In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

In 1955, Edward Steichen, then Director of the Photography Department at MoMA, mounted an exhibition of images from around the world as a “manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind.” That exhibition, titled The Family of Man, quickly became a 20th century cultural phenomenon and was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in recognition of its historical value. “Hot Jazz” (pictured here) by Black photographer Hugh Bell (1927—2012) was selected for this ambitious exhibit. This Black History Month, GME highlights Bell’s impressive body of work (namely his suite of images of Jazz Greats from the 1950s) and his influence on the Kamoinge Workshop.

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Warren Sonbert's Magnum Opus CARRIAGE TRADE Plays at the Centre Pompidou

Warren Sonbert's Magnum Opus CARRIAGE TRADE Plays at the Centre Pompidou

Today, Warren Sonbert’s film CARRIAGE TRADE — which the artist himself described as his “magnum opus” — will screen at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Sonbert’s film plays in their exhibition A History of Cinema, which “draws an alternative narrative to the dominant cinematic canons and constitutes the founding moment of the Museum’s film collection.” CARRIAGE TRADE is currently distributed on 16mm by the Film-Makers’ Cooperative in New York, Canyon Cinema in San Francisco, and Light Cone in Paris. GME is the custodian of Sonbert’s legacy and proud to represent his significant body of work.

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Composer William Susman Includes His Score for Steve Bilich's NATIVE NEW YORKER, Distributed by GME, On New Album

Composer William Susman Includes His Score for Steve Bilich's NATIVE NEW YORKER, Distributed by GME, On New Album

William Susman, who composed the music for Steve Bilich’s 2005 experimental short NATIVE NEW YORKER, included his score for the film on his new album MUSIC FOR MOVING PICTURES, which was released on February 7th. Susman hosted a listening party for the album on Bandcamp on the 5th. NATIVE NEW YORKER is exclusively available, worldwide, from GME, for acquisition and exhibition by cultural organizations, as well as for clip licensing by commercial productions.

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January 2024 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues

January 2024 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues

Happy Winter from Gartenberg Media Enterprises! Today, we’re reflecting on screenings, events, and celebrations from January, in New York City and beyond, related to GME colleagues, as well as films and/or filmmakers in our collection that we distribute to the North American university market. Notably, Anthology Film Archives screened a number of titles (by esteemed filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein and Carl Th. Dreyer) that we currently distribute. Additional screenings of work related to GME and our colleagues appeared at various venues around the globe — ranging from august organizations like the International Film Festival of Rotterdam and The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, to exciting newer festivals like Animation First and Film Diary NYC.

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GME Remembers Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

GME Remembers Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

GME remembers singer Mary Weiss, best known as the frontwoman of the 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, who passed away on January 19th, 2024, at the age of 75. The cover photo for The Shangri-Las’ first album, Leader of the Pack, was taken by photographer Hugh Bell, whose vast collection GME represents. Notably, GME licensed Bell’s Leader of the Pack cover art for the 2022 film Call Jane, a 1970s-set abortion drama directed by Phyllis Nagy and starring Elizabeth Banks, which features the LP in one of its scenes.

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Two Zanzibar Films Distributed by GME Play at the Harvard Film Archive on February 3rd

Two Zanzibar Films Distributed by GME Play at the Harvard Film Archive on February 3rd

Jackie Raynal’s DEUX FOIS (1969) and Philippe Garrel’s LA CICATRICE INTERIEURE (1972) will play at the Harvard Film Archive on February 3rd in conjunction with the publication of The Afterimage Reader: a compendium of essays, assembled by The Visible Press, from the magazine Afterimage. GME distributes, to the North American university market, DEUX FOIS as both a DVD and a DSL file, and LA CICATRICE INTERIEURE as both a DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack and a DSL file.

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