While Criterion devotes itself to essential classics and contemporary films, in a rare but not unprecedented move, the boutique DVD/Blu-Ray cinephile label is adding some TV to its collection in June. Just announced, Barry Jenkins’ ten-episode “Underground Railroad” mini-series, originally having premiered on Prime Video in 2021, is coming to the Criterion Collection this summer. Nearly 10 hours long, the series featured Thuso Mbedu, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Pierre, William Jackson Harper, Chukwudi Iwuji, Sheila Atim, and many more (you can read our A-grade review, which said it brought “poetic instant light to the ideas of black humanity and emancipation,” here)

READ MORE: ‘Medicine for Melancholy’: Barry Jenkins Reflects On His Lo-Fi Debut & Why He Didn’t Think It Was Criterion Collection Worthy At First [Interview]

Released right as the Cannes Film Festival was underway, one can argue the series was somewhat overlooked at the time; the similar cinephiles’ audiences gaze shifted towards France, so Criterion giving a second opportunity feels like a much-deserved move.

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