Directed in 1927 by Germaine Dulac and scripted by Antonin Artaud, The Seashell and the Clergyman is generally considered to be the first Surrealist film: a key element of French cultural heritage. This box set is all the more welcome for the fact that the film has been hitherto unavailable to the French public on DVD. A number of additional bonus tracks throw light upon various different aspects of the film (aesthetic, technical, economic).

The box set includes:
• The film in its original silent version, restored by the Nederlands Filmmuseum in collaboration with Light Cone.
• Three musical versions composed by Pascal Comelade, Thomas Köner and Iris ter Schiphorst.
• Two extras conceived by Nicolas Droin and Prosper Hillairet, with contributions from Artaud and Dulac experts: Tumulte aux Ursulines (Uproar in the Ursulines, 2008, 15 mins) and Surimpressions (Superimpositions, 2009, 33 mins).
• A new and revised edition (160 pages) of the seminal book by Alain and Odette Virmaux published by Paris Experimental (1999).
• Germaine Dulac’s biography and filmography.
• An account of the restoration of the film: Catherine Cormon, director of restoration at the Nederlands Filmmuseum, retraces the history of the different versions of the film and of the restoration process.