GME News
This Thanksgiving, in recognition of the history and plight of Indigenous Peoples, Gartenberg Media is once again proud to distribute Steve Bilich's Native New Yorker to academic and cultural institutions worldwide.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, October 28th, The Film-Makers’ Cooperative presented a program of recent city-themed films by Mark Street, as well as an accompanying program of older city-themed works from the Coop’s collection co-curated by Street and GME associate Matt McKinzie. The program was titled THE REFRACTED CITY and showcased Street’s films RIVER OF DAYS, LUNETTE, ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT, CLEAR ICE FERN, THE GRAIN OF BELFAST and DESCENT, alongside Marie Menken’s GO GO GO, Donna Deitch’s SHE WAS A VISITOR, Rudy Burckhardt’s SQUARE TIMES, Stan Brakhage’s THE WONDER RING, and Rick Liss’ NO YORK CITY.
GME President Jon Gartenberg curated numerous films by Street while working as a programmer at the Tribeca Film Festival from 2003 to 2014. Gartenberg once noted, about Street’s films: “The globe is Mark Street’s cinematic canvas onto which he impresses shimmering reflections and lyric montage sequences.” Gartenberg later joined Street on a day of filming in New York City, as part of an experience with a filmmaker that he won at an auction at The Film-Makers’ Cooperative. The resulting 16mm work — which Street titled CITY WALK — is a unique, one-of-a-kind piece in GME’s archive of experimental filmmakers’ work.
CITY WALK was included as a surprise addition to Street’s program at the Coop. Gartenberg wrote a heartfelt note about the experience of making CITY WALK with Street, which McKinzie read on his behalf.
Read MoreGartenberg Media Enterprises is pleased to distribute new 4K restorations by Cinématographe of two seminal New York City thrillers — Joseph Cates’ WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? and Paul Morrissey’s MIXED BLOOD — to North American cultural institutions as Digital Site Licenses.
Released in 1965 and 1984 respectively, WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? and MIXED BLOOD both bookend and typify the "New Hollywood" era of the late 1960s and 1970s. Their transgressive explorations of violence, sexuality, social taboos and urban dysfunction emulate such better-known films as MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969), THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971), and TAXI DRIVER (1975).
Today we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from September related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. At the beginning of the month, GME announced our shift to focusing on the distribution of moving image works available as Digital Site Licenses (DSLs). As part of this transition, we announced our distribution of Steve Bilich’s experimental short documentary NATIVE NEW YORKER as well as the early films of Warren Sonbert and films directed by Pierre Clémenti.
Read MoreFrom September 28th through October 26th, The Paris Theater will celebrate the forthcoming release of Richard Linklater’s NOUVELLE VAGUE — which chronicles the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s BREATHLESS — with a series of Godard’s 1960s films presented on 35mm. The films showcased in this month-long celebration are BREATHLESS (1960), A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961), VIVRE SA VIE (1962), BAND OF OUTSIDERS (1964), PIERROT LE FOU (1965), and WEEKEND (1967). In conjunction with Kino Lorber, GME distributes one of Godard’s seminal works from this period — 1965’s ALPHAVILLE (1965) — to the North American university market as a Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital file. Bonus material on this release includes an interview with the film’s star, Anna Karina, and audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.
Read MoreGartenberg 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. To inquire about the institutional acquisition of Clémenti's films, click here.
Warren Sonbert (1947—1995) was one of the seminal figures working in American experimental film. His early films — from 1966’s AMPHETAMINE through to 1973’s CARRIAGE TRADE — are currently available from GME on an exclusive basis as new 2K digital restorations for acquisition by universities, museums, and other cultural institutions worldwide.
Read MoreShot before, during and after 9/11, Steve Bilich's experimental short documentary Native New Yorker took several years of filming with a 1924 hand-cranked Cine-Kodak camera. It follows Shaman Trail Scout 'Coyote' as he takes a journey that transcends time, from Inwood Park (where the island was traded for beads and booze), down a native trail (now “Broadway”), and into lower Manhattan (a sacred burial ground, now including the newest natives of this island empire). 24 years since the 9/11 attacks, Bilich's film remains as powerful and relevant as ever.
Read MoreOn Sunday, June 8th, at 2:15pm, Gartenberg Media Enterprises and The Film-Makers’ Cooperative will premiere new digital restorations of Warren Sonbert’s AMPHETAMINE, WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?, HALL OF MIRRORS, and CARRIAGE TRADE at Metrograph. This World Premiere screening also celebrates the return of these early films of Warren Sonbert to the New York Film-Makers’ Cooperative, from where they were originally distributed to be shown at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque and elsewhere. The post-screening panel will be moderated by curator and archivist Jon Gartenberg and include the FMC’s Artist Liaison, Matt McKinzie, and Sonbert’s longtime friends, Emmy Award-winning animator and NYU professor Jeff Scher and fashion designer Barbara Hodes.
Read MoreOn Thursday, April 17th, at 5:30pm, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present the program In The Streets in the Bruno Walter Auditorium. Curated by GME President Jon Gartenberg with Elena Rossi-Snook, NYPL’s Reserve Film and Video Collection Specialist. this screening will explore the spirit and structure of the “city symphony” film.
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