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Updates on Third Window and Animerama Releases

Third Window Films has posted the following announcement:

Third Window are back in business! After all the troubles we found ourselves put into during 2017, we thought we have turned a corner in 2018, though as soon as we started to pick ourselves up came the very bad news that Fusion Media Sales, the sales agent which handled us as well as many other great indie distributors, were closed down by their parent company. This totally screwed us as well as many other labels like ours who are not big enough to negotiate directly with Amazon, HMV, SONY, etc and therefore need to rely on a third-party agent like Fusion who can handle such deals. Though in the case of a company like that being closed it leaves us with no control over our stock or sales, and in a terrible state of limbo.

Though no more! Thanks to the great Arrow Films! Both Third Window and our longtime partners Terracotta Distribution have been rescued by Arrow Films, and we cannot think of a better company to partner with! Arrow Films and Arrow Video have been one of the last few saviors in keeping physical media and indie film distribution alive, as we have been trying to do with Asian cinema, so it's really the perfect match and a wonderful new family to be a part of!

We will soon have all our stock available through their website and other outlets, but this merger has allowed us to keep our upcoming schedule in tact, but please check out and help us out by PRE-ORDERING some of our upcoming releases

Third Window Films also gave more details of its upcoming release of 1001 Nights (aka Senya Ichiya Monogatari) and Cleopatra, Queen of Sex (released as Cleopatra in Japan), which is now scheduled for June.

Third Window Films are pleased to announce the world's first Blu-ray release of two rare animations from the "Godfather of Manga" TEZUKA OSAMU: 1001 Nights and Cleopatra as a double disc, 2000 copy limited edition box-set coming in June.

In the late 60s, Tezuka Osamu with his production company Mushi Pro and director Eiichi Yamamoto (Belladonna of Sadness) started a very short run series of X-rated animations called Animerama. The series only really officially made these two films before Mushi Pro went bankrupt, but they have been totally forgotten in history and we are very happy to bring them back with new 2K remasters.

The release will feature many new and exclusive extra features including an interview with director Eiichi Yamamoto, audio commentaries on both films by Helen McCarthy, author of The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, plus 4K scanned trailers and liner notes by film critic Simon Abrams. Also available on DVD - Pre-order information coming soon.

Both films are part of the Animerama trilogy of Mushi Pro films with adult sexual content. The 1969 film One Thousand and One Nights tells of the adventures of Aladdin as he travels through the Middle East in search of love, fortune, and power. In the 1970 film Cleopatra's story, three people from the future are spiritually sent back in time to relive the era of Caesar, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Both films were directed by Eiichi Yamamoto; One Thousand and One Nights has its original story credited to Osamu Tezuka, who is also credited with co-directing Cleopatra with Yamamoto.

The other film in the Animerama trilogy released by Mushi Pro was Belladonna of Sadness in 1973, which had a home release last year from Anime Limited.