July 2025 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues
/Today we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from July related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. Notably, GME announced the release of a new digital restoration of Warren Sonbert’s groundbreaking debut film AMPHETAMINE (1966), which is currently available for institutional sale, rental, and clip licensing. Two films GME distributes on DVD — Guy Sherwin’s AT THE ACADEMY (1974) and Walther Ruttmann’s BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY (1927) — screened at Light Industry and The Museum of Modern Art, respectively. Furthermore, GME screened Jim McBride’s genre-inventing “mockumentary” DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY this month in the Adrienne Mancia Streaming Room.
ORIGINAL THEATRICAL RELEASE POSTER FOR JIM McBRIDE’S DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY (1967).
July 8th — GME
Beginning on July 8th in the Adrienne Mancia Streaming Room, GME streamed Jim McBride’s groundbreaking 1967 “mockumentary” DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY. Once described by eminent film critic Richard Brody as an “ingenious, scruffy metafiction… an exotic fruit grown in New York from the seed of the French New Wave,” DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY it is a work of experimental fiction presented as an autobiographical documentary about aspiring filmmaker David Holzman (played by L.M. Kit Carson), who decides to make a filmed diary of his life on the Upper West Side.
DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY was one of the many boundary-pushing films that Mancia championed during her time as a curator in MoMA’s Department of Film, wherein she redefined the field of film programming by showcasing new and innovative works by then-emerging artists. Mancia also later became a close friend of McBride’s, and even appeared in his 1974 film A HARD DAY FOR ARCHIE.
Click here to view McBride’s film and read an excerpt from GME President Jon Gartenberg’s program note about DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY, written for the occasion of the film’s inclusion in MoMA’s 2023 Adrienne Mancia tribute.
FRAMES FROM GUY SHERWIN’s 1974 FILM AT THE ACADEMY. SOURCE: LIGHT INDUSTRY.
July 15th — Light Industry
On Thursday, July 15th, at 7pm, Light Industry presented a program of early films by Guy Sherwin, including his 1974 short AT THE ACADEMY. GME distributes AT THE ACADEMY in the Re:Voir Video DVD collection SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT: BRITISH AVANT-GARDE FILM OF THE 1960s & 1970s. This collection also features films by such avant-garde luminaries as Malcolm Le Grice, Mike Leggett, Peter Gidal, Stephen Dwoskin, Jeff Keen, William Raban, Chris Welsby, Annabel Nicolson, David Crosswaite, Lis Rhodes, Marilyn Halford, and John Smith.
KINO LORBER’S 2025 THEATRICAL RELEASE POSTER FOR LISA D’APOLITO’S DOCUMENTARY SHARI & LAMB CHOP (2023).
July 18th — Kino Lorber
On June 4th, 2025, Kino Lorber announced that it had acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Lisa D’Apolito’s SHARI & LAMB CHOP, a documentary about trailblazing children’s entertainer Shari Lewis and her anthropomorphic sock puppet Lamb Chop. For this documentary, GME licensed Raimondo Borea’s photograph of Lewis and Lamb Chop appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the mid-1960s. D’Apolito’s film was theatrically released by Kino Lorber on July 18th.
GME distributes a number of films from Kino Lorber’s library to North American academic institutions. To read a complete list of Kino Lorber titles we currently offer on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital formats, click here.
STILL FROM WARREN SONBERT’S AMPHETAMINE (1966). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.
July 21st — GME
On July 21st, GME announced the release of a new digital restoration of Warren Sonbert’s groundbreaking debut film AMPHETAMINE (1966), which is currently available for institutional sale and clip licensing. The film is also available for rental on a digital format through The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, where Sonbert originally distributed his early films on 16mm.
This digital restoration of AMPHETAMINE, which theatrically premiered at Metrograph in New York City on June 8th, follows a period of renewed scholarly interest in Sonbert’s debut film. Namely, Dr. Maurice Nagington’s 2025 publication The Moral Lessons of Chemsex: A Critical Approach (Routledge), Juan Suarez’s 2024 book Experimental Film and Queer Materiality (Oxford University Press), and GME associate Matt McKinzie's 2024 film program The Motown Sound and the Queer Underground (presented by Spectacle Theater and The Film-Makers' Cooperative), invoke AMPHETAMINE as a key filmic text integral to discourse surrounding 1960s avant-garde cinema, queer representation on film, popular music, chemsex, and connection.
ORIGINAL KEY ART FOR JIM McBRIDE’S BREATHLESS (1983). SOURCE: THE ROXY CINEMA.
July 25th — The Roxy Cinema
On July 25th at 5pm, Jim McBride’s controversial 1983 remake of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 French New Wave classic BREATHLESS screened at the Roxy Cinema in Tribeca. McBride co-wrote the screenplay for BREATHLESS with L.M. Kit Carson, who starred in McBride’s feature directorial debut, the 1967 “mockumentary” DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY. Adrienne Mancia, a longtime friend and colleague of GME President Jon Gartenberg, championed McBride’s debut during her time as a curator in the The Museum of Modern Art’s film department. DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY streamed last month in the Adrienne Mancia Streaming Room. Click here to view McBride’s film and read an excerpt from GME President Jon Gartenberg’s program note about DAVID HOLZMAN’S DIARY, written for the occasion of the film’s inclusion in MoMA’s 2023 Adrienne Mancia tribute.
STILL FROM WALTHER RUTTMANN’S BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY (1927). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.
July 30th — The Museum of Modern Art
From July 30th to August 5th, The Museum of Modern Art presented its third annual Silent Movie Week. This year’s programming was comprised of seven recent silent film restorations screened over seven consecutive evenings. MoMA’s week-long celebration commenced with the Museum’s digital restoration of Walther Ruttmann’s BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY (1927), which was shown with live musical accompaniment in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
GME distributes BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY to North American universities as a DVD publication that also includes Ruttmann’s 1929 feature MELODY OF THE WORLD, and 12 short films by Ruttmann as bonus features. Also included in this release are a selection of Ruttmann’s paintings and drawings, lobby cards and original artwork for BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A CITY, and an 86-minute long radio feature from 1987 about Ruttmann’s life and career.