Mala Noche from Criterion in October
5 August 2007

It's always interesting to back track to the first films of directors who have made their reputation over time, and in October Criterion are adding one to the list with Mala Noche, the debut feature from Gus Van Sant, whose distinctive style has just recently resulted in him being described as the natural successor to Andy Warhol. Shot in black and white on a low budget in Van Sant's home town or Portland, Oregon and based on Walt Curtis autobiographical novel of the same name, the film explores the world of transient workers as it follows a romantic deadbeat with a wayward crush on a handsome Mexican immigrant. An important forerunner of the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, Mala Noche is an intriguing work from a time and place that continue to haunt the director's films.

Criterion have announced the film for a Director-Approved Special Edition for release on 7th October 2007 at the SRP of $29.95 with the following features:

• New, restored high-definition 1.33:1 digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Gus Van Sant;
• New interview with Van Sant;
• Walt Curtis, the Peckerneck Poet: a documentary about the author of the book Mala Noche, directed by animator and friend Bill Plympton;
• Storyboard gallery;
• Original trailer edited by Van Sant;
• A new essay by film critic Dennis Lim.