A darkly beautiful, bizarre, and unsettling feature, The Quay Brothers' Institute Benjamenta Or This Dream People call Human Life is one of the first three releases in the BFI's new Dual Format Edition package, containing both a DVD and Blu-ray disc.

This striking first live-action feature from the master animators is a beautifully-realised anti-fairy tale, adapted from Jakob von Gunten, a novel by remarkable Swiss writer Robert Walser.

Jakob (Mark Rylance) wants to be of service. Admitted to a peculiar school for servants run by domineering Johannes (Gottfried John) and his sorrowful sister Lisa (Alice Krige), and perplexed at first by his often-absurd new surroundings, Jakob gradually uncovers the mystical Institute's secrets and, by extension, those of life itself.

The Quays' visionary style, stunning monochrome photography by Nic Knowland and Larry Sider's rich soundscapes breathe life into every corner of this fragile world, which shimmers with repressed energy and hypnotic beauty.

Institute Benjamenta Or This Dream People call Human Life will be released as a dual format set containing both Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film on 17th May 2010 by the BFI at the RRP of £19.99. Featuring a Dolby Digital mono audio (448 kbps – special features 192 kbps) soundtrack on the DVD and a 1080p/24fps picture and DTS HD-MA audio (special features Dolby Digital mono audio 320 kbps) on the Blu-ray, both discs will have the following extras (except where noted), which will be presented in HD on the Blu-ray version:

• Inside the Institute: an in-between world (2010, 31 mins): new documentary exploring the making of the film through interviews with the Quays, Mark Rylance, Alice Krige and principle cast and crew;

• On the set of Institute Benjamenta (2000, 16 mins, DVD only);

• Institute Benjamenta trailer (1995, 1 min);

• Eurydice - She, So Beloved (The Quay Brothers, 2007, 11 mins): Orpheus' attempt to rescue his dead lover Eurydice from Hades;

• Songs for Dead Children (The Quay Brothers/Steve Martland, 2003, 24 mins): Steve Martland's Street Songs realised in eerily-beautiful animation;

• The Comb (The Quay Brothers, 1990, 18 mins): the ingenious animated short which paved the way for the Quays' first feature;

• Illustrated booklet of newly commissioned essays and notes.