March Roundup of Screenings Related to GME's DSL, DVD, & Blu-ray Offerings
/This past month saw the work of several filmmakers distributed by GME programmed in venues in the U.S. and abroad. It is a reminder of both the durability of these artists and their works and the ongoing interest in the kinds of notable independent and experimental moving image work that GME strives to provide to our buyers.
March 3 - April 21
Jeff Preiss - “Orchard Documents,” 8mm & 16mm “lyric home newsreels” and other films are showing at Clementin Seedorf, Cologne, including TAPE_SPLICES_for_WARREN from 8mm footage shot at Warren Sonbert’s home in the 1980s. Gartenberg Media is the custodian of the legacy of Warren Sonbert (1947-1995). A complete retrospective of Warren Sonbert’s films in 16mm, The Experimental Narratives of Warren Sonbert, will be held at the Museum of Modern Art from May 11-19; Preiss’ homage to Sonbert will also be shown.
March 4 & 12
Philippe Garrel's THE PLOUGH screened at Film at Lincoln Center. Paying tribute to the director’s late father’s background as a puppeteer, Garrel’s new film centers on Simon (Aurélien Recoing), the aging head of a puppet troupe who works alongside his children, all played by members of Philippe’s own family: son Louis (Louis Garrel) and daughters Martha (Esther Garrel) and Lena (Lena Garrel). A rare film in color from Garrel, THE PLOUGH reaffirms his status as one of the great contemporary directors of actor. GME distributes several important films by Philippe Garrel.
March 10
GME President Jon Gartenberg and Drake Stutesman, Senior Editor of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, discuss Warren Sonbert's montage aesthetic following a program of his films in the program Warren Sonbert: Montage and Polyvalence at the Film-makers' Cooperative. Gartenberg Media is the custodian of the legacy of Warren Sonbert (1947-1995). A complete retrospective of Warren Sonbert’s films in 16mm, The Experimental Narratives of Warren Sonbert, will be held at the Museum of Modern Art from May 11-19.
March 10 - Oct. 1
Cinema of Sensations: The Never-Ending Screen of Val del Omar at Museum of the Moving Image, presents a major exhibition devoted to the work of José Val del Omar (1904–1982), a visionary Spanish artist, filmmaker, and inventor who approached cinema as a multisensory experience. GME distributes a DVD/DSL Bundle release of the complete works of Val del Omar, including ELEMENTARY TRYPTIC OF SPAIN.
March 20 - July 8
"Signals: How Video Transformed the World," exhibition at The Museum of Modernt Art highlights over 70 media works, drawn primarily from MoMA’s collection, with many never before seen at the Museum. Featured artists include work by Nam June Paik, Eugènia Balcells, Valie Export, and Antoni Muntadas, whose films and videos are included in DVD editions distributed by GME. Signals enables audiences to experience video art’s wildly varied formats, settings, and global reach, from closed-circuit surveillance to viral video, from large-scale installation to social networks.
March 24 - 28
A long overdue retrospective of the work of the moving-image artist, writer, and poet Abigail Child screened at the Anthology Film Archives. A leading figure of the generation of experimental filmmakers that emerged in the late 1970s-early 1980s, Child has continued to make innovative and challenging work – in a dizzying variety of forms and on a wide range of topics – ever since. GME distributes a special DVD edition of Abigail Child’s IS THIS WHAT YOU WERE BORN FOR?, which includes essays by film scholars, sound theorists, literary critics and art historians, addressing the erratic poetics of Abigail Child's films.
March 25 - thru Present
Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 classic THE CONFORMIST, with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominiqie Sanda featured in a searing study of sexuality and politics set in 1930’s Italy, a triumph of opulent visual storytelling, returned to the Film Forum by popular demand. Gartenberg Media distributes this restored Kino Lorber Blu-ray and DVD release of THE CONFORMIST. It is also available as a HD downloadable, DSL file.
March 25 - thru Present
NAM JUNE PAIK:MOON IS THE OLDEST TV, Directed by Amanda Kim, kicked off it's premiere NYC theatrical run at the Film Forum. Fearlessly innovative and playfully prophetic, Nam June Paik comes to life in this feature debut through a skillful assembly of interviews and archival footage that portrays the father of video art both in his time and through his far-reaching legacy. GME licensed films of Jonas Mekas and others for this documentary; GME also distributes a DVD edition of FLUXFILM ANTHOLOGY, which includes work by Nam June Paik.
March 27
HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR by Jay Rosenblatt is nominated for an Academy Award in the category for Best Short Documentary (following an Oscar nomination for WHEN WE WERE BULLIES in the category of Short Documentary the previous year. THE FILMS OF JAY ROSENBLATT VOLUME 1 and 2, available from GME Streamline as DSL downloadable files or on DVD.
March 31 - April 9
The series "Jeanne Dielman and Its Roots" at the Museum of the Moving Image examines the influence of films the director, Chantal Ackerman, saw while living in New York City in 1971 and 1972. GME distributes work by filmmakers whose films inspired Ackerman, including films by Michael Snow, Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, Carl Th. Dreyer, and Jean-Luc Godard.
Perennial GME favorites based on previous orders, requests and web searches of GME's content include:
