April 2024 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues
/Happy May from Gartenberg Media Enterprises! Today, we’re reflecting on screenings, events, and celebrations from April, in New York City and beyond, related to GME colleagues, as well as titles and/or artists in our collection that we distribute to the North American university market. Notably, films by Warren Sonbert and Jean-Pierre Melville played at Sweet Void Cinema and Film Forum, respectively. GME also highlighted Hugh Bell’s portraits of jazz legends for International Jazz Day, and featured Jack Mitchell’s photos of dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell, founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem, on the occasion of DTH’s festival-style weekend of performances at New York City Center.
ARTHUR MITCHELL, PHOTOGRAPHED BY JACK MITCHELL IN 1963. © Estate of Jack Mitchell.
April 11th — New York City Center
From April 11th to 14th, the Dance Theatre of Harlem presented a festival-style weekend of performances at New York City Center, to honor the legacy of their founder Arthur Mitchell on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Jack Mitchell, whose photography collection GME represents, photographed Arthur Mitchell early in his career. GME was pleased to work in December and January as consultants for Dance Theatre of Harlem’s extensive photography collection.
STILL: JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE’S BOB LE FLAMBEUR. SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.
April 11th — Film Forum
Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 French noir LE SAMOURAÏ played at Film Forum through April 11th in a new 4K restoration, created from the original 35mm negative by Pathé and The Criterion Collection at L’Immagine Ritrovata. GME distributes Melville’s earlier gangster film, BOB LE FLAMBEUR, on DSL, DVD, and Blu-Ray to the North American university market.
PROGRAM POSTER BY JOSHUA MINSOO KIM.
April 19th — Sweet Void Cinema
On April 19th, writer and programmer Joshua Minsoo Kim screened Warren Sonbert’s FRIENDLY WITNESS in the second film program presented by his experimental music newsletter Tone Glow, titled Pop Music in Prismatic Utopia. The program played at Chicago’s Sweet Void Cinema, a production company and microcinema located in Humboldt Park. GME is proud to represent the work and legacy of Sonbert, whose films — as evidenced by Kim’s program and a number of other screenings and retrospectives within recent years — have been experiencing a renaissance. FRIENDLY WITNESS, in particular, is a significant title in Sonbert’s oeuvre, as it demarcates his return to sound after many years of making silent montage films.
LAV DIAZ, DIRECTOR OF BATANG WEST SIDE (2001), WHICH IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM GME. PHOTO: IMDB.
April 29th — GME
On April 29th, GME announced the expansion of its international distribution reach, and is thrilled to incorporate works by Asian filmmakers, including Lav Diaz (Philippines), Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan), and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand). These films span narrative and experimental modalities and are available to the North American university market in digital formats.
BILLIE HOLIDAY, PHOTOGRAPHED BY HUGH BELL IN THE 1950s. © ESTATE OF HUGH BELL.
April 30th — GME
April 30th was declared International Jazz Day by UNESCO in 2011, and has since become the world’s largest celebration of jazz. In honor of International Jazz Day, GME highlighted photographs from the Hugh Bell collection that capture a number of jazz legends — including Billie Holiday, Dave Brubeck, Geri Allen, Gene Krupa, and Dizzy Gillespie — from the 1950s through the 1980s.