Recent NYC Screenings of Interest - Valie Export's INVISIBLE ADVERSARIES at the New Museum & Anthology Celebrates Sixpack Films with BREAKING GROUND: 60 Years of Austrian Experimental Cinema

Sixpack Films Are Available on INDEX DVD

For Institutional Sales in North America

Exclusively from Gartenberg Media

These DVDs are available on an exclusive basis for sale to educational organizations in North America (universities, libraries, & other cultural institutions), and include public performance rights. Public performance rights extend to use in classrooms and in other non-commercial settings where no admission is charged.

For more information on the these titles visit here.

For information on ordering by fax, email or post visit here.

To order by phone please call: 212.280.8654

Jon Gartenberg Appears in VITO - The New HBO Documentary on the Life of Vito Russo

"Directed by award-winner Jeffrey Schwarz, VITO paints a touching portrait of this outspoken

activist in the LGBT community’s struggle for equal rights, using period footage and film 

clips to capture a vibrant era of gay culture. “If you’re going to talk about the gay-rights 

movement, you’re going to talk about Vito,” says journalist David Ehrenstein.

The documentary features rich archival interviews with Vito, as well as insights from gay

rights activists, including: Larry Kramer and Arthur Evans; film scholars, among them

former MoMA film curator Jon Gartenberg; and journalists/writers such as Michael

Schiavi and Gabriel Rotello.  VITO also offers personal accounts from his many friends,

including Lily Tomlin and Bruce Vilanch, and his family members, including brother

Charles Russo and cousin Phyllis Antonellis.

Vito’s love of movies guided him to a job in the film department at the Museum of Modern

Art, where he began taking note of gay characters in early films. The result of his research

was “The Celluloid Closet,” an entertaining and informative lecture and clip show that

combined his love of show business and radical gay politics, which he took on the road to

gay film festivals and college campuses. His seminal 1981 book of the same name 

explored the ways gays and lesbians were portrayed on film, what lessons those characters

taught gay and straight audiences, and how those negative images were at the root of

society’s homophobia. The book was later adapted into the 1995 HBO Peabody Award-

winning documentary “The Celluloid Closet,” directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman..."

Tribeca Film Festival Experimental Film Selections Receive Theatrical Distribution

In 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.

Warren Sonbert's AMPHETAMINE and Other Works Featured in Recent Exhibitions in NYC & London

AMPHETAMINE, along with other films by Warren Sonbert, was recently featured in two presentations - one in New York and one in London - each focusing on the works of queer and underground filmmakers. 

04/25/2012  •NEW YORK•DIRTY LOOKS

Dirty Looks is a Monthly Platform for

    Queer Experimental Film and Video

    Bradford Nordeen's April program featured works by

    "two key figures in queer and underground film" 

    Warren Sonbert and Tom Chomont.

    The program included Warren Sonbert's 

AMPHETAMINE (1966, with Wendy Appel),

DIVIDED LOYALTIES (1975-78) and 

HONOR AND OBEY (1987).

04/14/2012  •LONDON•  THE LITTLE JOE CLUBHOUSE

    The Little Joe Clubhouse is a unique  

temporary film space from the creators of 

    a magazine about queers and cinema, mostly.

    In a special program, as part of this year's

    AMPHETAMINE (1966), was presented by Stuart Comer,

    Film Curator at London's Tate Modern.

Erich von Stroheim's BLIND HUSBANDS at Film Forum and Other Recent Screenings of Interest Around NYC

The Color of Nothingness,

      a presentation by Tom Gunning &

THE PEARL (LE PERLE)  •  Henri d'Ursel

May 5 - 2:00 PM

MISS MEND  •  Feodor Ozep, Boris Barnet       

    April 28 - 2:30 PM

MISS MEND  •  Feodor Ozep, Boris Barnet

    April 26 - 4:00 PM

    George Méliès  •  A TRIP TO THE MOON 

    & Other Travels Presented by Serge Bromberg

    April 9 -  7:00 PM

        Michael Pilz  •  HEAVEN AND EARTH

        March 18 - 2:30 PM 

        Michael Pilz  •  HEAVEN AND EARTH

        March 17 - 6:00 PM 

        Michael Pilz  •  FACTS FOR FICTION

        March 17 - 2:15 PM 

Each Film is Available on DVD for Institutional Sales

in North America Exclusively from Gartenberg Media

These DVDs are available on an exclusive basis for sale to educational organizations in North America (universities, libraries, & other cultural institutions), and include public performance rights. Public performance rights extend to use in classrooms and in other non-commercial settings where no admission is charged.

