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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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

Read More