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" 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 ...
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 liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end 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
''The Last Horror Movie'' is a 2003 British found footage horror film directed by Julian Richards. On 24 August 2003 it premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival and stars Kevin Howarth and Mark Stevenson. ''The Last Horror Movie'' ...
'' and ''
Oldboy''.
Tartan Films USA released various internationally acclaimed films for the US market, including ''
Oldboy'', ''
Triad Election'', ''
The Page Turner'', ''
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 s ...
'', ''
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 docto ...
'', ''
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 pri ...
.
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'' 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 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