Gartenberg Media Enterprises is proud to announce 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 through GME. 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, 2025, 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.

Today we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from May related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. Notably, four films by Warren Sonbert screened at Shotgun Cinema in Missouri, and stills from Sonbert’s debut film AMPHETAMINE were featured in Maurice Nagington’s book The Moral Lessons of Chemsex: A Critical Approach, now available in print. In terms of GME’s photography collections, we publicly announced our co-exclusive partnership with Getty Images to license Raimondo Borea’s photographs of The Today Show and The Tonight Show. GME also continued programming in the Adrienne Mancia Streaming Room last month with a double bill of films by King Vidor and Henry King.

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AMPHETAMINE Ascending: Warren Sonbert's Groundbreaking Debut Finds New Life on Digital Platforms and in Academia

May 2025 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues