Batches 14 and 15
I have completed the easy part: the titles I can acquire quickly. The final 50 will be more difficult.
The frustrating thing - for someone that values physical media above all else - is that I know Botswana is making films. Most of them are on streaming, the others are probably only accessible within Botswana itself. I can't buy them on disc, at least not from where I am. I imagine most of the remaining countries are similar. Oman is making films, they're just not available to me. And, realistically, why should they be? I'm the one that's too thick to be able to speak Arabic. Why should they be catering for me? (The argument could be made that of course they should, they should want to increase their distribution network, but why? They're working perfectly well as they are, why do they need to expand? Adding subtitles just because an Alun somewhere might want them is madness.)
But not everyone can stream. I live in a first world (horrid phrase) country with almost unlimited resources, yet I suspect that I have worse internet capacity than someone in the middle of a city in any African country. I'll never get cable (for the same reason that people living in villages in the middle of nowhere will never get cable - because we're all in the middle of nowhere: it's prohibitively expensive). So my earlier hypothesis that most people are similar stands - what separates us isn't culture, or colour, or religion - it's whether we live in a city or the countryside. (And, yes, I know I'm simplifying this a great deal.)
My internet is brought to me by an old telephone line. Every year or two someone has to come and cut back a tree because it rubs against the line and causes issues. My internet flakes out dozens of times a day. It's not an issue for casual use, but it effectively stops me streaming. And I'm also in a mobile blackspot so only one network covers where I live - and even then not all the time.
I am a dinosaur. And in this instance it's not even by choice. It's the limitations of living in a beautiful, but remote, location. (And, it's not even that remote - I am only a ten minute drive from a sizeable town. There are seven different Tesco stores within a fifteen minute drive. I'm in the UK - outside the national parks it's quite hard to be remote.)
But even if someone found a cheaper way of laying cable that didn't involve digging up small country roads, with streaming I'd still be at the mercy of whatever Amazon or Netflix decided I can see that month. I don't have that issue with my collection. And, yes, I know my collection is ridiculously large. Most people don't have a single percent of the discs I have. But at least I don't have to worry about titles dropping off at the end of the month.
I think it's important to note that I'm not collecting physical media for the sake of it. I'm not doing it ironically. I'm not doing it to be contrary. The TV series The Power Game will most likely never be released on DVD again. Ditto its predecessor The Plane Makers. The only way I'll ever see it is by owning the DVD. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I support physical media.
That's why I'm doing this globally too: because I'm as interested in the state of physical media around the world. Because I want to see what it's possible to collect on a disc that I can hold and keep. I'm sure locally most of the films I've found so far can be found easily. But what if someone else wants to see them? No one from the Marshall Islands owes me the chance to see a film they've made, but if there's one available, I'd like to be able to see it. I don't expect them to necessarily make it easy for me, but I like the option of knowing that I can still buy it if I want. Global streaming rights make this unlikely in the extreme. A contract to show the film in the Pacific is likely - and it might be available for three months every year. The rest of the time it'll be unavailable. Outside the Pacific, it's effectively not in existence. At least if it exists on disc I can buy and watch it myself.
The following two batches were purchased in late May and early-mid June. I realise that's probably some time away from when you're reading this (I schedule a post every two days. As I explained in the previous acquisition post, I've built up a stockpile of films because I know it'll take a long time to complete the final 50. I don't want to run out of titles to review in the meantime). I write the review posts in watched order, and I'm trying to watch them in the order I acquire them. A mix of countries and genres means, I hope, that the novelty of watching them doesn't wear thin.
With these titles down, I now have only 50 titles to find. Some of them are manageable - I'm just waiting for a copy at a reasonable price. Some of them are harder - I'm waiting for someone to sell a second-hand copy of a deleted title. Some of them may not be available with subtitles - I'm trying to avoid needing those at all costs. Finally, there's a small chance that some of them are not possible to acquire at all. Copilot's sure of it.
A page of the final 50 countries goes live at the same time as this post. You can read it HERE. I've noted the country and the (apparently) most easily accessible title. As I carry on reviewing all of the titles I have so far, hopefully the 50 will slowly reduce until we see the truly difficult countries. I still think it's possible. But whereas I was once certain, I now only think...
Batch Fourteen - Countries Acquired
Azerbaijan Nabat (2014)
Cambodia Mirr (2016)
Central African Republic Camille (2019)
Madagascar Red Island (2023)
Myanmar The Road to Mandalay (2016)
Nepal White Sun (2016)
Nicaragua La Yuma (2009)
Nigeria Mami Wata (2023)
Slovakia The Teacher (2016)
Tanzania Maangamizi (1999)
Outlay this batch: £210.19
Total outlay so far: £1303.82
Total countries acquired: 99
Cost per country so far: £13.17
Countries Remaining: 55
Batch Fifteen - Countries Acquired
Laos The Long Walk (2019)
Niger Zerzura (2017)
North Macedonia Honeyland (2019)
Panama Chance (2009)
Sri Lanka The Forsaken Land (2005)
Outlay this batch: £90.57
Total outlay so far: £1394.39
Total countries acquired: 104
Cost per country so far: £13.40
Countries Remaining: 50