Warren Sonbert’s CARRIAGE TRADE in Anthology Film Archives Essential Cinema series March 1st

Warren Sonbert’s CARRIAGE TRADE in Anthology Film Archives Essential Cinema series March 1st

“With CARRIAGE TRADE (1973 version, 61 min, 16mm), Sonbert began to challenge the theories espoused by the great Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s; he particularly disliked the ‘knee-jerk’ reaction produced by Eisensteinian montage. In both lectures and writings about his own style of editing, Sonbert described CARRIAGE TRADE as ‘a jig-saw puzzle of postcards to produce varied displaced effects.’ This approach, according to Sonbert, ultimately affords the viewer multi-faceted readings of the connections between shots through the spectator’s assimilation of ‘the changing relations of the movement of objects, the gestures of figures, familiar worldwide icons, rituals and reactions, rhythm, spacing, and density of images.” –Jon Gartenberg

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National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs

National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs

As Black History Month draws to a close, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) is pleased to announce that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired six lifetime silver gelatin prints from the Hugh Bell archive for their permanent collection. Says GME Fine Arts Curator David Deitch, “In preserving the legacy of an artist, there is nothing more gratifying than the prestige that comes from a museum acquiring his work. We are especially pleased that NMAAHC, the premiere international institution dedicated to the history, culture and artistic achievements of the African American community, recognizes the significance of Hugh Bell ‘s photographs within this context.”

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GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - German Expressionism -- Paul Leni and Richard Oswald

GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - German Expressionism -- Paul Leni and Richard Oswald

The end of the silent era (1928 and 1929) saw an apotheosis of the art and craft of the motion picture, just as the advent of sound was overtaking the motion picture industry. At a time when film theaters were being wired for sound, studios produced “talkies” that were more stage-oriented. The height of artistic achievement in late-era silent films was visually demonstrated in films emanating from France, Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union; these countries produced masterworks of sweeping camera movement and rapid-fire montage.

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GME Presents Fall Flashbacks - Marcel L’Herbier’s L’ARGENT

GME Presents Fall Flashbacks - Marcel L’Herbier’s L’ARGENT

The end of the silent era (1928 and 1929) saw an apotheosis of the art and craft of the motion picture, just as the advent of sound was overtaking the film industry. At a time when movie theaters were being wired for sound, studios produced “talkies” that were more stage-oriented. The height of artistic achievement in late-era silent films was visually demonstrated in films emanating from France, Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union; these countries produced masterworks of sweeping camera movement and rapid-fire montage. GME is therefore pleased to present a group of films from these major motion picture producing countries for academic study and appreciation. From France, L’ARGENT (1928) is Marcel L’Herbier’s silent film swan song, a super-production of epic proportions which combines dizzying camerawork with Soviet-era montage techniques

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GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - Mark Rappaport’s Fictional Autobiographies of Rock Hudson and Jean Seberg

GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - Mark Rappaport’s Fictional Autobiographies of Rock Hudson and Jean Seberg

Concurrent with Anthology Film Archive’s retrospective of Mozart in Love and the Cinema of Mark Rappaport, GME is pleased to announce two DVD editions of key films from this filmmaker’s oeuvre:  ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES  (1992) and FROM THE JOURNALS OF JEAN SEBERG (1995).  Mark Rappaport has been one of the most original voices of the modern American independent cinema  movement.

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Man Ray Shorts at The Quad series, “From the Vaults: Cohen Film Collection”

Man Ray Shorts at The Quad series, “From the Vaults: Cohen Film Collection”

Experimenting with cinematic formality, Dada technique, and Surrealist imagery, the short films of avant-garde artist Man Ray would come to form the foundations of Cinéma pur. His looseness and artistic freedom challenge the audience to watch kinetic fragments and images with a more responsible, arguably more perceptive, eye.

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GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - Robert Todd and Jacques Perconte: From 16mm to Digital

GME Presents DVD Fall Flashbacks - Robert Todd and Jacques Perconte: From 16mm to Digital

In the experimental realm, we are proud to feature short form moving image works by Robert Todd (1963-2018) and Jacques Perconte (b. 1974).  Both of them are master artisans of the landscape film.  Todd shot and assembled his movies exclusively in the 16mm analog format, creating abstraction through the play of light and shadow; Perconte works in a digital environment where he manipulates pixels to create abstract effects.  These two DVD releases thus serve as companion works for study and appreciation by the academic community.

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Segundo do Chomon Screening in THE DEVIL PROBABLY: A CENTURY OF SATANIC PANIC series at Anthology Film Archives on Feb. 2nd

Segundo do Chomon Screening in THE DEVIL PROBABLY: A CENTURY OF SATANIC PANIC series at Anthology Film Archives on Feb. 2nd

Often compared to Georges Méliès, Segundo de Chomón was a pioneer of early “trick films” that showcased his talent for sophisticated animation techniques and stenciled color. One of his best-known titles, THE RED SPECTRE showcases a series of spectacles performed against a hellish landscape by a Luciferian magician as a competition ensues with an unexpected and equally devilish heroine

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