Palisades Tartan is a British/American

film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...

company, founded by US-based Palisades Media Group to take over the film library of film distributor Tartan Films after it folded in the summer of 2008.

History

Tartan Films, established in 1984, was a UK-based film distributor. Founder Hamish McAlpine (not to be confused with the

Hamish McAlpine Hamish Robert McAlpine (born 21 January 1948) is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Dundee United for twenty years, between 1966 and 1986. Whilst with the club, he won the Scottish Football League title once ...

that played football for Dundee United) is credited with creating the term "

Asia Extreme Palisades Tartan is a British/American film distribution company, founded by US-based Palisades Media Group to take over the film library of film distributor Tartan Films after it folded in the summer of 2008. History Tartan Films, established i ...

" and making such films accessible to the masses. It also owned the US-based Tartan USA and Tartan Video. It has distributed

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n films under the brand ''Tartan Asia Extreme''. Between 1992-2003 Tartan Films operated under the name Metro-Tartan Distribution before reverting to Tartan Films. More recently, it has released similar films of other origins, under its Tartan Terror brand. Such films include '' Battle Royale'', the ''

Whispering Corridors ''Whispering Corridors'' () is a 1998 South Korean supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Park Ki-hyung. It was part of the explosion in South Korean cinema following the Cinema of South Korea#Recovery (1980–1996), liberalization of ...

'' series ''

A Tale of Two Sisters ''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (; lit. "Rose Flower, Red Lotus") is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror-drama film written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale entitled Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, which ...

'', '' The Last Horror Movie'' and '' Oldboy''. Tartan Films USA released various internationally acclaimed films for the US market, including '' Oldboy'', ''

Triad Election ''Election 2'' (literal title: ''Triad (underground societies), Black Society: Harmony is a Virtue''), also known as ''Triad Election'' in the United States, is a 2006 Category III films, Category III Hong Kong crime film directed by Johnnie To w ...

'', ''

The Page Turner ''The Page Turner'' (french: La Tourneuse de pages) is a 2006 French film directed by Denis Dercourt. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Plot A young girl, Mélanie Prouvost, aspires to be a pianist ...

'', '' 12:08 East of Bucharest'', '' ''Red Road'''', ''

9 Songs ''9 Songs'' is a 2004 British art romantic drama film written and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film stars Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the sto ...

'', ''

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu ''The Death of Mr. Lazarescu'' ( ro, Moartea domnului Lăzărescu) is a 2005 Romanian dark comedy film by director Cristi Puiu. In the film an old man (Ioan Fiscuteanu) is carried by an ambulance from hospital to hospital all night long, as doctor ...

'', ''

The Cave of the Yellow Dog ''The Cave of the Yellow Dog'' ( Mongolian ''Шар нохойн там'') is a 2005 Mongolian/German film written and directed by Byambasuren Davaa. The film was submitted as Mongolia's contender for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Langu ...

'', and ''

Battle in Heaven ''Battle in Heaven'' ( es, Batalla en el cielo) is a 2005 Mexican-French-German film. It is the second feature film by director Carlos Reygadas who previously directed the Mexican film '' Japón''. It was entered into the 2005 Cannes Film Festiva ...

''. Tartan USA's DVD catalogue was released through

Genius Products Genius Products (also known as Genius Entertainment) was an entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California, United States. The ''Baby Genius'' line was one of a number of "smart toys" that came out in response to a study book about the ...

, which was 70% owned by

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

. In June 2008, Tartan went into administration, laid off its employees, and ceased operations. The US branch was shuttered a month earlier and its library of films was sold to the Palisades Media Group. Shortly after the sale, a representative of the

Bryanston Distributing Company Bryanston Distributing Company (formerly known as Bryanston Distributors and also traded as Bryanston Pictures) was an American film distribution company that was active during the 1970s. The company was founded by Louis Peraino and Philip Paris ...

made a seven-figure cash offer to buy the company’s film library, but the offer was rejected by Palisades Media.

Releases

Palisades Tartan

On September 28, 2008, the newly named Palisades Tartan label released its first UK DVD title (cat. no. PAL001DVD), the film '' ''P2'''', directed by Franck Khalfoun. On January 7, 2009, Palisades Tartan released ''

Silent Light ''Silent Light'' ( Plautdietsch: ''Stellet Licht'') is a 2007 film written and directed by Carlos Reygadas. Filmed in a Mennonite colony close to Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua State, Northern Mexico, ''Silent Light'' tells the story of a Mennonite marrie ...

'' in the United States theatrically; it was the first US theatrical release for the company.

Tartan Films

Prior to the take-over, Tartan had originally released all of its films, including its Asia Extreme and Tartan Terror labels on VHS. As

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

became more popular, the company chose to release solely on this format and deleted the VHS back catalogue. The Metro Tartan branch of the company dealt with theatrical distribution.

References

{{reflist

External links

Palisades Tartan home pageUnited Kingdom Tartan Video home pageUnited Kingdom Tartan Films home pageUnited States home pagePalisades Tartan Specials
Film distributors of the United Kingdom