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 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 MoreToday we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from June related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. Notably, GME publicly presented the World Premiere digital restorations of a selection of the early films of Warren Sonbert at Metrograph on June 8th. GME also attended the 2025 Visual AIDS Vanguard Awards, which honored two of our longtime friends and colleaugues: Jim Hubbard and James Wentzy. Furthermore, GME screened Allan King’s groundbreaking documentary WARRENDALE this month in the Adrienne Mancia Streaming Room.
Read MoreOn the occasion of November being Native American Heritage Month, we reflect on Steve Bilich’s 2005 film NATIVE NEW YORKER, which is exclusively available, worldwide, from GME, for acquisition and exhibition by cultural organizations, as well as for clip licensing by commercial productions.
Read MoreOn Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, at 7:30pm, six recent observational films by Mark Street will play at the Millennium Film Workshop in the program Street Life: The Personal Cinema of Mark Street. Street is a longtime friend of GME’s. Jon Gartenberg programmed numerous films by Street — including FULTON FISH MARKET, A YEAR, and ROCKAWAY — while working at the Tribeca Film Festival from 2003 to 2014. Gartenberg once remarked of Street’s work: “The globe is Mark Street’s cinematic canvas, onto which he impresses shimmering reflections and lyric montage sequences.”
Read MoreIn his capacity as Experimental-Film Programmer for the Tribeca Film Festival,
Jon Gartenberg selected two films for TFF 2011 that, we are proud to announce,
have received U.S. distribution and are currently playing around the country -
Bill Morrison's THE MINERS' HYMN from Icarus Films &
Marie Losier's THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE from Adopt Films.
Bill Morrison's THE MINERS' HYMNS (2011)
The ill-fated coal mining communities in North East England are the subject of this inspired documentary by multi-media artist Bill Morrison. Their story is told entirely without words, yet the film is far from silent: it features a remarkable original score by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Using rarely-seen footage from the British Film Institute, the BBC, and other archives, THE MINERS' HYMNS celebrates social, cultural, and political aspects of the extinct industry. Focusing on the Durham coalfield located in northeastern England, it depicts the hardship of pit work, the role of Trade Unions in organizing and fighting for workers' rights, the years of increased mechanization and the annual Miners' Gala in Durham.
• In U.S. Distribution through ICARUS FILMS.
• Theatrical Run begins on February 8th, 2012 at New York's FILM FORUM.
• US Release / DATE AND THEATRES.
Marie Losier's THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE (2011)
An intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and his other half and collaborator, Lady Jaye, centered around the daring sexual transformations the pair underwent for their “Pandrogyne” project.
• In U.S. Distribution through ADOPT FILMS.
• Theatrical Run begins on March 8th, 2012 in NYC at the CHELSEA CINEMAS.
• US Release / DATE AND THEATRES.
Jon Gartenberg, Experimental Film Programmer for the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented four new programs at TFF 2012, attracting high-profile filmmakers from Hollywood and the avant-garde alike.
Avant-Garde Masters: A Decade of Film Preservation
Consuming Spirits
Francophenia (or: Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)
Shorts: Journeys Across Cultural Landscapes
For his introduction to the Avant-Garde Masters program,
Jon Gartenberg read a special note from Martin Scorsese:
Throughout film history, artists have used film to expand the boundaries of cinema to create deeply personal works that evoke the full range of human experience and emotion. Unbound by narrative conventions, the Avant-Garde has inspired audiences and influenced mainstream filmmakers. For the past 10 years, the National Film Preservation Foundation and The Film Foundation have preserved more than 100 films through the Avant-Garde Masters Grants. There's no other program of its kind, and I'm thrilled that the Tribeca Film Festival is recognizing the program and highlighting the work of such artists as George Kuchar, Carolee Schneeman, Larry Gottheim, Abigail Child, and Kenneth Anger that have been preserved and—equally important—made available so audiences can actually see these extraordinary works. - Martin Scorcese
Photo Credit: http://www.planetlucre.blogspot.com/
(l-r) Programmer of Experimental Films Jon Gartenberg, Artist Abigail Child, Filmmaker Larry Gottheim, Artist Carolee Schneemann and Assistant Director of the National Film Preservation Foundation Jeff Lambert speak at Tribeca Talks After The Movie: AVANT-GARDE MASTERS: A DECADE OF FILM PRESERVATION at the School of Visual Arts on April 21.
For the opening night of FRANCOPHRENIA, Jon Gartenberg conducted a Q&A with filmmaker Ian Olds, co-filmmaker and actor James Franco, and Paul Felton, the film's co-writer. Gartenberg pursued a line of questioning with James Franco about his interest in an array of experimental filmmakers (including Kurt Kren), and about Franco's commitment to experimenting with film form in his own work.
Photo Credit: Christine @ www.onlocationvacations.com/
(l-r) Programmer of Experimental Films Jon Gartenberg leads filmmaker Ian Olds, filmmaker & actor James Franco and writer Paul Felton in an on-stage Q&A following FRANCOPHENIA at the School of Visual Arts on April 22. Below, Ian Olds & James Franco.
Photo Credit: Christine @ www.onlocationvacations.com/
FRED Radio's Natasha Senjanovic talks with
Jon Gartenberg about programming TFF 2012
and other projects on which he works.
The podcast is available here.
