At the end of 2015, two subsidiaries of the TF1 group, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels and TF1 Vidéo, launched the Heritage Collection, a selection of masterpieces of French cinema restored on Blu-ray with previously unpublished supplements.
The group of France's leading television channel has long been committed to preserving French film heritage with TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, which restores 10 to 15 films each year. Recently, for example, she restored Rocco and his Brothers, in collaboration with Gucci and Martin Scorsese's foundation, The Film Foundation. The restored version of Visconti's cult film was presented at the 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, in the Cannes Classics category, as was Panique, by Julien Duvivier, available since December in the Heritage Collection.
Film restoration in France is necessary for heritage preservation. More than 80% of films shot before 1929 would have been lost and more than 50% for those shot before 1950, because of cellulose nitrate, a chemical component that constitutes the first film carriers, and whose average lifespan is not much more than 50 years.
Today, the means of watching a film have diversified, the Heritage Collection strives to meet the needs of film lovers by delivering multi-screen editions, compatible with tablets, smartphones and PCs.
In addition, with the Heritage collection, TF1 has chosen a more ambitious editorial bias , accompanying the restored masterpieces with photos, audiovisual documents and rare specialist testimonies, providing additional keys to understanding.
Like Panic, originally released in 1946, Jean Renoir's Le Carrosse d'or was reissued for the Heritage Collection last December, and is accompanied by unpublished interviews about the work.
Very soon, Garde à vue and Mortelle Randonnée by Claude Miller will also be republished in this Collection which will allow the rediscovery of masterpieces of French cinema.
