April 2026 Roundup
/Today we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from April related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. Notably, GME licensed a number of photographs by Hugh Bell, whose photographic legacy we represent. Films that GME distributes on DSL, DVD, and Blu-Ray to academic and cultural institutions screened at Anthology Film Archives as well as the 2026 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. GME also announced our DSL distribution of Ernst Lubitsch’s THE LOVES OF PHARAOH and four, recently restored experimental films by Roger Jacoby.
PHOTOGRAPHER HUGH BELL.
April 1st — GME
In April, GME finalized a number of licensing requests for images by Hugh Bell. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston licensed Bell’s photograph of jazz musician Cozy Cole for their forthcoming exhibition Bold and Brilliant: The Rise of Black American Magazines, 1930—1970 and the accompanying catalog published by Yale University Press. Additionally, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company licensed Bell’s photograph of jazz musician Charlie Parker for their project For ‘Bird’—With Love: an educational docu-style program based on Ailey’s ballet. Finally, the Philharmonie de Paris licensed Bell’s suite of four images of Billie Holiday for their forthcoming exhibition dedicated to the jazz icon.
Hugh Bell was a renowned art and commercial photographer, who worked in New York City over the course of his entire career. Upon his death in 2012, his son-in-law, Richard Martha, was named Executor of his estate. In 2014, GME was engaged on an exclusive basis by the Bell Estate to manage the collection of Hugh Bell’s photographs and to further the artist’s legacy. For more information about Bell, or to inquire about the license, sale, and/or exhibition of his photographic oeuvre, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
FILMMAKER DZIGA VERTOV.
April 12th — Anthology Film Archives
On Sunday, April 12th at 6pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Dziga Vertov’s FORWARD, SOVIET! (1925) as part of their Essential Cinema repertory series. GME distributes a number of DVD and Blu-Ray publications featuring films by Vertov to North American academic institutions, including THREE SONGS OF LENIN (TRI PESNI O LENINE), A SIXTH PART OF THE WORLD (ŠESTAJA ČAST' MIRA) / THE ELEVENTH YEAR (ODINNADCATYJ), ENTUZIAZM (SIMFONIJA DONBASSA) (all published by Edition Filmmuseum), and DZIGA VERTOV: THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA AND OTHER NEWLY-RESTORED WORKS (published by Flicker Alley).
April 16th — GME
On April 16th, GME announced our distribution, as a Digital Site License, of THE LOVES OF PHARAOH (1922), Ernst Lubitsch's landmark work of German silent cinema.
The film chronicles the tale of the fictional Pharaoh Amenes (portrayed by Academy Award-winner Emil Jannings) who risks war with Ethiopia by pursuing Theonis (Dagny Servaes), a Greek slave girl. As noted by critic Richard Brody: “The charmingly ahistorical soap-operatic plot gives rise to a shrewd look at the mighty with their motives bared; the opulent décor and elaborate costumes contrast with the incisive and worldly-wise intimacy of what is, ultimately, a populist comedy.”
This film is also available from GME as a Blu-Ray and DVD. To inquire about institutional acquisition of this title on any format, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
FILMMAKER PHILIPPE GARREL.
April 17th — Anthology Film Archives
Beginning on Saturday, April 18th, Anthology Film Archives screened Philippe Garrel’s LES HAUTES SOLITUDES (1974) and LE LIT DE LA VIERGE (1969) as part of a tribute to Tina Aumont. GME distributes both films to North American universities as DVDs and DSL files, in addition to Garrel’s films MARIE POUR MÉMOIRE (1967), LE RÉVÉLATEUR (1969), LA CICATRICE INTÉRIEURE (1972), and L’ENFANT SECRET (1979). Garrel was a key figure in the Zanzibar movement of the late 1960s; GME also distributes a number of these films. To inquire about institutional acquisition of the aforementioned titles, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
FILMMAKER AND ACTOR PIERRE Clémenti.
April 19th — Anthology Film Archives
On Sunday, April 19th, Anthology Film Archives screened Pierre Clémenti’s films LA RÉVOLUTION N’EST QU’UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (1968) and POSITANO (1969) as part of a tribute to Tina Aumont. GME distributes both of these films — and six additional films by Clémenti — as DSL files. Clémenti was a key figure in the Zanzibar movement of the late 1960s; GME also distributes a number of these films. To learn more about Clémenti’s entire filmography, click here. To inquire about institutional acquisition of the aforementioned titles, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
April 23rd — GME
On April 23rd, GME was pleased to announce our distribution of four films by Roger Jacoby as Digital Site Licenses to academic and cultural institutions worldwide. The titles currently available are: 1974’s DREAM SPHINX OPERA, 1976’s L’AMICO FRIED’S GLAMOROUS FRIENDS, 1980’s HOW TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL PART I, and Jacoby’s final film, 1982’s HOW TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL PART II. These films were recently restored by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive through the National Film Preservation Foundation’s Avant-Garde Masters Grant.
Jacoby was a pioneering experimental filmmaker whose wildly improvisational, hand-processed works showcased a painterly and diaristic approach and, in his last films, a fervent political consciousness. His filmmaking career spanned from 1972 until his untimely death due to complications from AIDS in 1985, during which he completed eight films. For inquires regarding the rental and/or purchase of these titles, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
FILMMAKER Frédéric Pardo.
April 26th — Anthology Film Archives
On Sunday, April 26th at 4pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Frédéric Pardo’s films HOME MOVIE: TINA AUMONT (1968), HOME MOVIE: ON THE SET OF PHILIPPE GARREL’S ‘LE LIT DE LA VIERGE’ (1968), and GARREL, NICO, FREDERIC ET TINA, APPARTEMENT RUE DUPONT DES LOGES (1970) as part of a tribute to Tina Aumont.
GME distributes Pardo’s HOME MOVIE: ON THE SET OF PHILIPPE GARREL’S ‘LE LIT DE LA VIERGE’ as a bonus feature on Garrel’s LE LIT DE LA VIERGE, which is currently available to North American academic institutions as a DVD and DSL file. Pardo was a key figure in the Zanzibar movement of the late 1960s; GME also distributes a number of these films. To inquire about institutional acquisition of the aforementioned titles, please contact sales@gartenbergmedia.com.
ORIGINAL THEATRICAL RELEASE POSTER FOR WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? (1965).
April 30th — Turner Classic Movies
The 2026 TCM Film Festival commenced on April 30th and included a screening (on May 2nd) of Joseph Cates’ thriller WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? (1965). The screening was presented by Cates’ grandson, filmmaker Owen Kline, who was accompanied by frequent TCM guest host Mario Cantone. Kline and his production company, Dream Walking Pictures, partnered with Vinegar Syndrome to spearhead a 4K restoration of WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?, which was released theatrically and on DVD and Blu-Ray last year. GME distributes this restoration as a Digital Site License to academic and cultural institutions worldwide.
WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? is a fascinating precursor to the dissolution of the Hays Code and the rise of New Hollywood. Released in 1965 — just two years before Arthur Penn’s BONNIE AND CLYDE (which is often denoted as the “beginning” of the countercultural Hollywood Renaissance) — TEDDY BEAR was groundbreaking for its depiction of such taboo subject matters as incest, homosexuality, voyeurism, and pornography, years before such topics would be deemed “acceptable” content for movies. The 4K restoration of Cates’ film reconstitutes several minutes of previously-censored, never-on-video footage, newly restored from original 35mm negative materials.