WHIPLASH (US, 1995—97, Warren Sonbert)

WHIPLASH (US, 1995—97, Warren Sonbert)

WHIPLASH is the final film by Warren Sonbert, a globe-spanning collage haunted by themes of mortality. Sonbert made WHIPLASH in the years following his HIV diagnosis; his vision and motor skills impaired, he gave his companion, Ascension Serrano, detailed instructions about the assembly of specific shots and the music to be used as a counterpoint to the images. Before his death in 1995, he asked filmmaker Jeff Scher (a former student of Sonbert's at Bard) to complete the film. WHIPLASH was also completed with assistance from the Film Preservation Project of the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS, of which GME President Jon Gartenberg was Program Director. The film premiered posthumously at the New York Film Festival in 1997.

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SHORT FUSE (US, 1992, Warren Sonbert)

SHORT FUSE (US, 1992, Warren Sonbert)

Warren Sonbert described DIVIDED LOYALTIES as a film “about art versus industry and their various crossovers.” According to film critic Amy Taubin, “there is a clear analogy between the filmmaker and the dancers, acrobats and skilled workers who make up so much of his subject matter.”

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FRIENDLY WITNESS (US, 1989, Warren Sonbert)

FRIENDLY WITNESS (US, 1989, Warren Sonbert)

Curator Jon Gartenberg writes: “In FRIENDLY WITNESS, Sonbert returned, after 20 years, to sound. In the first section of the film, he deftly edits a swirling montage of images — suggestive of loves gained and love lost — to the tunes of four rock songs. “At times the words of the songs seem to relate directly to the images we see... at other times words and images seem to be working almost at cross-purposes or relating only ironically. Similarly, at times the image rhythm and music rhythm appear to dance together, while at others they go their separate ways.” (Fred Camper).”

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HONOR AND OBEY (US, 1988, Warren Sonbert)

HONOR AND OBEY (US, 1988, Warren Sonbert)

In Warren Sonbert's HONOR AND OBEY, soldiers march in formation, a tiger stalks through the snow, religious processions wind through the streets, and palm trees wave in a tropical breeze. As brightly colored images of authority figures blend into scenes of cocktail parties, this 21-minute silent film flows along with the grace of a musical score built on complex tensions hidden among notes.

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THE CUP AND THE LIP (US, 1986, Warren Sonbert)

THE CUP AND THE LIP (US, 1986, Warren Sonbert)

Warren Sonbert’s THE CUP AND THE LIP screened in the 1987 Whitney Biennalie, where it was described as “continu[ing] his series of cinematic diaries, composed of sequences and shots recorded during his travels. One of his most striking color films, THE CUP AND THE LIP portrays people at ease as private individuals and at attention as representatives of state. Although personal in tone, it is a political text with mediates on the nature of authority.”

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A WOMAN'S TOUCH (US, 1983, Warren Sonbert)

A WOMAN'S TOUCH (US, 1983, Warren Sonbert)

A WOMAN’S TOUCH demonstrates the evolution of Sonbert's work from an in-camera editing style to the perfection of a montage strategy. The film is also inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s MARNIE (1964), which features a number of motifs; most notably, the color red. In A WOMAN’S TOUCH, the color red is seen throughout much of the film.

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NOBLESSE OBLIGE (US, 1981, Warren Sonbert)

NOBLESSE OBLIGE (US, 1981, Warren Sonbert)

NOBLESSE OBLIGE is masterfully edited work featuring imagery Sonbert filmed of protests in San Francisco following the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Councilman Harvey Milk at the hands of Dan White. Sonbert modeled the structure of this film on Douglas Sirk’s TARNISHED ANGELS (1957). Sirk himself appears at the end of the film, engaging in conversation, over coffee, with filmmakers Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler.

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DIVIDED LOYALTIES (US, 1978, Warren Sonbert)

DIVIDED LOYALTIES (US, 1978, Warren Sonbert)

Warren Sonbert described DIVIDED LOYALTIES as a film “about art versus industry and their various crossovers.” According to film critic Amy Taubin, “there is a clear analogy between the filmmaker and the dancers, acrobats and skilled workers who make up so much of his subject matter.”

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The Warren Sonbert Collection

The Warren Sonbert Collection

Warren Sonbert (1947—1995) was one of the seminal figures working in American experimental film. His early films — from 1966’s AMPHETAMINE through to 1973’s CARRIAGE TRADE — are currently available from GME as Digital Site Licenses (DSLs). Sonbert’s montage films will become available from GME later in 2025.

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The Pierre Clémenti Collection

The Pierre Clémenti Collection

Gartenberg Media Enterprises is pleased to announce our distribution of the films of Pierre Clémenti as new 2K digital restorations to North American academic institutions. Though best known as an actor, Clémenti's directorial work constitutes a fascinating and long overlooked chapter in 1960s avant-garde film history.

