Overview
Second Run is a London-based specialist Blu-ray label founded on 1 August 2005 by Mehelli Modi. The company releases rare and important classic and contemporary films from around the world on premium physical media, with a particular emphasis on Eastern European, Asian, and Latin American cinema. Modi, the son of Hindi director Sohrab Modi and actress Mehtab, moved to London in 1968 and spent decades in the music industry before launching Second Run. The label released its first title, Nicolas Philibert's In the Land of the Deaf, in 2005 and has since built a catalog of approximately 120 titles over 20 years.
Modi describes the label as "a niche within a niche." The company celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025. Its philosophy has remained unchanged since launch: "Only to release films we knew and loved." This curatorial approach has made Second Run the UK's go-to label for Czech New Wave, Hungarian cinema, and underrepresented world cinema that larger labels like the Criterion Collection, Eureka's Masters of Cinema series, and the BFI have not released.
What Second Run Releases
Second Run's catalog spans multiple regions and eras:
- Czech and Slovak cinema: Films by Vera Chytilova (Daisies), Milos Forman, Jiri Menzel, Jan Nemec, and Frantisek Vlacil (Marketa Lazarova)
- Hungarian cinema: Films by Miklos Jancso, Bela Tarr, and Zoltan Huszarik (Szindbad)
- Polish cinema: Films by Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, and Piotr Szulkin (Golem)
- Latin American cinema: Films from Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico
- Asian cinema: Films from Iran, South Korea, Japan (including Kazuo Hara), and India (including Ishanou from Manipur)
- Documentary: Works by Kim Longinotto, Nicolas Philibert, and Kevin Jerome Everson
- Contemporary world cinema: Early works by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Blissfully Yours, Tropical Malady), Yorgos Lanthimos, Pedro Costa, Albert Serra, Angela Schanelec, and Radu Jude
Each release is produced with a new transfer (often 4K restoration), newly translated English subtitles, and a booklet with scholarly liner notes. All releases are region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C). Production values are consistent with Criterion Collection standards.
Recent and Upcoming Releases (2025 to 2026)
- Golem (February 2025, RRP £19.99) - Piotr Szulkin's 1979 Polish sci-fi, presented from a 2K restoration supervised by the late director, with audio commentary by Michael Brooke and four early Szulkin short films
- Park Lanes (February 2025, RRP £29.99) - Kevin Jerome Everson's 8-hour experimental film, 2-disc special edition with 40-page booklet
- Ishanou (May 2025, RRP £19.99) - Aribam Syam Sharma's 1990 Manipuri film, presented from a 4K restoration by the Film Heritage Foundation that premiered at Cannes 2023. World premiere on Blu-ray.
- Huszarik Box Set (July 2025, RRP £39.99) - 3-disc Blu-ray box set of Zoltan Huszarik's features Szindbad and Csontvary plus five short works, from new 4K restorations. World premiere on Blu-ray.
- Istvan Szabo Box Set (December 2025) - 3-disc set of Mephisto, Colonel Redl, and Hanussen from new 4K restorations, with individual booklets by Hungarian cinema experts
- Long Live the Republic! (March 2026, RRP £19.99) - Karel Kachyna's 1965 Czechoslovak film, with archival interview and short film by Jan Nemec
- Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (April 2026, RRP £19.99) - Kazuo Hara's documentary, from a director-approved HD transfer
- The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (June 2026) - Luis Bunuel's 1955 Mexican film, from Cineteca Nacional Mexico's 4K restoration, with video essays and annotated script gallery
What Filmmakers Should Know
Second Run is primarily a home entertainment label for archival and classic material, not an acquisition target for contemporary theatrical releases. The company licenses home video rights for the UK market (and sometimes broader territories) from rights holders, filmmakers, and restoration entities.
For filmmakers or rights holders with catalog titles from the regions Second Run covers, particularly Eastern European, Asian, or historically significant world cinema, the label is a relevant contact for UK home video distribution. Second Run works with restoration sources including national film archives (Cineteca Nacional Mexico, Film Heritage Foundation, Hungarian film archives) and produces premium physical editions that serve the collector market.
The company offers free UK postage and nominal worldwide delivery charges. All releases are region-free, making them accessible to collectors worldwide despite the UK base. This region-free policy is a deliberate choice that distinguishes Second Run from labels that region-lock their releases.
Second Run's pricing positions it in the premium collector market: individual titles at £19.99 and box sets at £29.99 to £39.99. The label does not compete on volume or price; it competes on curation, transfer quality, and supplementary content depth.
