FRAMEWORK, Volume 64, No. 2: The Early Films of Warren Sonbert (1966-1973)

FRAMEWORK: THE JOURNAL OF CINEMA AND MEDIA, VOLUME 64, NO. 2. SOURCE: WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS. COVER DESIGNED BY JON GARTENBERG, MATT MCKINZIE, AND JAMES PEARSON.

Gartenberg Media Enterprises is proud to announce the publication of Volume 64, No. 2, of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, which is devoted to writings about the early films of Warren Sonbert. Jon Gartenberg was named the custodian of Sonbert’s legacy, and since Sonbert's passing, GME has worked on an extensive project to preserve, distribute, and curate career retrospectives of his work on an international basis. Furthermore, GME has facilitated the publication of original documents from his paper archive, which is now housed at Harvard University.

This journal is Framework’s second issue devoted to Sonbert’s life and career. Volume 56, No. 1, published in Spring 2015, focused on Sonbert’s own writings. Gartenberg served as Guest Editor on both Framework issues.

Sonbert was one of the seminal figures working in American experimental film. He started making films in 1966 while a student at New York University, and before he was 20 years old, he had his first career retrospective at Jonas Mekas’ Film-Makers’ Cinematheque. The event drew the attention of Variety’s film critic Stuart Byron, who wrote:

Probably not since Andy Warhol’s THE CHELSEA GIRLS had its first showing at the Cinematheque... almost a year and a half ago has an ‘underground’ film event caused as much curiosity and interest in N.Y.’s non-underground world as did four days of showings of the complete films of Warren Sonbert at the Cinematheque’s new location on Wooster St.

Later, in the 1980s and early 1990s, Sonbert was a major figure of the avant-garde, and his films were regularly shown at the New York Film Festival as well as other venues worldwide. His career was tragically cut short when he died due to complications from AIDS on May 31, 1995, at the age of 47. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Sonbert's passing.

Framework 64.2 gathers contemporaneous writings, stills, and ephemera related to Sonbert’s early works, including AMPHETAMINE (1966), WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? (1966), HALL OF MIRRORS (1966), THE TENTH LEGION (1967), THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1967), THE TUXEDO THEATRE (1968), and CARRIAGE TRADE (1973), the lattermost of which Sonbert considered his “magnum opus.” Together with Gartenberg's original writing, the material in this journal traces Sonbert’s creative evolution from micro-narratives to polyvalent montage, and contextualizes his early films within the broader avant-garde filmmaking movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The publication of Framework 64.2 coincides with the creation of new digital restorations of Sonbert's early films. Stay tuned for forthcoming announcements regarding the launch of these seminal works.

Print and digital versions of Framework 64.2 can now be purchased through Wayne State University Press and Project MUSE.