By Joyce J. Persico

With DVDs overtaking the home-video market as the format of choice, the floodgates have been thrown open to the release of elusive and obscure films previously unavailable to the home entertainment industry.

Beginning Tuesday, Knight Mediacom International will start using that opportunity in a global context with the "Celebration of Chinese Cinema," a series of releases spanning 50 years of filmmaking in a country few Americans will ever experience firsthand.

Through a licensing agreement with China Century Entertainment Inc., the series' parent company, Knight Mediacom will release 50 DVDs - one a month - over the next few years.

"Theaters find it almost impossible to play foreign films," says David Buckley, curator of the series. "Usually the venue is owned, controlled or dependent on the majors for a continual stream of product.

"Now is an important time for Americans to understand China, and these films are a great medium for building that awareness," he adds.

Buckley pointed out China filmmakers are finally making movies for profit, not propaganda.

The six films being released this year will be making their DVD debuts.

The first in the series is "Country Teachers," a drama dealing with the plight of unpaid teachers in rural China. It will be available starting Tuesday.

The second film, "Red River Valley," depicts the 1904 British invasion of Tibet. It will be released July 29.

"Postmen in the Mountains," a three-day road trip between father and son as the man hands his mail route over to the boy, will debut Aug. 26.

The announcement of additional titles will be made this summer.

Knight Mediacom also will release DVDs from Brazil, France and Germany.