Jeff Preiss - “Orchard Documents,” 8mm & 16mm Films at Clementin Seedorf, Cologne thru 4/21

Following the in-person screening of his film STOP (1995-2012) at the Odeon Kino on March 3rd, Preiss’ shorter films from the 1980s through 2006 that comprise “Orchard Documents,” will be on view at the Clementin Seedorf gallery in Cologne until April 21. Included in the program is 14 STANDARD 8MM REELS, a 2019 compilation of his portraits and “lyric home newsreels,” mostly silent films he made between 1981-1988, born out of his practice of shooting with his Regular 8mm Bolex on a daily basis, works that aim to “balance ‘home movie’ sentimentality with concerns of formal (and literal) interpretation.

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filmmaker warren sonbert from TAPE_SPLICES_for_WARREN by jeff preiss

Jeff Preiss was inspired by the diary films of Jonas Mekas and Warren Sonbert (who was his teacher at Bard College) about whom he shot one of these short camera rolls in 1988, now released as TAPE_SPLICES_for_WARREN, and part of a collection that includes portraits of Peter Hutton, Abigail Child, Bob Fleischner, Chet Baker and others.

Excerpt from
‘Spring-Wound‘
Jeff Preiss, 2005-2008
16mm to digital media
109 minutes

The Estate of Warren Sonbert has previously named GME as the custodian of the legacy of experimental filmmaker Warren Sonbert (1947-1995). Since his untimely passing, GME has worked on an extensive project to preserve, distribute and curate career retrospectives of his films on an international basis, as well as publish original documents from the paper archive of his writings, which are now housed at Harvard University.

New, 1080p digital versions of an additional 11 films by Sonbert will be added to GME’s Warren Sonbert Collection in 2023.

In addition, a complete retrospective of Warren Sonbert’s in 16mm will be taking place at a major cultural institution in May in New York City.