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SOLEIL (France, 1988, Pierre Clémenti)

SOLEIL (France, 1988, Pierre Clémenti)

In his final film SOLEIL, Pierre Clémenti amalgamates the stylistic elements of his previous film (and sole feature), À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU, with influences from his poetry and earlier work as a filmmaker. Via dramatic reenactment, Clémenti reflects on his unlawful arrest in 1972 for drug possession, whereupon he was imprisoned, without trial, for 17 months. The film also features extensive footage of Clémenti’s family and children, including his wife Margareth and son Balthazar.

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À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (France, 1985, Pierre Clémenti)

À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (France, 1985, Pierre Clémenti)

À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (English translation: IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLUE RASCAL) is set in the underbelly of “Nécrocity,” a city of nightly terrors. In this fictionalized Paris, fueled by heroin and paranoia, an anarchist group (played by Pierre Clémenti’s inner circle) — whose mastermind is a villainous military leader played by Clémenti himself — tries to keep one step ahead of the grip of state power. After 300 kilos of heroin goes missing, a significant wave of crime is catalyzed.

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LA DEUXIÈME FEMME (France, 1978, Pierre Clémenti)

LA DEUXIÈME FEMME (France, 1978, Pierre Clémenti)

Dense with hallucinatory visuals and frenetic montages, LA DEUXIÈME FEMME presents a filmic whirlwind through Pierre Clémenti’s family life, as well as his life on film sets as an actor. The title of the piece refers to the artist’s second wife, Nadine, but it also functions as a filmic love letter to his mother, and to artists and Warhol superstars Nico and Viva.

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SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS (France, 1967-78, Pierre Clémenti)

SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS (France, 1967-78, Pierre Clémenti)

SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS consists of some of the earliest footage that Pierre Clémenti ever shot. While it is the closest of his works to a traditional home movie, it is notable for featuring footage of Catherine Deneuve during the filming of Luis Buñuel’s BELLE DE JOUR (1967)as well as Philippe Garrel on the set of his film LE LIT DE LA VIERGE (1969). These rare and fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses of Buñuel’s and Garrel’s films — both of which starred Clémenti — are accompanied by bursts of color that would become Clémenti’s signature as an avant-garde cineaste.

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POSITANO (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

POSITANO (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

Positano is an island of the Amalfi Coast that Neptune would have, according to legend, created for the love of a nymph. Not unlike Neptune, Pierre Clémenti’s POSITANO embodies a total love in which family and friends are seized in the same poetic field. Perched on the rocks of the island, the house of Frédéric Pardo and Tina Aumont became, in 1968, a meeting place for the French “undeground.” Clémenti lived in Pardo and Aumont’s house for some time and, in POSITANO, created images of dazzling sensuality.

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LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

Pierre Clémenti’s LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT follows the actor and filmmaker during the May ‘68 protests, which occurred during the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1968 dramatic feature PARTNER in Italy (in which Clémenti starred). The film documents Clémenti’s extensive travels between the demonstrations in Paris and the set of Bertolucci’s film in Rome, thereby capturing his a double life as both activist and artist.

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VISA DE CENSURE N°X (France, 1967, Pierre Clémenti)

VISA DE CENSURE N°X (France, 1967, Pierre Clémenti)

Shot in 1967 but not released until 1976, Pierre Clémenti's VISA DE CENSURE N°X is an acid-infused experimental whirlwind of color and music featuring a veritable who's who of the French 1960s underground. VISA DE CENSURE N°X showcases an extraordinary range of scenes from Clémenti's life during the late 1960s. The film features a number of influential artists from both sides of the Atlantic, including Viva, Nico, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Philippe Garrel, Tina Amount, Barbara Girard, Étienne O'Leary, Jimi Hendrix, Frédéric Pardo, Judith Malina, Julian Beck, Jean-Marc Momon, and and Clémenti himself.

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NEW OLD: OU LES CHRONIQUES DU TEMPS PRÉSENT (France, 1979, Pierre Clémenti)

NEW OLD: OU LES CHRONIQUES DU TEMPS PRÉSENT (France, 1979, Pierre Clémenti)

“Clémenti’s second film is the chronicle of his life as an artist… it was shown in various cuts with live music before its final edit in 1979. Spanning the set of Luchino Visconti’s THE LEOPARD, Maurice Béjart’s ballets, and an encounter with Viva in Andy Warhol’s New York, the film’s episodic quality evokes Clémenti’s peripatetic existence. Its narrative vignettes are Clémenti’s first use of voiceover, bringing intimate sentiment and somber tones to a more introspective work.” —The Museum of Modern Art

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