She was the pleasure-seeking photojournalist – forever embodied by the exquisite Indonesian actress Laura Gemser, most frequently in collaboration with writer/director Joe D’Amato – who would uncover an increasingly lurid world of sex cults, snuff films, cannibal jungles, women’s prisons, white slavers, depraved convents and beyond to become the premier feminist icon in genre history. Now Severin Films – recently hailed by Polygon as “one of the best labels in physical media” – presents THE SENSUAL WORLD OF BLACK EMANUELLE, a landmark collection that brings together 21 BLACK EMANUELLE films, 2 adjacent titles starring EuroCult heroine Ajita Wilson, and the D’Amato documentary INFERNO ROSSO, most newly scanned, restored and on Blu-ray for the first time in America. The box set is produced by Kier-La Janisse, the creator of Severin’s award-winning 2022 release ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A Compendium Of Folk Horror.
THE SENSUAL WORLD OF BLACK EMANUELLE also includes 2 soundtrack CDs curated exclusively for this collection encompassing music by composer Nico Fidenco and more, the lavishly illustrated 356-page THE BLACK EMANUELLE BIBLE designed by Luke Insect and featuring new writings by noted film historians as well as Laura Gemser’s historic 1996 Nocturno Magazine interview, and over 40 hours of Special Features that include alternate versions, audio commentaries, video essays, a documentary on Gemser’s husband/co-star Gabriele Tinti, the ‘80s Gemser workout video Looking Good, and much more.
The collection – also available as part of Severin’s EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD Bundle which features a board game, a replica of Emanuelle’s golden shell camera necklace, a magnetic dress-up set, a vintage 4×6 still from the set of DIVINE EMANUELLE, a recreation of Emanuelle’s passport and more, all packaged in a vintage replica airline bag – will be available exclusively at the Severin webstore (www.SeverinFilms.com) on May 30th, with a wide release to follow this summer.
“The Black Emanuelle series remains one of the most notorious, outlandish and challenging franchises in the annals of erotic cinema,” says producer Kier-La Janisse. “What critics likely saw as an insignificant exploitation cash-in was remarkably ambitious and clever; Laura Gemser’s Black Emanuelle became an icon – albeit a reluctant one – up there with James Bond. But it is a franchise unlike any other, in which the first woman of color to lead a film series aimed at Western audiences travels the globe exposing corruption and centering women’s issues. This collection is the ultimate celebration of a genre all her own.”
“This is likely the most ambitious and audacious release in home video history,” says Severin Co-Founder/President David Gregory. “From the remarkable packaging to the copious Special Features to the 24 feature films themselves, we have rolled out the red carpet in orgiastic tribute to a series that could not be made today. It is a collection that honors both the scholarly and the unsavory aspects of the genre, and we are enormously proud of its scope and scale.”
