RECAP OF GME STREAMLINE'S PRESENTATION OF THE RE:VOIR COLLECTION AVAILABLE AS DIGITAL SITE LICENSES

GME would like to remind you of the recently made availability of a premiere selection of experimental and independent films from the Re:voir Collection, now available as digital files for streaming on university intranet servers. For more than 20 years, Gartenberg Media Enterprises has partnered with Re:voir in making available a diverse and fragile body of experimental and independent films, both classic and contemporary, that merits exposure to a wider audience. We have kept current with the technological changes in formats for the delivery of these cutting edge works to our educational clients, first by releasing editions of Re:voir publications in VHS, then DVD, and now, in high quality digital files as digital site licenses. To further promote educational interest in our GME Streamline titles, we offer free weekly streams of related DSL releases.

John and Yoko in a scene from Jonas Mekas' HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN

The Re:voir Collection spans an entire century of the rich history of experimental and independent films, dating from 1921 to 2019. All were created by filmmaker-artists working internationally in a variety of genres. These movies encompass the Dadist movement in Germany from the 1920s (HANS RICHTER: EARLY WORKS), the Letterist films of Maurice Lemaître and Isodore Isou working in the 1950s in France, Stan Brakhage’s psychodrama ANTICIPATION OF THE NIGHT (1958), the structural and materialist films of Paul Sharits (MANDALA FILMS), of Canadian photographer and filmmaker Michael Snow (RAMEAU’S NEPHEW), and of British artist Peter Gidal (CONDITIONS OF ILLUSION) from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the body films of Gunvor Nelson (DEPARTURES) and Steve Dwoskin (DYN AMO) dating from the same period.

A scene from Daniel Pommereulle's Zanzibar title VITE

Independent films from the 1960s are strongly represented, including movies by the French Zanzibar collective, enabling in-depth studies of the work of both Philippe Garrel and Jackie Raynal; the reflective and reflexive films of Marcel Hanoun; from the US, the films of Jonas Mekas, including GUNS OF THE TREES (1962), and THE SIXTIES QUARTET, Peter Emanuel Goldman’s motion pictures featuring alienated protagonists, ECHOES OF SILENCE (1965) and WHEEL OF ASHES (1968), as well as the first five fiction features (1965-1970) of political engagement by Robert Kramer; Spanish filmmaker Adolpho Arrieta’s THE ANGEL TRILOGY (1965-1969) and German filmmaker Gideon Bachmann’s documentary narrative UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (1968).

George Kuchar in a scene from Gideon Bachmann’s documentary narrative UNDERGROUND NEW YORK

From the ensuing decades, distinctly different styles of biopics are represented by the films of Mark Rappaport ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES (1992) and FROM THE JOURNALS OF JEAN SEBERG (1995), Belgian filmmaker Boris Lehman’s THE STORY OF MY HAIR (2011) and MAGNUM BEGYNASIUM BRUXELLENSE (1978), as well as a compilation of Marie Losier’s short films, HELLO HAPPINESS (2001-2015). The diary films of Jonas Mekas (HE STANDS IN A DESERT COUNTING THE SECONDS OF HIS LIFE, 1969-1985) and REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA (1972) influenced the work of Israeli filmmaker David Perlov (DIARY, 1973-1983) and the found footage travel collages by Vivian Ostrovsky (PLUNGE, 1982-2013).

Frames from Rose Lowder's BOUQUET D'IMAGES

Holly Fisher (BULLETS FOR BREAKFAST, 1992) and Rose Lowder (BOUQUET D’IMAGES, 1978-2005) are individual, artful creators of multi-layered collages generated through meticulous optical printing technique. Landscape works created on 8mm and 16mm are represented by the films of Dominique Angerame (CITYSCAPES, 1982-2010), Robert Todd (INTERIOR LANDSCAPES, 2005-2013) and Paul Clipson (LANDSCAPE DISSOLVES, 2009-2016), and through computer techniques via the digital cinema of Jacques Perconte (CORPS, 2002-2003).

Animation films range from the psychodramatic (SUZAN PITT – ANIMATED FILMS, 1979-2013) to the lyrical films of Jeff Scher (REASONS TO BE GLAD, 1976-2013). Avant-garde filmmakers working in the realm of technical experimentation in Super8mm, 16mm, and digital formats often create pictorially beautiful works tending toward abstraction—via bacterial processes and weathering (Jurgen Reble, PASSION,, 1989-1990), DIY filmmaking (STUDIO EEN: EXPERIMENTAL FILMS FROM THE LOWLANDS, 1975-1999) technology generated imagery (JOOST REKVELD – 11 FILMS, 1992-2017 and VIRGIL WIDRICH – SHORT FILMS, 1998-2019), and the Bolex camera as a spiritual tool (SANDY DING – PSYCHOECHO, 2007-2014).

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All the aforementioned titles are available as high quality digital files; we offer additional titles from Re:voir in DVD format only, including CINÉMA DADA (1921-1927), MAYA DEREN: EXPERIMENTAL FILMS (1943-1946) as well as MAYA DEREN: DANCE FILMS (1945-1955), FLUXFILM ANTHOLOGY (1962-1970), HALLELUJAH THE HILLS (1963), JONAS MEKAS: THE MAJOR WORKS (1964-2002), and VISIONS OF WARHOL (1964-1990), and SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS (1966).