I find myself having occasion to re-watch Filibus with my friend Ryan. Ryan has not seen the film previously.
We're watching the eye institute's restoration. It is very good, and has a wonderful soundtrack.
I haven't watched it in months, and it's really great to see it again.
The film is in the public domain, but it's inter-titles and soundtrack are not.
Watch the illegal copy on the internet archive https://archive.org/details/filibus-1915-by-mario-roncoroni
Watch it with no score but still the illegal inter-titles on wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Filibus_1915.webm
Or you can watch a fully legal version here, which is much worse: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Filibus_(1915).webm
Or you can watch my in progress restoration here: https://communitymedia.video/w/nYaqWnn34d57auvQeSE6TY
But I've only finished episode one so far.
So much of what we're working on right now is based in part on this movie.
Our #SkyPirate toys (which will launch to the world in a few more days!) are directly inspired by Filibus and The Pirates of 1920 ( https://vod.newellijay.tv/w/p/nQmSoz1U7RUUVqSLQdeGn2?playlistPosition=1 )
I've been working on a fiction serial adventure series featuring Filibus and her crew, transforming them in to Doc Savage style pulp adventure heroes, but without the bigotry and with a lot more #RevolutionaryJoy
Eventually, I'll also do a video game. Maybe later this year? Probably by next summer.
But it's such a fun, and significant, and really remarkable film, and I'm really glad I have the opportunity to revisit it and share it with my friend.
If you're unfamiliar, it's a 1915 science fiction film about a gang of roving sky pirates commanded by a genderfluid (bisexual?) person.
They steal, they cheat, they lie, they make use of fantastical science fiction gadgets and gizmos, and they are very good at it.
It's beautiful, reasonably well preserved, and an absolute treat to watch.
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