportedly include the original texts and illustrations, along with other new elements, in upgraded, updated, corrected editions. The Artus publication is slated for April, 2015. The post states that it will be published in two different editions, one of which will include a DVD of a rarely seen Jess Franco film. The publisher is Artus, the French DVD company who has released several digital restorations of Franco films (THE OBSCENE MIRROR).
 
Jess-Franco-Manacoa-Files-vol-1-by-Alain-Petit-1994-in-french

   



THE MANACOA FILES was published as a series of zines starting in 1994 and is probably still the primary text on the films of the late, prolific Jess Franco, reviewing all of his films, with detailed credits, presenting related illustrations, interviews, sidebars, data and comments by Petit, who is a noted film historian and was also a collaborator with the director, both as a writer (PLAISIR A TROIS, THE CRAZY NUNS) and actor, (THE MIDNIGHT PARTY, JULIETTE DE SADE, TENDER FLESH).

This is very welcome news indeed. Petit's intimate working knowledge of the director and his career are invaluable, and though I have attempted to read the texts in French, it will be a revelation to have them in English also.

I will post more details as soon as possible. RM

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