For more information on the these titles visit here.

For information on ordering by fax, email or post visit here.

To order by phone please call: 212.280.8654

Tribeca Film Festival Experimental-Film-Programmer Jon Gartenberg Presents 4 New Programs at TFF 2012

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. 

IN THE STREET by James Agee, Helen Levitt and Janice Loeb Premieres on ARTE TV France

IN THE STREET (1952)

Photographed by James Agee, Helen Levitt & Janice Loeb.

Edited by Helen Levitt.

ARTE Televison France broadcast a rare presentation of IN THE STREET on May 28, 2012 as part of a series entitled “Black & White”, illuminating the diversity and aesthetics of classic films photographed in black-and-white. 

GME was pleased to successfully negotiate this deal with Arte on behalf of the estate of the photographer Helen Levitt.   GME was credited at the end of the film’s broadcast as follows: 

"Film provided courtesy of the Estate of Helen Levitt, Cecile Starr, and Gartenberg Media Enterprises."

Photo © The Estate of Helen Levitt.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

In 2006, IN THE STREET was selected by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and added to the United States National Film Registry preservation program:

"This lyrical, slice-of-life documentary (by Helen Levitt, James Agee and Janice Loeb) about East Harlem is one of several outstanding children’s documentaries (“The Quiet One” and “Louisiana Story,” among others) produced immediately after World War II. The filmmakers captured the energy-filled streets as part theater, part battleground and part playground. In their everyday lives and actions, people project an image of human existence against the turmoil of the street." - www.loc.gov

Jon Gartenberg and Jeff Capp Present Tassilo Adam Moving Image Adventures at Orphan Film Symposium 8

Tassilo Adam photograph © Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam

Daniel Eagan on Smithsonian.com blogged:

"Jon Gartenberg showed excerpts from films shot by Tassilo Adam in the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s. Although preserved digitally, the material had the lustrous sheen of the nitrate on which it was originally filmed. Adam filmed with the cooperation of authorities, who staged processions and gatherings for his camera. Nevertheless, his footage shows a considerably more sophisticated vision of Bali than other films of the period."

For the full Reel Culture blog posting, read here. 

GME Attends SCMS Conference in Boston, March 21-25 & Announces Pre-Orders on Upcoming Spring Releases For Institutional Sales on DVD and Blu-ray

Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) is proud to be attending SCMS 2012, as an exhibitor. This year's Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) conference will take place at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, from March 21-25. We will be displaying an array of our premiere DVD & Blu-ray publications, including films by George Méliès (brought back to international attention by the recent release of Martin Scorsese's HUGO), Dziga Vertov, Carl Th. Dreyer, Germaine Dulac, James Benning, and many others.

In a series of forthcoming releases for the spring, GME is proud to add new DVD publications (all now available for pre-orders) of classic, silent, experimental and avant-garde film & video, including: George Méliès' famous A TRIP TO THE MOON, in its original, hand-painted color version of 1902 (2011 Winner of the National Society of Film Critics "Best Film Restoration" Award), together with THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE, a seminal documentary about Méliès and the rescue of his films from oblivion; a spectacular restoration of Ernst Lubitsch's last German feature, THE LOVES OF PHARAOH (1922); the second volume of James Benning films, pairing CASTING A GLANCE and RR; the latest volume of Collection Zanzibar, Serge Bard's FUN AND GAMES FOR EVERYONE; and DEPARTURES, works by West Coast experimental filmmaker Gunvor Nelson.

These DVDs are available on an exclusive basis for sale to educational organizations in North America (universities, libraries, & other cultural institutions), and include public performance rights. Public performance rights extend to use in classrooms and in other non-commercial settings where no admission is charged.

For more information on the these titles visit here.

For information on ordering by fax, email or post visit here.

To order by phone please call: 212.280.8654

GME Representatives Jon Gartenberg and David Deitch at Exhibitors Booth.

CYCLOPEAN 3D: LIFE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN GME Presents Ken Jacobs' Latest Stereoscopic Feature - Opening Sequence Screened in Rotterdam @ IFFR 2012

Download CYCLOPEAN 3D IFFR 2012 PDF