Founder Background
Mehelli Modi grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai), where he was exposed to Soviet bloc films distributed to Indian cinemas during the Cold War. He recalls seeing Diamonds of the Night (1964) as his first film from the Soviet bloc, which he says "completely blew me away." Films by Miklos Jancso and Vera Chytilova screened regularly in India during this period. These viewings formed the foundation of Second Run's later catalog focus on Eastern European cinema.
Modi moved to London in 1968 and worked in the music industry for decades. When the music business shifted toward marketing rather than artist development, he decided to return to his first love: cinema. He acquired his first title, In the Land of the Deaf, by meeting Nicolas Philibert directly. He waited until he had acquired 20 more titles before launching the label.
Modi has expressed interest in expanding Second Run's scope to include more films from Africa and South America, and hopes to acquire rights to some of his father Sohrab Modi's classic Indian films for release through the label.
Example Titles They've Released
Second Run's catalog includes films that have rarely or never been available on physical media in the UK before. Key titles that define the label's identity:
- Daisies (Vera Chytilova, 1966) - the Czech New Wave surrealist comedy that remains one of Second Run's best-selling titles
- Marketa Lazarova (Frantisek Vlacil, 1967) - voted the best Czech film ever made, a medieval epic that Ben Rivers introduced at an ICA screening celebrating Second Run's 10th anniversary
- Szindbad (Zoltan Huszarik, 1971) - the Hungarian tone poem that became a collector favorite and is now out of print on DVD
- Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2002) - the Thai director's early feature, released by Second Run before he became a festival-circuit regular
- Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) - another early Apichatpong title in the catalog
- Ishanou (Aribam Syam Sharma, 1990) - a Manipuri film restored by the Film Heritage Foundation, world premiere on Blu-ray
- Golem (Piotr Szulkin, 1979) - Polish sci-fi from a 2K restoration supervised by the late director
These titles illustrate the label's pattern: films that are cinematically significant but commercially niche, sourced from regions where larger labels do not operate.
Deal Structure Reputation
Second Run operates on a licensing model rather than an acquisition model. The label licenses UK home video rights (and sometimes broader territories) from rights holders, filmmakers, national film archives, and restoration entities. Deals are negotiated directly, often with the filmmaker or rights holder, rather than through agents or sales companies.
The label does not pay large minimum guarantees. Its deals are structured around modest upfront licensing fees against royalties, with the label bearing the cost of transfer, restoration, subtitle translation, booklet production, and manufacturing. Because Second Run produces each release in-house, the label controls quality but also absorbs production risk. A single Blu-ray release involves 4K scanning, color grading, subtitle translation, booklet commissioning, and pressing, costs that can run into thousands of pounds per title before a single unit is sold.
Second Run's reputation in the industry is built on reliability and quality rather than deal size. Rights holders trust the label because it produces editions that meet or exceed Criterion Collection standards. Filmmakers including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Costa, and Radu Jude have trusted Second Run with their early works. The label's 20-year track record and approximately 120-title catalog demonstrate sustained execution in a market where most specialist labels have folded or been absorbed.
Typical Acquisition Profile
Second Run acquires films that fit a specific curatorial profile:
- Region: Eastern European (Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish), Asian (Iran, South Korea, Japan, India), Latin American, and select Western European and American independent cinema
- Era: Primarily 1960s through 2000s, with some contemporary titles
- Format: Films that exist on 16mm or 35mm and can be scanned to 4K, or films with existing HD masters
- Market gap: Films not already released by Criterion, Eureka/Masters of Cinema, or the BFI in the UK
- Academic and cinephile appeal: Films studied in university courses or discussed in serious film criticism
The label does not acquire contemporary theatrical releases, mainstream commercial films, or films that already have wide UK distribution. Second Run is not a destination for filmmakers seeking theatrical distribution or streaming deals. It is a destination for rights holders of catalog titles who want a premium physical edition produced to collector standards.
Filmmakers or rights holders with catalog titles from the regions Second Run covers should approach the label directly. Modi has expressed interest in expanding into African and South American cinema, and in acquiring rights to his father Sohrab Modi's classic Indian films.
Watch: Trailers and Interviews
See Also
For how premium home entertainment labels generate revenue from classic film catalogs, see Distribution Deals Explained. For UK arthouse and specialist distributors serving the cinephile audience alongside theatrical releases, see the broader Film Distributors Directory. For comparison with other collector-focused Blu-ray labels, see Eureka Entertainment and Arrow Films in this directory.
